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Tue–Wed: Closed
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200 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.581.3500
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Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean Member Preview

All museum members are invited for a first look at Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean before it opens to the public.

  • Time
  • Location
    Osher Foundation Gallery
  • Event Types
    For Members
  • Member Event Types
    Preview Day
  • Member Level Types
    All Member Levels Welcome

Thursday, October 22 | 1–8 PM

A thousand years ago, a colossal statue of the Hindu god Vishnu reclined on a serpent-shaped pedestal in a temple in the Cambodian kingdom of Angkor. Newly conserved, this national treasure has toured four major institutions worldwide in the past year. The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is the only West Coast venue where the monumental statue can be seen before it returns to Cambodia.

For the first time in centuries, audiences can experience the full, nearly twenty-foot-long scale of “the most important bronze artwork of Cambodia,” says Chhay Visoth, director of the National Museum of Cambodia. “This is the last chance that this great masterpiece will be out of the country,” notes Visoth.

All members and their guests are invited. The member preview is included with General Admission or a Ha Chong-Hyun: Retrospective ticket.

Cambodian Buddhist Water Blessing Ceremony

1:15 PM | During a Cambodian Buddhist water blessing ceremony, monks chant prayers and sprinkle blessed water over guests, offering wishes for protection, good fortune, and well-being. The water makes the blessing tangible, allowing guests to experience this meaningful expression of faith and tradition.

Image:  West Mebon Reclining Vishnu (detail), National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia © National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh / photo Thierry Ollivier for the Guimet Museum. 

The Perks of Being a Member

  • All members receive unlimited free special exhibition tickets for themselves and their guests all year round. 

  • Members enjoy advance priority access to exhibitions, performances, artist talks, film screenings, and workshops.

  • Enjoy discounts at the Cha May Ching Museum Boutique, Asian Box, and at the UC Law Parking Garage

Join or renew today!

For more information on opening events and upcoming member events, contact Member Services at 415.581.3740 or [email protected].
Organizers & Supporters

Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean is organized by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in collaboration with the Guimet-National Museum of Asian Arts, France with exceptional loans from the National Museum of Cambodia granted by the Royal Government.

Presenting support is provided by Lyna Lam, A Khmer Buddhist Foundation.

Generous support is provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Lilly Endowment Inc., and the Society for Asian Art.

Additional support is provided by the Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India (SACHI) and Marsha Vargas Handley.

Sustained support generously provided by the Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Endowment Fund for Exhibitions. 

The conservation of the Reclining Vishnu of West Mebon was made possible thanks to the financial support of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage – ALIPH – and to the scientific collaboration of the Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient (EFEO), the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF), and the Guimet-National Museum of Asian Arts, France.

     

 

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