Royal Asiatic Society Lectures and Events: Exhibitions

The Royal Asiatic Society has, from time-to time, mounted exhibitions of its collections, at its own premises or other exhibition spaces. Several of the major ones of these were associated with the major anniversaries of the Society. The material for those exhibitions can be found in the anniversary catalogues.

However in the late 1980s and early 1990s the Society held regular small exhibitions on its premises. The programmes for these can be found within this catalogue along with other exhibitions not associated with anniversaries.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

The material was arranged chronologically and by exhibition.

Mostly open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

These are part of the institutional records of the Royal Asiatic Society.

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2023.

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

These records are part of the Royal Asiatic Society's Institutional Records and therefore part of the historical records of the Society.

The catalogues for the anniversaries of the Society also give details of exhibitions mounted by the Society. The Society also often loans items from its collections for other exhibitions. Material regarding loans can be found in the Collections records.