725 Park Avenue at
70th street
(212) 288-6400
www.asiasociety.org
What's
New?
The Asia Society is
located at 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street). While its
headquarters is undergoing renovations (January 2000 - Fall
2001) its interim location is Asia Society at Midtown, 502 Park
Avenue (at 59th Street)
The
Asia Society was
founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd with the
purpose of improving relations between America and the more than
thirty countries broadly defined as the Asia-Pacific region- the
area from Japan to Iran, and from Central Asia to New Zealand,
Australia and the Pacific Islands. Today, the Asia Society is
America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding
of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of
Asia and the Pacific.
Housed
in a beautiful red-granite building on Park Avenue, the Asia
Society is not only a national nonprofit, nonpartisan educational
organization, it is also a world-class museum. It attempts to
improve East-West relations through art exhibitions, performances,
films, lectures, seminars and conferences, publications,
assistance to the media, and materials and programs for students
and teachers.
In 1979, Mr. and Mrs. John
D. Rockefeller 3rd granted the Asia Society a collection of nearly
three hundred works, which they had acquired over twenty-five
years of exploring Asia and Asian art. This collection of
masterworks from South, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, dating from
2000 B.C. to the 19th century, in various media--bronzes,
paintings, ceramics, sculpture--reflects the great achievements
and wide diversity of Asian arts and cultures. The Asia Society
now selectively adds objects to this core collection that are of
comparable rarity, beauty, and interest.
