Arts of Asia Spring 2026 Asia Reimagined: Mapping Cultures Beyond Borders

Arts of Asia Lecture Series
See photo credits below.

Arts of Asia Spring 2026 Asia Reimagined: Mapping Cultures Beyond Borders

Instructor: 
Natasha Reichle
When: 
Repeats every week until Fri May 01 2026.
January 30, 2026
Time: 
Fridays Sept. 5 to Dec.19, 2025 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time. No lecture on Sept. 12 & Nov. 28.
Place: 
Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum & Zoom Webinars. Please see schedule below for any exceptions.
Fee: 
$200 per person Society members; $250 per person non-members for the series. Advance registrations must be received by SAA by Jan. 23, 2026. We only accept drop-ins for individual lectures in Samsung Hall on a space available basis. Drop-in fee is $20 per person per lecture. All in-person fees are after museum admission.


Society for Asian Art and Asian Art Museum are separate non-profit organizations with separate memberships. Please use the appropriate registration buttons to register for Society programs.

In an age when cultural identities are increasingly fluid, Asia Reimagined invites you to explore how artists, ideas, and aesthetics have long transcended national boundaries and how the artistic soul, be it nomad or explorer, has responded with curiosity and vision. This 14-lecture series examines the ways that creative exchange has influenced both the makers and the patrons of Asian art. Join us this spring, along with Instructor of Record Natasha Reichle, AAM curator of Southeast Asian art, as we cross physical and metaphysical borders to discover new definitions of art.

Whether you’re a devoted museum member or a curious newcomer, this series offers a compelling lens into the vibrant complexity of Asia as it has been imagined, reimagined, and continually reshaped

The Arts of Asia committee welcomes comments about our lecture series. Please email comments to info@societyforasianart.org.

Please refer to the schedule of Speakers & Topics below to ascertain the location of each lecture.

Speakers & Topics (Subject to Change)

Jan. 30, 2026
TBD

Feb. 6, 2026
New Voices from the West Asian Diaspora: Dance Floor as Contemporary Art
Naz Cuguoglu, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art & Programs, Asian Art Museum

Feb. 13, 2026
TBD

Feb. 20, 2026
Persian Invasion of Egypt
Henry Colburn, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College

Feb. 27, 2026
Asian American Artists in the Mid 20th Century
ShiPu Wang, Professor of Art History/Visual Studies, University of California, Merced

Mar. 6, 2026
Calligraphy in East Asian Cinema
Markus Nornes, Professor of Asian Cinema, University of Michigan

Mar. 13, 2026
TBD

Mar. 20, 2026
Central Asian Influences on Ancient Chinese Bronzes
Liu Yang, Chair of Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mar. 27, 2026
Cross-Cultural Aspects of Japanese Photography
Karen M. Fraser, Professor & Program Director, Art History & Museum Studies, University of San Francisco

Apr. 3, 2026
Magic in Thai Buddhism
Justin McDaniel, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Professor of Humanities, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania

Apr. 10, 2026
Southeast Asian Textiles
Sandra Sardjono, Independent Researcher and President, Tracing Patterns Foundation

Apr. 17, 2026
Hindu Religions Across South and Southeast Asia
Elizabeth A. Cecil, Timothy Gannon Associate Professor of Religion, Florida State University

Apr. 24, 2026
TBD

May 1, 2026
Dutch Maritime Excursions to Asia
Tonio Andrade, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of History, Emory University
 
Photo Credits:
Left: Incense Burner with Arabic inscription, approx. 1700–1800. China. Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Bronze with gold inlay. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Avery Brundage Collection, B62B32. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Right: Dish with wave-and-rock motif, approx. 1575–1600. Turkey. Ottoman period (1281–1924). Stonepaste; polychrome painted under transparent glaze. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Gift of the Menke family in memory of thier parents and grandparents Betty and John Menke, 2015.26. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
 

Registered attendees of the lecture series are encouraged to attend in-person in Samsung Hall. Otherwise, registered attendees can attend via Zoom. Drop-ins for individual lectures are only available in-person in Samsung Hall on a space available basis. Drop-ins for individual lectures are not available on Zoom. The lecture series is organized as 14 separate Zoom webinars. A Zoom webinar confirmation email with information on how to join each week's webinar will be sent to all registered attendees 2 or 3 days before each lecture. Even though it is not required by Zoom, we recommend that you download and install Zoom on your computer or mobile device in advance, and set yourself up with a free account. Attendees will have a chance to participate in the Q&A via Zoom Q&A. Read Arts of Asia Zoom Webinar FAQs.


 


 

 

 

Registration Policies

The Society for Asian Art's cancellation policy requires at least one week's advance written notice in order to receive a refund of registration fees. This excludes our Travel programs, which have separate cancellation policies, as well as any programs where a specific refund policy is stated on the event page. Your fees will be returned to you through a check in the mail. To cancel, please contact us.

For programs located within the Asian Art Museum, the museum entrance fee must be paid separately and is not included with your registration fee.

Please note that by registering for a program, you are giving consent to the SAA to be photographed or videoed as a participant.