The National Gallery in Prague is a central state institution for collecting, conserving, researching and presenting artistic relics from all ages and all parts of the world in the Czech Republic. It was founded 1794 and since then it has assembled about 350 thousand artefacts of superior artistic quality. In recent years it consists of five large collections dwelling in eight different palaces that are located at important historical places within the capital of Prague (Collection of Old Masters, Collection of 19th Century Art, Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, Collection of Prints and Drawings, Collection of Oriental Art). The Collection of Oriental Art was founded in 1952 and for the next 35 years it was being built-up and led by its founder, Dr. Lubor Hájek (1921–2000), who also founded the discipline of history of non-European art in Czechoslovakia. In 2010, the Collection comprises 13 900 works of fine and applied art from various parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The greatest amount of artworks comes from Japan (5 700 pieces comprised of prints, paintings, modern calligraphy, sculpture and decorative art dating mainly from the Edo period). Top artistic quality permeates the collection of Chinese art (ca 3 900 pieces – old bronzes and jades, Han and Tang tomb ceramics, Buddhist sculpture, old and modern paintings, monochrome and export porcelain and applied arts from Neolithic ages to the present time). The art of Tibet is represented by a very high standard collection of about 300 thangka paintings and metal statues. The art of South-East Asia (Buddhist sculpture), Central Asia (260 carpets) and Islamic regions of the Near East and North Africa (ceramics, metalwork, woodwork, textiles) is exemplified by lesser but fine collections. There is an African collection of over 1000 samples of statues etc. made by various Sub-Saharan tribes, donated recently by the German collector Dr. Rainer Kreissl (1924–2005), can be labeled as major; the collections from other parts of the world are minor and fragmentary. The seat of the Collection of Oriental Art between 1972 and 2010 was the charming baroque Zbraslav Chateau on the southern suburbs of Prague. Starting from 2010, the Collection is being relocated into the very heart of Prague in the Rococo Kinsky Palace where the National Gallery is preparing a new exhibition of Ancient and Asian Art.