MIA hires new head of Asian Art Department

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Liu Yang

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has announced the appointment of Liu Yang, Ph.D., as the new curator of Chinese art and head of the museum's Department of Asian Art. Dr. Liu comes to the MIA from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, where he has worked as senior curator of Chinese art since 1997. He begins work at the MIA this month.

The MIA also announced the creation of two new, mid-level curatorships in Asian art, spurred by a challenge grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to strengthen the "scholarship and presentation" of the museum's Asian art collection. .

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is home to 12,500 Asian art objects, ranging in date from 5000 b.c. to the 21st century. While the museum is best known for its Chinese art and antiquities, it also includes significant holdings in Himalayan, Indian, Southeast Asian, Islamic, and Korean art.

According to MIA director Kaywin Feldman, the two new curators will divide their time between the art of India, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea. Those curators are exptected to be selected by the MIA in the coming year.

Liu arrives after the departure of longtime curator Bob Jacobsen.

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