Ultime combat: Martial Arts of Asia at Musée du Quai Branly

The exhibition 'Ultime combat. Arts martiaux d'Asie' at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris showcases martial arts from across Asia, including judo, Southeast Asian boxing, Kalaripayattu, Viet vo dao, Pencak silat, Wushu, and Tai Ji Quan. It features 464 works, 36 film clips with French and English subtitles, and 150 miniature robots plus a 2-meter-tall robot created for the event. Curated by Julien Rousseau (head of Asian collections), film specialist Stéphane du Mesnildot, and Olympic judo champion Clarisse Agbégnénou, the exhibition draws from the museum's collections and loans from the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet and the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. The display includes 11th-century Buddhist temple guardian statues, a 19th-century Japanese Celestial Guardian King, and objects from the Bruce Lee Foundation. The exhibition is structured in three chapters covering Indian, Chinese, and Japanese combat cultures, with a corridor of vertically displayed knives and a room screening scenes from 'The Last Fight of Chen' (1978). A Black Fire robot from QFX Workshop in Bangkok concludes the show. The exhibition coincides with Paris's preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games and follows the city's Nuit Blanche themed 'sport and art'. It runs until January 16, 2022.