Viewed a wonderful Kondo: family in clay exhibit on a Friday night event that included taiko drummers in costume. Beautiful building and a nice dahlia garden is just a short walk away from here

There was a special exhibit I wanted to see here. It was about light and shadow and other pieces of art. The exhibit was too small and the rest of the museum was pretty good though. I enjoyed the exhibit but it didn’t have enough for me personally. Beautiful artwork though.

I'd say this relatively small museum -- the original Seattle Art Museum (if anyone reading this went to the King Tut exhibit in Seattle, this is where it was!) -- is a hidden gem. The curation is fantastic; while the collection is small and tending toward the traditional, the explanations and intention behind the placement of certain pieces was really impressive. The special exhibition featuring the work of contemporary artist Anila Quayyum Agha was fascinating, as was the otherwordly glaze on the piece (self-portrait?) in the central hall by ceramic artist Kondo Takahiro. The building itself and setting are beautiful too.

Outstanding A must see in Seattle, its housed in an imposing building in the sprawling Volunteer Park area and gives you a great view and photos of Seattle and Space Needle.A very welcoming and enthusiastic David at reception gave an overview.On the right is an extraordinary collection of art from Asia depicting Hinduism Buddhism etc with well presented and guided writeups / explanationsThe entrance had Kamadeva the Goddess of love . Further on is the best part a chamber with Buddha statues from 3 different countries with background chants and flute with a brief silence in between. Very serene and meditative The Buddha collection further on is awesome including the 1000 hand Buddha and one Buddha from the Kushan dynasty ( present day Afhganistan/ Pakistan).Further ,other nice collection of Indian Chineses Japanese and Cambodian Art and all the countries influenced by India in spirituality There was a small exhibition by Mattai Indian origin Guyanese on art which had colourful tapestry using saris and other material which was interesting. The second portion on the left housed many interesting items I clouding jewelry dresses perfume bottles and porcelain and there was a section on death qnd the demons in those parts . And finally a learning room for children Finally a small shop of a few small items bit pricey from Asia including books cards etc I found two things unusual 1 was a TV with loud music on Indian marriages ( possibly even outside India) which didn't go well with the ambience although informative. There was also another quiter TV display on dresses on Japan etc 2 a nice explanation of kamadeva including a mention on Bollywood which however seemed out of placeAlthough not much on rest of Asia ( including Middle East - )other than India China Japan Korea and South Asia South East Asia . One of the displays also explains Where is Asia ?Please note1 there are safe lockers for your bags which are not allowed I2 takes 3 hours to experience the exhibition and maybe more if or reads each placard3 rest rooms etc are reasonably neat 4 staff and security are supportibr 5 the silence amd lighting is really nice as one drifts back into time with a certain reverence and meditative feel

The Seattle Asian Art Museum is pretty small, and it’s a little strange to describe a museum in this way, but it felt very dated, as in much of the collection felt like what most people think Asian art is and not what it has evolved to be. There’s a lot of the standard Chinese artifacts, Buddhist and Hindu iconography, Japanese art, and a sprinkling of Korean artifacts. However, in the context of AANHPI, I thought that almost all of the groups in the acronym were underrepresented and there’s barely any SEA art mention in the museum. The gift shop is also small and gimmicky. The most fascinating exhibit was by Anida Yoeu Ali (a Cambodian American artist), which was a traveling exhibit. Most of the other collections were not memorable. While admission isn’t too expensive, the Art Deco exterior is great, and I’m glad this space exists, Wing Luke does a better job of telling stories from the AANHPI experience.