The very first works to enter the then new Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1879 were a group of contemporary Japanese ceramics, bronzes, cloisonné enamels and lacquers which had been shown in that same year at the International Exhibition in Sydney. It was not until 100 years later that a department of Asian art was established in 1979. A small Asian gallery was opened in 1972 and in 1988 major extensions incorporated a substantial gallery of Asian art with a fully operational Japanese tea room. The opening of a second Asian gallery in 2003 doubled the area provided for Asian art and provided space for a continuing program of changing exhibitions. While it was works of Japanese origin that founded the Asian collections, it is the arts of China that came to dominate. In 1962 collector Sydney Cooper donated a large number of ceramics and tomb figures The Japanese collection is distinguished in its representation of Edo period screens and paintings many acquired in the past twenty years through the support of the late Kenneth and Yasuko Myer. A significant aspect of our Asian collections is our determination to demonstrate that, whilst the arts and cultures of Asian are indeed ancient, they are also living, continuing and contemporary. | 
