At the Seattle Asian Art Museum on a Saturday morning, traditional culture meets modern fitness -- a group of people splayed out on the marble floor practice yoga in a gallery surrounded by statues of Indian gods.

COURTESY OF RDI

Attorney Renee Giovarelli works to improve rights of women in Kyrgyzstan through the Rural Development Institute.

Later they gather inside the auditorium to hear Seattle attorney Renee Giovarelli describe the status of women's property rights in various parts of Asia, and its connection to hunger and poverty.

The scene represents the kind of engaging community salon that the "Saturday University" aims to create. Local universities, nonprofits and other institutions have deep expertise in Asia, but they don't always have a way to share it with the public.

"It should be a sense of pride for Seattle that those organizations are here," said former Seattle Art Museum director Mimi Gardner Gates, who conceived the series. Through the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas, she hopes to introduce topics related to Asia, encourage community discussion and do it in a way that is fun.

GREG GILBERT/SEATTLE TIMES

Mimi Gardner Gates returns to her roots in Chinese art with a center focused on Asia at SAAM.

Continuing this month, the lectures explore "Health, Sex and Women's Rights in Contemporary Asia," accompanied by a series of films that were hits in their home countries but relatively unknown outside.

The series, "Guilty Pleasures," includes popular films from India, Japan, the Philippines and China. Each one is introduced by a film expert from the University of Washington.

Tomorrow speakers from the Gates Foundation and PATH will talk about Asia as a frontier in the battle for health equity. Each of the Saturday programs, which are co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council, starts with an optional yoga session by 8 Limbs Yoga.

In the spring, the Saturday University will explore the ways Asian religions are expressed in contemporary society, politics and the arts.

While the programs are held in the museum, the approach "appeals to people who aren't necessarily the art crowd," Gates said. "I love the idea of it being a center for people who are curious about Asia."