The Minneapolis Star Tribune announces an unexpected investment in Asian art at its museum even after budget cuts have altered the institution:

In a dramatic expansion, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts has hired Liu Yang, a Chinese-born curator from Australia, to head its Department of Asian Art which will also add two curators and be supported by $4.75 million in new funding.

The museum’s Asian collection is among the most important in the United States with more than 12,500 objects spanning 7000 years, from ancient Chinese bronzes, furniture and jades to Indian miniatures, Korean ceramics, Japanese prints and contemporary sculpture. Acclaimed by connoisseurs and scholars, it is less well known to the general public, a situation the museum hopes to change through traveling shows and publications to be produced by Liu and his new staff.

New Chinese curator and $4.75 million endowment coming to Minneapolis museum (Minneapolis Star Tribune)