Europe and Asia have had close relations for thousands of years. Commercial and political networks developed both on land - via the Silk Road - and on sea. Conquerors like Alexander the Great, Attila, and Genghis Khan set out in search of glory, wealth, and power; travellers like Marco Polo, Zheng He, and Magellan were fascinated by riches, silk, spices, porcelain, etc. Trade opened the way for the spread of major religious and philosophical trends, inexhaustible sources of inspirations for art and culture.
 
A Passage to Asia throws light on 2,500 years of exchanges between Asia and Europe and also between different Asian peoples. The exhibition presents an exceptional selection of over 300 decorative and artistic objects never previously shown in Europe: burial urns, bronze ritual drums, gold jewellery, ivories, old maps, and unique textiles, as well as extraordinary cargo recently recovered from shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea. Both the exhibition and a festival will coincide with the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) 2010 summit.