UEA has long fostered an innovative approach to the history of art through the activities of its School of World Art Studies and Museology. It is the home of the Sainsbury Research Unit, a centre for the study of the arts of Africa, the Pacific region and the Americas.

Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury built up a superb collection of art over 60 years, including many fine Japanese works from the Jomon to contemporary periods. They donated their entire collection to UEA and Norman Foster, designed the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVA) to house it. The exquisite Sainsbury collections, while encompassing diverse items from distinct and separate cultures, can be seen to have a distinctly unified and integrated presence due to the vision of the collectors, and this vision continues to inspire and inform the Institute's activities.

The Institute's research strategy places renewed emphasis on the development of synergies among the Sainsbury benefactions at UEA. Our research initiatives provide for that and also offer unparalleled opportunities to enlarge the graduate base and international standing of related programmes at UEA. The Institute also provides colleagues at UEA with appropriate library resources, space for lectures, specialists to work with specific projects and lectures, specialist teaching, postgraduate supervision in Japanese arts and opportunities for student internships.