The Guimet Museum, in French Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet, is one of the main attractions of Paris and, worldwide, one of the most important museums dedicated to Asian art. The museum is the brainchild of Émile Guimet, who collected important collections of art and archaeological treasures during his travels in Asia. Recently restored and enlarged, the Museum presents interesting collections, which cover the different cultures and the main civilizations of the Asian continent, covering a period of about 5000 years. The marvellous collections on display consist mostly of works of calligraphy and painting, gold pottery and pieces of textile art.
The museum has several floors, each dedicated to a different geographical area, in fact, the ground floor presents the collection of Indian art and that of Southeast Asia, where are on display important monumental works of Cambodia. On the first floor are the collections dedicated to ancient China, Pakistan-Afghanistan, the art of the Himalayas and a very interesting collection of ancient Indian objects by Jean and Krishna Riboud. On the second floor are the collections on Classical China, Korea and Japan, with a wonderful collection of porcelain, and on the third floor are the photographic archives and smaller but still interesting collections on China. Moreover, the Guimet Museum always hosts wonderful temporary exhibitions.
