The two institutions are collaborating in the program's implementation, with the Asian Art Museum identifying qualified fellowship recipients, and The Asia Foundation responsible for overall administration.
The program's purpose is to contribute to the professional enhancement of specialists in Asian curatorial art within the Asian Art Museum and other selected art institutions in the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Each year, one specialist from South or Southeast Asia or London, England will be selected to spend four to six weeks at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; in turn, an Asian Art Museum staff member or specialist from another art institution in the U.S. will be placed for a similar period with one of the following participating museum partners:
- British Museum, London, England
- Government State Museum, Chennai, India
- Indian National Museum
- Jim Thompson's House Museum, Bangkok, Thailand
- National Museum, Bangkok, Thailand
- National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Prince of Wales Museum (Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum and Jehangir Art Gallery), Mumbai, India
Inaugural Fellows
In December, 2009, Mr. Forrest McGill, the Asian Art Museum's Chief Curator and Wattis Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, and Mr. Qamar Adamjee, Assistant Curator, visited India to re-connect with directors of that nation's most prominent museums. The Senior Curator at the CSMVS Museum, Mumbai, and the British Museum's Curator for South and Southeast Asia have agreed in principle to spend time at the Asian Art Museum in 2012.
Fellows in the Asian Art Forum for Museum Directors
In November, 2011, representatives of important museums of Asian Art from Asia and the U.S. met in San Francisco for a pioneering Directors Forum organized by The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. The Brayton Wilbur, Jr Fellows in Asian Art Program supported the participation of South and Southeast Asian museum directors in the Forum, where they shared strategies for fostering greater global awareness of Asian art and cultures while exploring models for collaboration and partnerships among their institutions.