The exhibition “Art of North Asia” opened in an updated form.It first appeared in 1993. Since then, researchers at the Orient Museum  have conducted significant research in the field of culture and art of the indigenous people of the Asian taiga and tundra. Over the years, thanks to archaeological and purchasing expeditions, many valuable finds have been added to the Museum’s collection. Which means it's time for change. The new exhibition is divided into two parts: “Archaeology of Chukotka” and “Decorative and applied arts of Yakutia, Taimyr, Amur region and Chukotka.”

The collection of Chukotka antiquities of the Orient Museum  is one of the largest in the country. Among them there are real masterpieces, which will be presented in the updated exhibition.

“We will show a unique reconstruction of the so-called “harpoon complex” - a weapon of the ancient sea hunters of Chukotka. In the entire history of research, archaeologists know of only one such object. In addition, elements of the ancient Eskimo dwelling N-18, the only fully excavated Asian Eskimo dwelling, can now be seen here. The contribution of the Chukotka archaeological expedition of the Museum and its leader Kirill Dneprovsky to the study of Paleo-Asian dwellings and settlements is, without exaggeration, priceless. Before her, the focus of researchers was focused on the burial grounds,” proudly noted the curator of the exhibition, Mikhail Abragin.

The section “Decorative and Applied Arts of Yakutia, Taimyr, Amur Region and Chukotka” is presented by the ethnographic collections of the Museum from the 19th-20th centuries. Among the items in this part of the exhibition, wooden ritual utensils from Yakutia and small bone sculptures stand out. The latter trend in art is widespread among the masters of Yakutia, Taimyr and Chukotka; the museum calls them real pearls of the collection.

“In search of future museum exhibits, we had to travel on passing all-terrain vehicles to the villages of hunters and fishermen lost in high latitudes, and visit reindeer herders and Arctic sea hunters. Before our eyes, majestic pictures of truly endless expanses unfolded: the Arctic and Pacific oceans, mountains stretching into the clouds, rivers as wide as seas. We admired the flashes of the polar lights, inhaled the air infused with the smells of the tundra and taiga,” says Mikhail Bronstein, author of the Guide to the Art of Northern Asia.

The opening of a new exhibition required serious restoration work. Employees of the Museum's restoration department put 25 items in order. According to Mikhail Abragin, the new exposition turned out to be truly unique: it has no analogues either in Russia or in the world. According to the art historian, thanks to the efforts of the staff of the Orient Museum, knowledge in the field of ancient history of Chukotka has reached a fundamentally new level.