Friday 15 & Saturday 16 May 2026
This two-day conference will address the future of the study of art, craft and design in a transnational perspective. This event is held to honour the memory of Toshio Watanabe (1945-2025), late Emeritus Professor of Japanese Arts and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, Founding Director of the Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) at University of the Arts London, and former President of the Japan Art History Forum.
The conference will be held across two venues – Friday 15 May at the Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS and Saturday 16 May at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.
Full programme including abstracts available below.
This conference is jointly organised by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of the Arts London (UAL), Stockholm University, and the University of Zurich. The Stockholm University contribution is co-organised through the research project Can Art Be National? Japonisme and Transculturation in Turn-of-the-Century Europe, funded by the Swedish Research Council. The event is further supported by the Japan Art History Forum, the SOAS Japan Research Centre, and the Japan Foundation.
