Close to the city center, between the Gare du Midi train station and the Media Library, the Asiatica Museum offers the finest private collection of Oriental art in Europe.
Between 1997 and 1999, Michel Postel and Xintian Zhu created the Asiatica Museum and inaugurated it in March 1999, in the presence of the French Minister of Culture, Mr. Douste-Blazy, the Indian Ambassador to France, Mr. Kangal Sibal, and his wife, the Minister of Culture of the Chinese Embassy in France, Ms. Hou Xianghua, and the Senator-Mayor of Biarritz, Mr. Didier Borotra.
A little history...
Born in Biarritz, Michel Postel left for India in the late 1940s, a country he fell deeply in love with and where he founded one of the first Indo-French pharmaceutical companies, Franco-Indian Pharmaceutical.
Fascinated by Indian culture, he launched an ambitious program of studies on Asian civilizations with a team of researchers: Franco-Indian Art Research. Together, they explored, discovered, and restored major archaeological sites, including the Queen's Stepwell in Patan (Gujarat), now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A visionary and passionate collector, he began to assemble an exceptional collection of artworks from India, Nepal, Tibet, and China.
In 2016, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Shri in recognition of his work in the field of Indian art and archaeology.
In the 1980s, he met Xintian Zhu, originally from Kunming, China, who holds a PhD in Far Eastern Art History and Archaeology from the Sorbonne and is a painter, calligrapher, and photographer. Xintian Zhu is the museum's curator.
Unlike major international museums such as the Louvre or the British Museum, which often exhibit Asian works taken out of context, the Asiatica Museum offers an authentic and educational immersion.
Each civilization is presented in its cultural environment, with thematic sections accompanied by rich supporting materials: explanatory notes, specialized books, audio guides, and more.
The visit transports you from one world to another, through more than 2,000 works, including around a hundred rare masterpieces, spread over two bright and intimate floors.
A must-see...
Musée Asiatica
1, rue Guy Petit
64200 Biarritz
https://www.musee-asiatica.com/
