Friday 23 May, 2014
9:00am BST - 5:30pm BST
Sainsbury Institute, 64 The Close, Norwich NR1 4DH
Workshop Flyer and List of Speakers
About the Workshop
Ceramics in modern Japan, as in other parts of the world, developed within three main ontological trajectories—as art, craft and design. Yet no other modern nation was engaged with ceramics as much as Japan—a “potter’s paradise”—in terms of creation, exhibition, and discourse. This is the first international workshop dedicated to expanding critical inquiry on ceramics in modern Japan. By focusing our subject to the medium of ceramics, we will engage in dialogue concerning material and praxeological questions unique to ceramics as well as the distinct role of ceramics as forms of cultural production. Discussion will center on two main fields: 1) the conceptualization and praxis of ceramics in modern Japan and 2) the circulation, criticism, historicization, and preservation of ceramics in modern Japan. Key questions to be addressed include: How do ceramics reflect the conditions of Japanese modernity? What is the significance of the concepts kōgei, bijutsu kōgei, kurafuto, and obuje in our understanding of modern Japanese ceramics? How were ceramics significant forms of cultural capital and cultural production in modern Japan? What are the relationships between ceramics, sculpture, and other mediums of art in modern Japan? Presentations and discussion will explore how, from the Meiji to Shōwa eras, ceramics in Japan asserted meanings as avant-garde art, embodiments of tradition, preservations of folk culture, and commodities signifying the technical acumen of the nation.
Information
The workshop is free and open to students and scholars interested in the subject.
Registration is required as seats are limited.
Please contact the Sainsbury Institute to book your place:
T: 01603-597-507
E: sisjac@sainsbury-institute.org
Organised by Meghen Jones (Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow)
Sponsored by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art and Cultures with support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation
Image: Itaya Hazan, Porcelain vase with wood stand, ca. 1925, The British Museum. Acquisition supported by the Brooke Sewell Bequest and the Art Fund. © The Trustees of the British Museum