The Virtual collection of Asian Masterpieces (VCM) is an innovative project of the Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) that presents a vast collection of Asian masterpieces through the web.
In 2001 museums in ASEM partner countries officially launched the ASEMUS network in order to promote wider mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe by means of collaborative programmes of museum-based cultural activity and to stimulate and facilitate the sharing and use of museum collections of mutual interest and of knowledge about them. One of the first projects of ASEMUS was the Virtual Collection of Asian Masterpieces (VCM) which was supported by ASEF. More than 140 museums from around 40 countries have contributed their masterpieces.
The VCM provides an opportunity for everyone to appreciate the arts, regardless of financial or geographical circumstances. It also promotes vibrant communication among participating museums all around the world by introducing their valuable collections online. The mission of the VCM is to foster mutual understanding among people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Since its launch in 2007, the VCM Collection has constantly been growing thanks to the contribution from the participating museums in Asia and Europe: you can meet nearly 3, 000 masterpieces from around 150 museums from nearly 50 countries via the VCM website. Now, the National Museum of Korea is leading the VCM projects and it will endeavor to show more about the history, culture and art of Asia through masterpieces.
Director-General Kim Youngna served as the chairperson of ASEMUS from October 2011 to September 2014. The National Museum of Korea hosted the 5th General Conference of ASEMUS (ASEMUS 2012 Seoul) in 2012. At ASEMUS 2012 Seoul, which was held under the theme “New and Sustainable Museum Education,“ delegations from member museums in Asia and Europe presented their academic achievements, and shared their opinions on the future of museums.
Through ASEMUS activities, the National Museum of Korea seeks to promote exchanges between museums on the two continents, and foster a deeper understanding among member museums.
The Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) is an international cross-cultural network of museums. The museums in the ASEMUS network are located in Europe and Asia in those countries belonging to ASEM, a forum for dialogue between Europe and Asia sponsored by the European Commission. ASEMUS has two key aims: (a) to promote wider mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe by means of collaborative programmes of museum-based cultural activity and (b) to stimulate and facilitate the sharing, use and knowledge of museum collections of mutual interest.
Set up in 2000, the Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) is a network of museums with Asian collections. It now gathers over 192 museums in 41 countries in Asia and Europe. As the founder of ASEMUS, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) holds the only Permanent seat in the Executive Committee (ExCo). ASEMUS supports knowledge & personnel exchange between Asian and European museums as well as the development of collaborative projects among member museums, including through the movement of collections. From January 2020, the ASEMUS wesbite is permanently closed.