Has your chamomile tea lost its savor? Are your discussions of “East, Pray, Love” falling flat? Why not revitalize your book club with an outing to the Musée Guimet?!?
Honestly, I have no idea if the “book club lady” is as much of a feature of the French national landscape as she is of the American, but that is how I would describe 95% of my fellow visitors. Imagine your aunt – you know, the one with a few too many cats, who sends you books on feng shui on your birthday, and who refers to herself as “53 years young!” The remaining 5% of visitors were book-club husbands who seemed like they were still making up for being caught pinching a waitress’ bottom twenty years ago.
But – don’t be scared away by the probability that you’ll be the only person in the building who doesn’t possess a CD of whale sounds set to soft jazz, because this is a truly great collection. It features works from everywhere that could conceivably be called “Asia,” from Japan to India (like, who knew that Myanmar had such great art?). The bulk of the collection was formed in the 19th century, which means that you are faced with the lesser (in my opinion) ethical dilemma of colonialist collecting, rather than the problem of looted and smuggled art, which is too often the origin of more modern Asian art collections. The objects are rationally grouped by country, era, and type, with lots of English signage and a free audio guide. If you want, you can emerge able to discourse on the stylistic differences of representations of the Buddha in Vietnam and Thailand… or you can just wander around and look at the pretty, pretty things. Don’t miss the monumental sculpture from Cambodia or the art from ancient Afghanistan, which melds Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese influences.
In sum: not really a must-do unless you like Asian art, but it’s the next closest thing to a whirlwind tour from the Imperial City to Angor Wat if you’re into that sort of thing.
P.S.: Aunt P., I don’t mean your book club.
