The Crow Museum of Asian Art presents Ancient Echoes, Modern Voices: The Crow Collection Goes Beyond, in the new Asian art galleries of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum Phase I Museum. A seemingly simple phrase, Asian art invokes a complex and unwieldy category. To begin to define this field, Asia can be fixed geographically as it is the largest continent in terms of population and landmass- a region that is about thirty percent of the earth’s total land area. Besides geography, Asia can also be crystallized by its specific traits including language, culture, and history. However, due to shifting geo-political boundaries, its diverse cultures, and diaspora, Asian art is global. Through the founding of this new museum, the Crow collection defines Asia as endlessly diverse, and not of one place, time, or idea.

To denote the overlapping circles of meaning, the Crow Galleries are not labeled according to the nation states of China, India, or Japan. Instead, themes that elicit important stories of cross-cultural contact and that are vital to specific Asia’s communities are foregrounded. The artworks can be considered with these themes in mind or on their own. Through both vantage points, these artworks challenge visitors to contemplate and rethink their relationship to these objects compelling the questions of “what are the stories that are being narrated?” and, “what stories are absent?” Throughout the galleries, visitors and students are invited to honor these objects’ histories and create new narratives alongside them.