Overview

Asian & Islamic Art Forum (AIAF) is an auxiliary with an international flavor, whose members are dedicated to fostering appreciation and understanding of the arts of Asia, the Islamic World, and the Ancient Middle East. The youngest of the DIA's auxiliary groups, Asian & Islamic Art Forum was founded in 2006.

We sponsor five public lectures or symposia a year at the DIA—all stimulating, enjoyable and all open to the public with Museum admission. Members also enjoy private tours of museums and collections, exclusive gallery and exhibition openings, as well as travel to exciting destinations.

Please click here to see our upcoming events.

AIAF also helps to fund the acquisition of works of art for the DIA's permanent collections. In 2007, in concert with the James Pearson Duffy Department of Contemporary Art and the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, we contributed to the purchase of three photographs by the pre-eminent Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto from his Hall of Thirty-Three Bays series (1995).

While most of the DIA's Asian, Islamic and Ancient Middle Eastern collections are in storage during the renovations, we seek to keep a variety of objects and ideas about them in the public eye through our events, through the fellowship and enthusiasm of our membership, and through focused tours to other museums, galleries, collections and art historical sites.

Join us in our adventure through the artistic universes, past and present, of Asia and the Islamic World by clicking here. We look forward to welcoming you as a member!