Thursday 10 April, 2025
6:00pm BST - 7:00pm BST
In-person lecture at the Hostry, Norwich Cathedral and online via Zoom.
50 min lecture followed by Q&A.
Free and open to all, booking essential.
To check your time zone conversion if you are joining from outside the UK, click here.
To attend in person, please email sisjac@sainsbury-institute.org or call +44 (0) 1603 597507 to book your place. Zoom booking is available at the bottom of this page.
Doors open at 17:45 and the lecture will be held at Norwich Cathedral Hostry, NR1 4DH. Please note that in-person spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. A reception will be held after the talk.
Please note that due to the Easter break, this talk will be held on the second Thursday of the month on Thursday 10th April.
Speaker
Dr Meri Arichi (Chair, Circle of Japanese Art London and former Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS)
About the Talk
The Great Buddha of the Todai-ji (Great Eastern Temple) of Nara was commissioned in the first half of the 8th century by Emperor Shomu who aimed to unify the country by creating a network of temples in all provinces. The colossal bronze statue of Buddha, over 16 metres high, was to be the centre of the Kokubun-ji network and the symbol of imperial authority. Its completion in 752 was marked by a grand ceremony, attended by the Emperor and Empress, aristocrats, thousands of officials and monks, as well as foreign guests from many regions of Asia. The ceremonial artefacts used in this occasion are still preserved in the temple storehouse Shoso-in, together with the Emperor Shomu’s personal belongings. The wide variety of objects in the Shoso-in collection includes many rare works of art originating from the countries along the Silk Road, suggesting the active trade and the international nature of the Buddhist world at the time.
About the Speaker
Dr Meri Arichi studied Art History in London and Florence, and worked at Christie’s in Kings Street, London, from 1989 to 1993. She completed Post-graduate Diploma in Asian Art (1994), MA (1996) in History of East Asian Art, and PhD in Japanese Art (2003) at SOAS University of London. She worked as the tutor for the Post-graduate Diploma in Asian Art course at the British Museum from 2001 to 2007, and at SOAS from 2008 to 2016. She taught History of Japanese Art in the Department of History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS as a Senior Teaching Fellow from 2007 to 2016. She contributes to the Diploma course at SOAS as a guest speaker now. She is an accredited lecture of The Arts Society and the Chair of the Circle of Japanese Art London.
The Third Thursday Lecture series is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Yakult UK.