Audio GuideGuimet Museum

The Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet in Paris is a remarkable journey into the art and cultural heritage of Asia. Founded in the late nineteenth century by the industrious Émile Guimet, it began as his private collection from his wide travels. Initially opened in Lyon, it later found a permanent home at six Place d’Iéna in the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris in nineteen sixteen. Today, it is managed as a national museum by the Service des Musées de France.

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Housed in a beautiful nineteenth-century building, the museum’s façade, roofs, and parts of its library are registered historic monuments. A major renovation completed between the mid-nineties and the early two-thousands transformed it into a modern cultural center that hosts temporary exhibitions, film retrospectives, concerts, and live performances alongside its well-crafted permanent galleries.

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Inside, visitors discover galleries organized both by geographic area and by artistic discipline. The museum boasts impressive collections of Chinese art spanning thousands of years, exquisite Southeast Asian statuary and decorative objects, fine Indian sculptures and miniatures, and a renowned repository of Tibetan art. Pieces from Korea and Japan, such as samurai artifacts and theatrical masks, further enrich the experience.

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Notable highlights include Gandhara and Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Hellenistic decorative elements from northern Afghanistan, and precious works from sites like Borobudur, Khmer temples, and Ai-Khanoum. The rotating Jean and Krishnā Riboud collection of textiles and objets d’art, along with a vast photographic archive, add unique dimensions to the museum.

The museum stands as a vital guardian of Asia’s cultural and religious diversity. Recent debates over changes in naming practices remind us that museums are living institutions, continuously engaging with history and identity.