The borders of this enormous area are formed by Sri Lanka in the south, Mongolia in the North, Vietnam in the east and Pakistan in the west.  Indian musical instruments, figures from Vietnamese water puppet theatre, Khmer statues, Taoist painting, Buddha statues from Thailand, Naga headhunting trophies – these are but a few examples from the collection numbering more than 30,000 objects.

The objects relate how people saw their gods, organized their societies and about the place of the individual therein, how they transformed their lands into fruitful fields, used the products of their animals, how they clothed themselves, enjoyed their free time, or waged wars.  Depending on the viewpoint and the context, the same object can tell very different stories.