Guimet research plan 2026 2030 45

Part 2 → The Villa Guimet research tools resources and partnerships

The digital project of the Villa Guimet occupies a central place in its dissemination

and accessibility strategy . Like that of the major heritage institutions , it is based

on the creation of an online documentary portal , designed to guide both researchers

and the general public in the discovery of the collections kept at the museum

and to of fer better visibility on the works kept in storage . This editorialized portal

is therefore an essential tool for carrying out a variety of research and making

accessible all the resources and scientif ic content conserved or created by the

museum and its teams .

The ambition is to identify and report on French and foreign documentary resources

and scientif ic and technical literature on Asian arts . This project will thus make

accessible the catalogue of the research library on archaeology and Asian arts

( more than 100 , 000 monograph records and 2500 periodicals ) , the database

of collections of works kept at the museum ( or deposited in other institutions ) ,

archival research tools and digitized archives ( papers , nearly 600 , 000 photographs ) ,

the numerous online resources related to Asian cultures , but also the sound and

audiovisual archives preserved or produced as part of scientific activities ,

conference recordings , videos or digital devices produced during thematic

exhibitions . Finally , it will provide access to various publications ( catalogues ,

essays , proceedings , articles , digital exhibitions or thematic tours , etc . )

This digital portal will of fer many features allowing you to carry out a search , save it ,

export data and images , or monitor the latest research news at the Villa Guimet .

Accessibility

online and offline

of the collections

The musée Guimet ,

a pivotal role

Since its creation , the Musée Guimet has occupied a central position in the study ,

conservation and transmission of non - European civilizations , and in particular Asian

civilizations . Initially conceived as a museum of religions , it quickly became

the recipient of archaeological missions carried out by French scholars in the f ield :

from Étienne Aymonier and Louis Delaporte in Cambodia to Charles Varat in Korea ,

Jean - Paul Desroches in Mongolia , Paul Pelliot in China , Jacques Bacot in Tibet

and Joseph Hackin in Afghanistan . Thanks to its vast spaces , the museum of fers a

setting conducive to the exhibition of monumental works , becoming the place

where f ield research and museum presentation meet .

However , interest in Asian arts in France is not limited to the Musée Guimet .

From the reign of Louis XIV , with the development of the East India Companies ,

and the inf luence of the Jesuit missions , objects and stories from Asia fascinated

collectors and fuelled a deep craze . Japonism , born on the occasion of the Universal

Exhibitions , and the taste for Asia in general irrigated the French arts , touching

painters ( Rodin , Manet , Moreau ) , musicians ( Debussy ) , industrialists and patrons

( Camondo , Rothschild ) . Over time , this taste became part of a dynamic of increasing

circulation of objects , fuelled by the f irst archaeological missions and by an art

market that had become one of the most flourishing in the world — except for

contemporary art a f ield in which Guimet also played a pioneering role in the 1990s

Today these thousands of objects fabrics porcelain prints bronzes books

photographs enrich not only the national collections but also those of regional

museums Major institutions such as the Manufacture de Sèvres the Cernuschi

Museum the Museum of Decorative Arts the Quai Branly Jacques Chirac Museum

and the museums of Nice and Biarritz highlight these heritages However many

Asian collections are still sleeping in the reserves of museums whose primary

vocation is not this without the human and scientif ic resources necessary for their

study It is in the face of this observation that the coordinating and supporting role

of the Musée Guimet takes on its full importance as a major heritage department

of Asian arts

The musée Guimet

and its role as a

great department

of asian art