Fresh from a celebrated tour throughout Japan, Luminous: The Art of Asia will showcase the jewels of Seattle Art Museum's Asian collections, featuring 160 of the museum's masterpieces. Curated by Japanese art historian Catherine Roche, the objects in Luminous range from 1,500-year-old Buddhist fragments, dazzling golden screens and bold ink paintings to rich Tibetan mandalas, sumptuous Japanese kimonos and gossamer Korean bojagi.

In addition, the show will open an animated dialogue about art and Asia, beauty and vitality through excerpts of conversations with internationally recognized contemporary artist Do Ho Suh.

"What I'm interested in is the common thread that links me to, say, a 3,000-year-old object. It was beautiful then and it is beautiful now. Can beauty be absolutely free from time, space, and context?" Suh said in a conversation with Roche about the exhibition.

Luminous: The Art of Asia, on view October 13, 2011–January 8, 2012 at SAM Downtown, will present a lush and rich experience of the art from 12 Asian nations. Do Ho Suh's thoughtful commentary illuminates these precious works and makes them relevant for today's contemporary audience.