The years 1996 - 2006 were particularly rich in new acquisitions for the Guimet Museum. The exhibition layout, displayed within the permanent collections, emphasises the exceptional enrichment, in quality as much as quantity that the museum enjoyed during this period. First established at the inauguration of the Guimet Museum in Paris in 1889 by the donations from the founder Emile Guimet, the collections have never stopped growing since. Acquisitions, donations, successive contributions from scientific expeditions or archaeological digs, as well as the transfer of collections previously allocated to other institutions, allowed the Guimet Museum to present an increasingly vast panorama of Asian arts.

From the middle of 1996 until 2006, the collections continued to grow by 6200 catalogued items. All sections of the museum have enjoyed substantial enrichment that goes beyond the fixed objectives for the display of collections. A selection of more than two hundred works, coming from India to Japan, is offered in an original layout, highlighted by signage specifically devoted to the event. This is a major cultural exhibition that pays tribute to the donors and their huge generosity.

To take one example from so many others: we can cite the work Hayagrîva and his wife.

Hayagrîva et son épouse Tibet méridional Fin XVè, début XVIè siècle 44 X 36 X 23 cm Cuivre doré au mercure, attributs en bronze ; traces de polychromie Achat, 2004 MA 12 117 © Thierry Ollivier / RMN

Hayagrîva et son épouse (détail) Tibet méridional Fin XVè, début XVIè siècle 44 X 36 X 23 cm Cuivre doré au mercure, attributs en bronze ; traces de polychromie Achat, 2004 MA 12 117 © Thierry Ollivier / RMN

Dated from the end of the 15th century, a guardian God, an important figure and defender in Tibetan Buddhism. Striking in its winged shape in three heads, six arms and four legs, the artefact is also remarkable for its size, its technical and aesthetic perfection.

A completely different example is the funeral furniture dating from the “Warring Kingdom” era (475-221), in lacquered wood and representing the naturalist theme of the guardian animal that protects the deceased. It represents a presence simultaneously supernatural and familiar, showing a bird, or a deer whose antlers give it an imposing size.

Ensemble de bois du Royaume de Chu Chine du Sud Époque des Royaumes combattants Ve-IIIe siècle avant notre ère Bois laqué et traces de polychromie MA 6333 Grand phénix ; don de M. Horiuchi, 2001 © Thierry Ollivier / RMN

Ensemble de bois du Royaume de Chu Chine du Sud Époque des Royaumes combattants Ve-IIIe siècle avant notre ère Bois laqué et traces de polychromie MA 6272 Daim couché ; don de M. Horiuchi, 2001 © Thierry Ollivier/ RMN

The renovation of the Guimet Museum began at the end of the 1990s, thanks to Henri and Bruno Gaudin, who re-thought the whole architectural space to offer a remarkable case, a space open to elegance and modernity, in which the artefacts are bathed by light, and displayed in a chronological and geographical progression.