Building History
The original part of the building that now houses the Asian Civilisations Museum was completed in 1867. There were several additions to the building in the late 19th and early 20th century. It served as the colonial government offices, and housed numerous government departments, from customs to the legislative council, and until the 1980s, the Immigration Department. From 1989 until 1995, it served as the Empress Place Museum. The ACM moved into the building in 2003. Since then, ACM has transformed itself from an ethnographic museum presenting the history of Asian civilisations to an art museum displaying objects of beauty, which represent the best in craft and aesthetic traditions of cultures across Asia.