nature tours & travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, Southeast Asia, South America and Alaska

FROM AU LAC TO VIETNAM

DONALD WOOD, PhD

Senior Curator Donald A. Wood, PhD has served at the Birmingham Museum of Art since 1987. He was appointed The Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art in 2000, and served as Chief Curator from to 1996 to 2008. Wood curated the much acclaimed exhibition The First Emperor: Treasures from Ancient China that traveled to the Walters Art Museum, Amongst the Clouds: Textiles of the Miao People of Southwest China as well as Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master - Pioneer of Modern Design, and numerous other exhibitions. He has been traveling in and out of Asia for the past 35 years and his expertise in Asian arts has put in him in high demand as a consultant and guest speaker. We can also attest personally to his generous personality that makes him an ideal travel leader.

THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART

Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art has one of the finest collections in the Southeast. More than 24,000 objects represent a rich panorama of cultures, including Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian , and Native American. The Museum’s collection of Asian art is considered the finest and most comprehensive in the Southeast, and its collection of Vietnamese ceramics is now rated as the best collection in the United States, and one of the finest in the world. The Korean collection is a significant one, and examples of Buddhist and Hindu figures show the diversity of this religious artform through both time and the countries of Southeast Asia. The Museum also has a large collection of Japanese objects, especially works on paper, and an increasingly representative collection of Chinese art, including superb and complete examples of tomb figurines.

Ceramics: Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art

Photo of Dr Wood by permission Birmingham Museum of Art