For thousands of years across mainland and island Southeast Asia, the deification of significant ancestors and the veneration of spirits of nature formed the basis of traditional beliefs. It was also the impetus for the creation of splendid and extraordinary works of art in bronze, stone, wood, gold and fibre.

​

Originating from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, East Timor, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia and southern China, these works, drawn from institutions and private collections from around the world, were made to protect and give pleasure to the living, to honour the ancestors and to secure safe passage for the human soul between this world and the afterlife.