Musée des Arts Asiatiques

Musée des Arts Asiatiques stands in Nice beside a floral park, above an artificial lake. Kenzo Tange shaped the building as a floating “jewel of snow” in marble and glass. Transparent walls meet the water, while solid forms give the structure a grounded presence. Japanese traditions guide the design, pairing the square for earth with the circle for sky.

Opened in October 1998, the museum grew from Pierre-Yves Trémois’s offer of his Asian art collection. Its galleries connect India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia through courtly, religious, everyday, popular, and contemporary works. Jade, bronze, glazed ceramics, celadon, stone, and ivory reveal different approaches to craft and form. Buddhist sculpture occupies a round rotunda beneath a glass pyramid, with glass supports and focused lighting.

Look for a wooden water-buffalo sarcophagus from Sulawesi, decorated with symbols of wealth, peace, and fertility. A sandstone Vishnu from Cambodia brings early twelfth-century Hindu sculpture into view. Buddhist history appears through deer sculptures and a Gandharan figure combining Indian and Greco-Roman influences. Performances, craft demonstrations, tea ceremonies, workshops, guided tours, and family activities extend the visit beyond the displays.