review_23_2_2014_june

VO

LUM

E 2

3 N

O.

2 JU

NE

20

14

the journal of the asian arts society

of australia

TAASA Review

3 Editorial

Josefa Green

4 PaiNtiNG tHE tHEatrE: NŌ PiCtUrES at tHE aGNSW

Khanh Trinh

7 JiNSHaN PEaSaNt PaiNtiNG iN CHiNa

Liwanna Chan

10 BUSHido: Way of tHE SamUrai

Wayne Crothers

12 a GloBal aUdiENCE, oNCE aGaiN: CENtral aSiaN art at art dUBai

Asher Kohn

14 SoCialiSt rEaliSt art iN SUKarNo’S iNdoNESia

Sahul Hamid

17 tHE ‘BoUNdlESS HallS’ of BUildEr moNK miaofENG (1540-1613)

John Millbank

20 SHEddiNG NEW liGHt oN tHE aNCiENt mEditErraNEaN World:

tHE aNU ClaSSiCS CollECtioN

Elizabeth Minchin

22 Sri laNKa’S BaWa: arCHitECtUrE’S SErENdiPitoUS liNKS

Sabrina Snow & Ann Proctor

24 foUr dayS WitH CEramiC artiSt yoSHiKaWa maSamiCHi

Wendy Ella Wright

27 ELEMENTS IN HARMONY: CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE CERAMICS -

a diSPlay at tHE art GallEry of SoUtH aUStralia

Russell Kelty

28 BooK rEViEW: EXHIBITING THE PAST

Jocelyn Chey

29 rECENt taaSa aCtiVitiES

30 taaSa mEmBErS’ diary: JUNE – AUGUST 2014

31 WHat’S oN: JUNE – AUGUST 2014

Compiled by Tina Burge

C o N t E N t S

Volume 23 No. 2 June 2014

2

a fUll iNdEx of artiClES PUBliSHEd iN TAASA REvIEw SiNCE itS BEGiNNiNGS

iN 1991 iS aVailaBlE oN tHE taaSa WEB SitE, WWW.taaSa.orG.aU

ComPENdiUm of NŌ PiCtUrES (dEtail) , MId EdO PErIOd, 18TH cENTUry, ALBUM wITH

50 ILLUSTrATIONS, INk ANd cOLOUr ON SILk, 37 X 45.5 cM EAcH. NATIONAL NOH THEATrE. SEE PP4-6.

taaSa rEViEW

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC. Abn 64093697537 • Vol. 23 No.2, June 2014 ISSN 1037.6674 registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

editoriAL • email: [email protected]

General editor, Josefa Green PUBliCatioNS CommittEE

Josefa Green (convenor) • Tina burge Melanie Eastburn • Sandra Forbes • Charlotte Galloway William Gourlay • Marianne Hulsbosch Jim Masselos • Ann Proctor • Sabrina Snow Christina Sumner

dESiGN/layoUt

Ingo Voss, VossDesign

PriNtiNG

John Fisher Printing

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. PO Box 996 Potts Point NSw 2011 www.taasa.org.au

Enquiries: [email protected]

TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members

of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes

submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and

performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and

subscription to TAASA Review are available on request.

No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of

The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., its staff, servants or agents.

No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA

Review as a result of material published within its pages or

in other material published by it. we reserve the right to alter

or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require

indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages

or liabilities that may arise from material published.

All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders.

taaSa mEmBErSHiP ratES

$70 Single (Australia and overseas)$90 Dual (Australia and overseas)$95 Libraries (Australia and overseas)$35 Concession (full-time students under 26, pensioners

and unemployed with ID, Seniors Card not included)

adVErtiSiNG ratES

TAASA Review welcomes advertisements from appropriate companies, institutions and individuals. Rates below are GST inclusive.

Back page $850Full inner page $725Half page horizontal $484Third page (vertical or horizontal) $364Half column $265Insert $300

For further information re advertising, including discounts for regular quarterly advertising, please contact [email protected] tHE dEadliNE for all artiClES

FOr OUr NEXT ISSUE IS 1 JULy 2014

tHE dEadliNE for all adVErtiSiNG

FOr OUr NEXT ISSUE IS 1 AUGUST 2014

E d i t o r i a l

Josefa Green, Editor

3

t a a S a C o m m i t t E E

This June issue is quite a contrast to the March TAASA Review, which focused on historical collections held by the various royal houses of Asia. This issue has a much more modern feel, and its emphasis on East Asia is particularly appropriate given that we can look forward to two major exhibitions on Japan in the coming months.

Our opening article is Khanh Trinh’s preview of Theatre of dreams, Theatre of play - nō and kyōgen in Japan, on show at the AGNSW from 14 June. Though a wide range of exhibits will be on display, Khanh’s article explores one particular aspect: nōga or painted and printed images depicting various aspects of this performing tradition.

Soon after, the NGV will be presenting Bushido: Way of the Samurai, which will offer fascinating insight into the life and preoccupations of this warrior élite. Wayne Crothers gives us a taste of what we can expect to see - including a truly fabulous Edo period suit of armour.

To flesh out our Japanese offerings, we have two shorter pieces. Wendy Ella Wright gives us a personal account of her four days spent with ceramic artist Yoshikawa Masamichi, acting as his interpreter during his Master classes at the Australian Ceramics Triennale, Subversive Clay, held in Adelaide in 2012. Russell Kelty describes a current display at AGSA which showcases over 40 works from a private collection of contemporary Japanese ceramics together with ceramics, prints and sculptures from the Gallery’s own collection.

As this is after all a general issue, there are wider topics on offer, a number covering Chinese themes. Liwanna Chan writes about a very vibrant and colourful peasant painting movement emerging in the late 1970s in Jinshan near Shanghai, which essentially transferred artistic folk traditions such as jianzhi (paper cut techniques) and embroidery into the painting medium.

Looking back to the Ming, John Millbank’s article discusses a major innovation in building construction – namely temples built entirely of brick with arches and vaulted ceilings rather than the more traditional timber framework. About half of the dozen known examples of these ‘beamless halls’ are the work of a monk called Miaofeng. John speculates on what motivated him to construct these buildings, and why less

durable wooden structures remained the primary architectural form in China.

And finally on Chinese themes, Jocelyn Chey reviews a recent book by Kirk Denton on the role of museums in contemporary China, and how the representation of China’s past is changing as Chinese society evolves.

Architectural innovation is also the focus of another article in this issue, this time of the 20th century Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, who developed a style of architecture which melded vernacular architectural forms with inspiration drawn from historical prototypes and Sri Lanka’s natural environment. Sabrina Snow and Ann Proctor were lucky enough to stay in a number of Bawa designed hotels in their recent visit to Sri Lanka, and we can share their wonderful experiences.

Staying in the 20th century, and SE Asia, Sahul Hamid covers a very particular period in Indonesian history when a Socialist Realist form of art was used to promote the revolutionary agenda of the Sukarno regime in the late 50s and early 60s. He gives us a detailed account of the way in which individuals and organisations were co-opted to adopt this art style to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the population.

Emerging from a long period of State control over the creation of much of their art, Central Asian artists have made a strong impact at the recent Art Dubai fair held in March. Each year, Art Dubai reserves space to highlight a particular theme or geography. In his article, Asher Kohn walks us through the curated space which this year covered the diverse output of artists from Central Asia and the Caucasus as represented by five galleries from the region.

In past TAASA Reviews, we have tried to present interesting but less well known collections of Asian art. In this issue, the ANU Classics Collection is highlighted by Elizabeth Minchin, its honorary curator. It comprises about 650 items from the Greco-Roman world, whose culture influenced a vast region from Great Britain in the west to Syria and Iraq in the east.

Finally, TAASA held its AGM on 14 May where a number of existing Committee members stood down and new ones were welcomed. Details will be provided in the September issue of the TAASA Review.

GiLL Green • PrESIdENT

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

Ann ProCtor • VIcE PrESIdENT

Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

todd SundermAn • TrEASUrEr

Former Asian antique dealer, with a particular interest in Tibetan furniture

dy AndreASen • SEcrETAry

Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry

HWEi-fE’N CHEaH

Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian National University.

matt Cox

Assistant Curator, Asian Art, Art Gallery of NSW

CHarlottE GalloWay

Lecturer Asian Art History and Curatorial Studies, Australian National University, with a special interest in the Buddhist Art of Myanmar

JoSEfa GrEEN

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese ceramics

aNN GUild

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

miN-JUNG Kim Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

yUKiE Sato

Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art and culture

SUSaN SCollay

Art historian and curator specialising in the arts of Islam and in historic textiles. She is Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of the UK.

CHriStiNa SUmNEr

Former Principal Curator, Design and Society,Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

marGarEt WHitE

Former President and Advisor of the Friends of Museums, Singapore, with special interest in Southeast Asian art, ceramics and textiles

S t a t E r E P r E S E N t a t i V E S

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

mElaNiE EaStBUrN

Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

QUEENSLAND

rUSSEll StorEr

Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

JamES BENNEtt

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

VICTORIA

Carol CaiNS

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

4

ō (literally ‘skill’ or ‘talent’, also spelled ‘noh’), Japan’s oldest continuous

performing art tradition, can best be described as a ‘total stage art’ that involves vocal and instrument music, dance elements, acting techniques, architecture and applied arts. The roots of nō trace back to 8th century court entertainments, ritual dances offered in agricultural festivals as well as various forms of skits and acrobatic acts presented by travelling troupes of performers at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines on auspicious occasions.

In the 14th century, Kan’ami Kiyotsugu (1333–84) and his son, the celebrated actor, playwright and theoretician Zeami Motokiyo (c1363-c1443) consolidated these various popular entertainments to develop a highly sophisticated theatrical form that appealed to the social elite.

Throughout its formative phase in the Muromachi period (1333-1573) and especially in the Edo period (1603-1868), the production and enjoyment of nō performances – which usually consisted of various dramatic nō plays interspersed with humoristic kyōgen interludes – was almost exclusively reserved for members of the ruling military aristocracy. This privileged patronage provided the five main nō schools with secure income and access to high quality performing tools such as costumes and masks. but it also meant that members of the various nō troupes, as opposed to their counterparts from the kabuki theatre, did not have to rely on marketing through visual media in order to sustain their activities. Consequently, this might explain why in contrast to painted and printed kabuki images, which have survived in abundance, ‘nō pictures’ (nōga or nō-e) are rather rare resulting in

their fairly unknown status within Japanese art historical discourse.

Theatre of dreams, theatre of play, an exhibition examining the rich material culture of nō theatre organised by the Art Gallery of NSW in collaboration with the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan and the Japan Arts Council (National Noh Theatre) will shed more light on this intriguing pictorial genre. For the first time, a separate section in a nō exhibition is dedicated to nōga. Besides sumptuous robes, captivating masks and elaborately decorated music instruments, about one fourth of the 170 exhibits are folding screens, hanging and hand scrolls and albums, as well as compendiums of woodblock prints that

vividly depict various aspects of this time-honoured performing tradition. Through the discussion of select highlights this article will explore the diverse stylistic and compositional modes surrounding nō paintings and prints, as well as the socio-historical context of their production and consumption.

Measuring only 16.6 cm high (but stretching over 7 m long!), the handscroll Hyakuman is arguably the biggest ‘star’ among the paintings in the exhibition for its rarity as well as its early date. The play is attributed to Zeami, who adapted it from an older version written by his father entitled The craze woman of Saga. The protagonist of the piece, a woman named Hyakuman, went mad with grief

4

N

Pa i N t i N G t H E t H E a t r E : NŌ P i C t U r E S a t t H E a G N S W

Khanh Trinh

TA A S A r E V I E w V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2

NŌ PErformaNCE, MId EdO PErIOd, 18TH cENTUry, SIX-PANEL FOLdING ScrEEN, INk ANd cOLOUr ON GOLd GrOUNd, 72 X 227 cM. NATIONAL NOH THEATrE

‘iNUyamaBUSHi’ from tHE alBUm ILLuSTRATIONS Of OLd Nō ANd kYōgEN, EArLy EdO PErIOd,

17TH cENTUry, INk ANd cOLOUr ON PAPEr, 44.4 X 59.5 cM. NATIONAL NOH THEATrE

5TA A S A r E V I E w V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2

over the loss of her young son and wandered around the country in search of the boy. One day, as she drew attention with her delirious dancing and chanting at an incantation ceremony for the Amida buddha at the Seiryō temple in Saga (near Kyoto), a priest took pity on her and enquired about the reasons for her deranged emotional state. It turned out that the madwoman’s son had been rescued and raised by the priest in all this time. The play ends with the joyful reunion of mother and child, and Hyakuman, having regained her sanity, offers a dance to thank the Buddha.

Hyakuman’s heart-wrenching story is retold in 16 text passages written in a fluid, semi-cursive calligraphic style and illustrated by 16 jewel-like images painted with vibrant colour. The text excerpts are taken directly from Zeami’s play; their positioning in alternate order with the illustrations follows the compositional convention of medieval illustrated narrative handscrolls. The illustrations, while showing influences of the native painting style Yamato-e in the depiction of the figures and architecture, are imbued with a naïve, untrammelled flair and seem to have been carried out by a professional town painter (or

painting workshop). The relative small size of the scroll further indicates that this work belongs to the group of illustrated fairy tales (otogizōshi emaki) and illustrated woodblock printed books or handscrolls (nara ehon) which circulated among the wider populace in the Muromachi to mid-Edo period. Besides Hyakuman, which was recently discovered and purchased by the National Noh Theatre, only four other handscrolls with illustrated nō plays are known today. They open up a new, exciting field of research for art historians.

The more common extant nō pictures are not in this format but rather depict a performance on stage or a particular scene in a given play. The oldest depictions of nō and kyōgen as staged performances are seen in folding screens portraying the noted ‘scenes in and around the capital (Kyoto)’ (rakuchū rakugaizu) or the bustling atmosphere of festivals at temples and shrines (saireizu) that emerged from the beginning of the 16th century. While they are usually only tiny vignettes in such sweeping, richly detailed cityscapes and festival screens, nō stages can still be discerned as located within temple or shrine precincts, underlining the historical roots of nō as a performance within a religious context.

As exemplified in the leaf ‘Inuyamabushi’ from the early 17th century album Illustrations of old nō and kyōgen, the standard mode of representation of early performances, held outdoor on an open, raised platform, prescribed a bird’s-eye view of the stage. This offered an all-encompassing outlook onto the action onstage and the audience, which up to that time comprised commoners from a broad spectrum of society. The lively depictions of the nō and kyōgen theatre in this album share similarities with early Edo period genre paintings that portrayed scenes of amusement in aristocratic residences as well as the more popular showgrounds on the banks of the Kamo river in Kyoto, where the first form of the kabuki theatre was shown.

From the reign of the second Tokugawa shogun Hidetada (r. 1605-23), nō was declared the official entertainment of the military aristocracy. Works from this era reflect this exclusivity, with their inclusion within a painting genre showing leisure activities hosted at noble mansions referred to as teinai yūrakuzu. Performances were either conducted within domestic settings in which spectators were seated in a room adjacent to the ‘stage’, or more commonly, on a purpose-

ComPENdiUm of NŌ PiCtUrES, MId EdO PErIOd, 18TH cENTUry, ALBUM wITH 50 ILLUSTrATIONS, INk ANd cOLOUr ON SILk, 37 X 45.5 cM EAcH. NATIONAL NOH THEATrE

6 TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2

built structure in the garden of palaces or other residences of high-ranking personalities.

On occasion, renowned artists from the Tosa or Kano lineage in the service of the nobility were ordered to attend special performances and thereafter produced commemorative paintings. The sumptuous six-fold screen Nō performance is an impressive example of such celebratory works. It illustrates a highlight from Act II of the first-category ‘god’ play Naniwa, when the goddess Konohana Sakuyahime and the ghost of the scholar Ōnin perform the main dance act to orchestral accompaniment. Four stage assistants, the chorus, the subsidiary actor and his two companions complete the ensemble. The blossoming cherry branches in the low centre of the screen, as well as the audience of numerous noblewomen (identifiable by their cloak-like veils) and young children, indicate that this work records one of the performances conducted annually in spring in the Imperial palace for the enjoyment of the court ladies.

Visualisations of such nō performances possess great appeal and are of high artistic quality. But they are also treasured as visual records of the evolution of the nō theatre through the centuries. For example, a comparison of the early 17th century album with the 18th century six-fold screen already reveals the shift in the social composition of the audience from a general populace to a more specific, élite circle. More remarkable is the change in stage architecture. While temple festival performances in the formative stage of nō were outdoor and on temporarily installed raised platforms, a complex architecture involving a main playing area covered by a roof and connected to a backstage area through a roofed bridgeway can be seen on representations of performances occurring from the late 16th century onwards. The stage seen in the six-fold screen thus accurately shows the standard stage construction that is still in use today.

Another major group of nō pictures comprise those with much simpler composition that focus solely on the main actor, captured in interaction with the supporting characters in

a key moment of a play. Usually collected in albums and handscrolls conducive for a more intimate viewing, these compendiums were privately commissioned for nō connoisseurs, with the more sumptuously produced deluxe anthologies handed down in daimyo households. During the Edo period daimyo were not only the principal patrons of the various nō schools, but were themselves devoted students of the theatre.

The album illustrated here for example (p5) consists of the highlights of 50 nō and kyōgen plays painted with utmost detailed brushwork, great attention to the textile designs and vibrant, costly pigments. It belonged formerly to the Mizuno clan, lords of the Ozaki domain (present-day Aichi prefecture) and is attributed to Sumiyoshi Gukei (1631-1705), a noted painter of the illustrious Sumiyoshi school. The composition is largely standardised, showing the actors as abstracted patterns set against a blank background. The performers are depicted as generic figures without individual physiognomic traits, indicating a strong interest in the accurate rendition of the pose and costuming rather than the actor’s stage presence.

This approach contrasts markedly with kabuki images, in which the actor’s fashion sense and bearings offstage were considered as interesting and important as his onstage persona. No such cultish adoration of the individual existed for nō and kyōgen performers at this time, and consequently the highlights of a specific nō (or kyōgen) play were not depicted to promote the ‘star-status’ of actors and boost ticket sales. In general, anthologies such as the Mizuno album might have served as resources for the selection of plays for one-day programs or visual reference works in the identification of the over 200 plays in the repertoire at that time. They were also appreciated as works of art in their own right.

nō risked becoming a passé art form in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 when the patronage for many traditional artistic expressions was threatened due to the abolition of the feudal system. Thanks to the efforts of statesman Iwakura Tomomi (1825–83), nō experienced a revival and

even gained prestigious imperial patronage from 1881 onwards with the foundation of the nōgaku Society and the construction of the nō Hall in the Shiba district of Tokyo where public performances were held. This renewed interest in nō was echoed in the visual arts, most notably in the works of the painters and print designers Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–89), Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–92), and Yoshitoshi’s pupil and adopted son Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869–1927).

Kōgyo, in particular, has earned the accolade of a ‘modern painter of nō’ based on his prolific output of more than 70 paintings, five sets of prints (totalling over 700 individual designs) and hundreds of magazine illustrations and postcards relating to this theme. Kōgyo’s life-long passion was ignited by an attendance at a nō performance staged in honour of the visit of the Russian crown prince Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917) in 1883.

For Kōgyo, studying the patterns and colour schemes of the costumes, the abstract quality of the masks and the movements of the actors on stage was essential for the creation of elegant figure paintings. between 1897 and his death in 1927, Kōgyo collaborated with Matsuki Heikichi of the Daikokuya, one of the leading publishing houses in Meiji-period Japan to produce large, luxurious print series such as Pictures of nō plays (1897–1902), One hundred nō plays (1922–27), and A great mirror of nō pictures (1920–30). While in essence relying on the conventional repertoire of nō imagery, Kōgyo modernised his images with numerous innovative compositional devices, some influenced by Western styles. It has been posited that these sumptuous editions demonstrate a last concerted effort on the part of publisher and artist to generate renewed interest in traditional art forms – ukiyo-e prints and nō theatre – in an age of increasing modernisation.

Theatre of dreams, Theatre of play - nō and kyōgen in Japan is on show at the AGNSW June 14 to September 14. The exhibition will close on July 28-30 for a change over.

dr khanh Trinh is curator of Japanese Art at the

AGNSw.

illUStratEd HaNdSCroll of tHE NŌ Play HYAkuMAN (dEtail), MUrOMAcHI PErIOd, 16TH cENTUry, HANdScrOLL, INk ANd cOLOUr ON PAPEr, 16.6 X 738.1 cM. NATIONAL NOH THEATrE

7TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2

n the latter part of the 20th century, rural workers, untrained in modern artistic

traditions, seized on a potent mix of economic and social factors to catalyse one of China’s most important contemporary art movements.

A new form of apolitical peasant painting emerged in the late 1970s in Jinshan, south of Shanghai, Zhejiang province. Jinshan is one of the well known beautiful southern water villages. The spectacular landscape and rich natural resources may have inspired its people and cultivated their love for art. This new genre is distinct in subject matter and style from previous peasant painting movements such as the brief surge of politically motivated Pixian Wall Mural painting in Jiangsu Province during the 1958 Great Leap Forward, and the more sophisticated Huxian peasant painting in Shaanxi Province which aimed to popularise the sciences through art towards the end of the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution.

Following the implementation of the ‘Open Door’ policy in China in the late 1970s, artists in various media had more freedom to choose their themes. The favourable economic environment created opportunities for them to question all areas of art practice. For contemporary revolutionary artists the focus on indigenous art was a catalyst to challenge conservative art concepts by questioning the validity of the traditional art regime. For the traditionalists, it acted as a means to resist the influx of contemporary trends (Pan 1986: 12-13). Zou Hanzhong, a folk art researcher, claims that no period in Chinese art history has embraced folk arts in such an extensive and spontaneous manner as the 1980s (Zuo 1992).

In 1984, folk arts were showcased by the Chinese Artists’ Association at the 6th National Art Exhibition as a way to promote and raise artistic awareness of rural people. This exhibition featured many Jinshan peasant paintings that evoked jianzhi (or paper cut techniques) and embroidery and effectively represented a new hybridised form of contemporary art. Jinshan’s folk art, though not unique in China, is highly varied and rich. Inspired by its artistic folk traditions, it also drew from the energy of the economically enriched 1980s (Wu, T. 1982:41-43). Its folk art repertoire includes indigo blue printed textiles, batik, intricately carved wooden furniture, rich

and vibrant embroidery, wall paintings and highly decorative jianzhi. These traditions are inseparable from the peoples’ lives and are ubiquitous during festivals and special events such as wedding and birthday celebrations. The origins of the Jinshan painting movement can be traced to 1972. Professor Wu Tongzhang, a Shanghai based painter and stage designer, was assigned to the rural area of Jinshan to teach art and learn from the peasant farmers as part of the ‘back to the country side’ campaign. At the local Community centre, two farmers had produced a set of artworks about their village history which were admired by many including Wu, who believed that much of contemporary urban art was highly skilled but lacked vitality (Wu 1982: 41).

The Pixian peasant art movement had been launched in the 1950s to promote political awareness throughout the country, in the belief that a strengthened ideology would lead to rapid modernisation. It had been accompanied by the slogan, ‘Everyone is an artist’. Workers were expected to utilise various art forms, although not technically refined, to honour the achievements of the community (Jizhe 1958: 13).

Wu believed this philosophy was at odds with the production of true art: not everyone can be an artist. However, he recognised the artistic potential of the peasants due to their long folk art tradition, with established tastes and strong rural themes, and made it his mission to develop peasant painting and coach the peasant painters.

After the political regime changed in 1976, allowing a freer expression of art, Wu encouraged local folk artists to showcase their creations. The beauty of the local embroidery, jianzhi and other handicrafts such as ceramics, lacquer painting, brick carving and toy making, astounded Wu. Richly varied embroidery subjects were realistically executed yet exaggerated, with an emphasis on the objects’ distinguishing features. Dazzling colours were not necessarily confined to those found in nature. Their jianzhi were aesthetically decorative, symbolic and intricately cut.

Wu believed these artists, particularly the rural women talented in weaving, embroidery and paper cutting, could transfer this creativity to painting. Because painting was a new medium to these artists, he believed

I

J i N S H a N P E a S a N t Pa i N t i N G i N C H i N a

Liwanna Chan SNaKES, LU yONG, 1980’S, PAINTING, 75 X 69cM, ZHIJIANG PrOVINcE.

SOUrcE: JINSHAN PEASANT PAINTINGS, cHINA TOdAy PrESS, 1991


this could free them from preconceptions, and give full play to their artistic creativity. He also believed one must search intensely within one’s local culture, whilst aiming to make the old serve the new.

Wu initiated classes that did not require the peasants to learn basics such as perspective and composition, but instead concentrate on the aesthetic. Wu hoped this approach would elicit their ability to create from their hearts and to convey an earthy essence of their locality, feeling that without this expression their works would lack strength and vitality. Women could use the same colour mixing skills applied to threads for their embroidery, and patterns could be composed in a similar way to jianzhi.

Thus, Jinshan folk artists substituted their fabric with paper, their needles with brushes, and coloured cotton threads with paint. They valued teachers who understood their way of life, feelings and aesthetic ideology and who allowed them to follow their artistic imagination. In peasant paintings, the emphasis of the work is on elements of life. In their early successes the Jinshan painters did not follow typical academic methods to cultivate their art, but instead painted according to their own cultural system (Hua 1984: 11). The result was a distinctive regional contemporary stylistic art form.

The wide range of themes in Jinshan peasant painting captured the new phenomena and events of the rural area after the 1980s

- reforestation of barren hills, natural methods of animal husbandry, biogas, scientific farming, and new housing - as well as retaining traditional subjects such as weddings, harvest celebrations and festivals. Painters presented everyday life subjects vividly in centuries-old Chinese folk styles, at times transforming ordinary events into grossly exaggerated metaphors according to their imagination (Hua 1984:11). Figures and objects may seem rather ‘primitive’ in style. The artists used a wide range of rich vibrant colours, painting with tempera mixed with chalk on xuan paper, which was then pasted onto heavier paper.

Spatial realism and perspective were unimportant, and various views from different perspectives could be depicted within the one image. Distance was not conveyed through variation in size or shades of light but instead through the conceptual representation of the image and the distance between the flat object and space.

Another special feature of Jinshan peasant painting is the fusing of different time frames and spaces in order to focus on distinct aspects of peasant life, adapting the robust and exaggerated style of jianzhi to painting. Painters abstract subjects and surroundings, for example, a cup might be represented by a circle for the rim and a horizontal line for the base. This allows the cup to stand. Objects’ functions, as well as their appearance, are relevant in peasant paintings, but the final aesthetic effect is paramount.

Jinshan peasant painting is inspired by familiar loved objects, local activities, legends, surroundings and customs. This is typical of works by artist Ruan Sidi such as “Chicken”, where Jianzhi influences include the two-dimensional arrangement, and the vibrant colours mirror her embroidery expertise. Born in 1906, Ruan Sidi learned the art of jianzhi at age 13, and also went on to become a skilled embroider and weaver. She commenced painting in October 1979, producing works that attracted numerous national and international prizes.

The jianzhi influences are even more pervasive in ‘The Snakes’ by Lu Yong. The typical jianzhi saw-tooth pattern appears throughout the entire image. The objects are painted in a two dimensional format with strong contrasting primary colours of blue and red. The positive and negative spaces are well balanced.

Similarly, Zhang’s ‘A Corner in the Kitchen’, has jianzhi stylistic elements and draws its inspiration from daily life. The painting consists of clean-cut edged objects contrasted against a plain-blue table top background. Amongst them is a pottery tea set patterned with blue and white designs that were popular in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644CE).

A red cloth - the colour for good omen - is wrapped over the top of the vessel and tied with coloured ribbon, as wine is typically presented in China. The vessel is also decorated with two bats, which symbolise longevity (shou). A three-tiered steamer of decorated buns

a CorNEr iN tHE KitCHEN, ZHANG XINyING, 1980’S, PAINTING, 57 X 61cM, ZHIJIANG PrOVINcE.


fiSHiNG VillaGE, TAO LINPING, 1980’S, PAINTING, 55 X 64.5cM. ZHIJIANG PrOVINcE.



symbolises abundant life. Two dishes of fish and chicken are decorated with a red jianzhi, as is customary for special occasions. The two lobsters - in the form of jianzhi - denote good luck and reflect a Chinese cultural preference for items in pairs. Every item in this image is grounded in Chinese culture.

In the style of jianzhi, the objects are depicted in a bold and exaggerated manner, and arranged in an orderly, two dimensional fashion on a flat surface. Repetition of corresponding patterns for the lobster’s tentacles, legs and body, with gracefully curving lines are apparent. The darker items under the table fade against the lighter background, but are skillfully backed with a black area to ensure their clarity. The painting is well composed with the objects statically placed to fill the entire space of the support.

‘Fishing Village’ by Tao Linping evokes the painter’s home environment. Houses in white with dark roofs and up-turned eves mimic the typical style of the southern river area. A series of bridges connects the opposing river banks dotted with people and boats. Symmetrical patterns with harmonizing tones in shades of blue create a simple but imposing image.

‘A Boat receiving the Bride’ by Chen Weixiong is a joyous painting that depicts a marriage. On her wedding day, the bride, wearing a

traditional veil which will be lifted by the bridegroom in the wedding chamber, is being escorted to her future husband’s home in a boat along the canal, accompanied by her family and friends with musicians and her dowry wrapped in blue and white cloth. The image is decorated with auspicious symbols such as the double happiness character in red, and bamboo for peace in the boat. The fish (yu) is homophonetic with the word ‘surplus’ signifying the abundant supply of food. Lotus (lian) begets children. The treatment of the painting reveals jianzhi influence similar to ‘A Corner in the Kitchen’, with full circles for round objects and two dimensional in style.

These paintings show how Jinshan painters sought to recreate the world as it appeared to them, and to communicate the essence of familiar objects, customs and legends. By combining their perceptions of objects at different times, different places and from different viewpoints they created arresting compositions (Cao 1991: 2).

Jinshan painters seized on a new, economically enriched era to truly make ‘the old serve the new’. Renamed ‘contemporary folk art’ in 1985 by art critic Chao Zengfeng, their paintings were promoted in exhibitions, featured in books and included in renowned art journals. They, and especially the women,

had developed a new style of contemporary painting by adapting age old folk art traditions to their modern life. In these works, primitivism and contemporary art find common ground. Jinshan painters bolstered their existing skills and concepts with tuition from professional artists, who traveled to rural areas during the1960s and early 1970s.

Currently, there are about 300 full time painters working in Jinshan, mainly in the dedicated farmer painter village of Fengjing water town, and though many of this new generation of folk painters have never farmed in their lives, their paintings still represent the culmination of generations of collective traditions, reflecting the culture and beliefs of Jinshan rural people.

Liwanna chan is a community Ambassador and

workshop presenter at the Art Gallery of New South

wales.

rEfErENCESHua, J. 1984: rural changes in Peasant Paintings. China

Reconstructs, 11.

Jizhe (staff reporter). 1958: Nongmin zenyang xuehui chuangzuo.

Meishu, 9.

Pan, d. 1986: Zai yaa yu su de dui liu zhong. Meishu, 4.

wu, T. 1982: Jinshan nongmin hua de daolu. Meishu, 8.

chao, Z. 1991: The peasants’ paintings in Jinshan. china Today Press.

Zuo, H. 1992: Zhongguo minjian yishu. Hunan meishu chubanshe.

a Boat rECEiViNG tHE BridE, cHEN wEIXIONG, 1980’S, PAINTING, 64.5 X 43.5cM, ZHIJIANG PrOVINcE. SOUrcE: JINSHAN PEASANT PAINTINGS, cHINA TOdAy PrESS, 1991


he art and culture of the samurai encompasses over 800 years of Japan’s

history and creative past. From the 12th century through to the Meiji Restoration and modernisation of Japan in 1868 the Shogun, regional lords and their warrior retainers ruled the country and lived to a rigorous code of ethics. This military aristocracy aspired to a life of spiritual harmony that not only perfected the art of war but also embodied an appreciation of the fine arts that established their life as an art form itself.

The exhibition Bushido: Way of the Samurai will introduce samurai as both warriors and men of refined culture. It will showcase the armaments and attire of the samurai with suits of armour, swords, guns, helmets and horse saddles, display the cultural pursuits of samurai in the form of Noh costumes, calligraphic scrolls, lacquer objects and tea utensils and re-live the epic tales of samurai through representations of historical events in large screen paintings and dramatic woodblock prints.

The origins of samurai culture can be traced back to ancient ceramic figures of warriors and actual surviving suits of heavy armour from the Kofun era (300–710CE). However, it was during the Heian period (794–1185) that individual warrior clans developed a characteristic style of Japanese armour and weaponry that has come to universally represent samurai culture. The exhibition includes two suits of armour, three sets of saddles and stirrups, a complete set of horse trappings and several lacquered hats that were some of the first Japanese items acquired by the NGV in the 1880’s.

The two suits of armour represent the two main Japanese historical styles. The Tosei gusoku style armour gifted by Mrs Henry Darlot, the widow of one of Victoria’s first pastoralists, represents modern armour constructed from large iron plates that developed during the 1500s due to the advent of fire arms and need for bullet proof protection. The Kozane gusoku old fashioned style armour acquired from an unrecorded source in 1889, was produced during the Edo period (1600-15–1868) as modern light weight armour, but created in the style of 11th or 12th century cavalry armour with scales joined with gradating tones of blue lace and an elaborate helmet featuring golden horns, wakidate kuwagata, and large turn back deflectors, fukigaishi, on either side of the helmet.

Also acquired during the same period are three sets of horse saddles and matching stirrups decorated with ornate taka maki-e relief lacquered designs. Japanese saddles and stirrups have a distinctive style different from those used in Europe. They were coated in ornate lacquer designs of auspicious, authoritative or literary association and along with armour and other accessories were a further extension of the samurai’s noble image and individual personality. Research on the NGV saddles has dated them to the early Edo period with possible re-lacquering undertaken during the late Edo period (early 19th century). The earliest saddle inscribed with the year Kan’ei 19 (1642) features a motif of twisting vines with berries. The next inscribed Kambun 5 (1665), displays red-crowned cranes and turtles, the symbols of good fortune and longevity, and plum blossoms over a cascading waterfall. The latest saddle inscribed Kambun 10 (1670), features a thunderous dragon amongst lighting clutching the magical jewel in its claws and a samurai general’s battlefield fans on the stirrups.

The sword is often called the ‘soul of the samurai’ and was deemed sacred as one of the symbols of Japan. Japanese mastery of metal smithing reached its zenith with the production of samurai swords and sword fittings. On display in the Bushido exhibition is a magnificent selection of swords and sword fittings from the collection of Colin McDonald. Accompanying the swords will be a collection of sword guards that was acquired by the Felton Bequest and gifted to the gallery between 1916 and 1924. These beautifully cast, engraved and inlayed metal objects are can be solid or of open metal work design. Their decoration can be viewed as an encyclopaedia of Japanese legends, folk law and nature observation with subjects featuring landscapes, immortals and mythological beasts as well beautiful compositions of flowers, plants, grasses and animals. Swords ruled the battlefield through the

medieval period of Japan until matchlock guns or arquebus were introduced in 1543. News and examples of this new wondrous technology were quick to circulate with regional lords soon adapting Japan’s long tradition of metal smithing to re-produce these new weapons of war. Within a few decades their use on battlefield had irrevocably changed warfare and the ethics of samurai in battle forever.

From this early period of gun production are two long barrelled teppo matchlock arquebus and a heavy barrelled ozutsu, colourfully known in English as hand cannon, purchased and gifted to the NGV by the Felton Bequest in 1927. Due to exquisitely inlayed, engraved and applied decoration it is evident these amazing guns were not produced solely as armaments for the battlefield but also as flamboyant items for high ranking samurai. Along the length of the first arquebus are delicately inlayed designs

T

B U S H i d o : W a y o f t H E S a m U r a i

Wayne Crothers armoUr, JAPANESE, EdO PErIOd (1600-15–1868), LAcQUEr, LEATHEr, METAL,

SILk, cOTTON, HEMP, GOLd PIGMENT, 144.0 X 71.0 X 53.0 cM. NATIONAL GALLEry

OF VIcTOrIA, MELBOUrNE. AcQUIrEd 1889


tHE dEatH of KUSUNoKi maSatSUra, UTAGAwA yOSHITSUyA(19TH cENTUry), cOLOUr wOOdBLOck (TrIPTycH), 36.4 X 74.0 cM (OVErALL), NATIONAL GALLEry OF VIcTOrIA, MELBOUrNE, PUrcHASEd, 1993

of irises, flowing water, flying sparrows and butterfly and on the other, dancing shishi lion dogs with peony flowers.

The gun featuring lion dogs importantly displays the family crest of Oda Nobunaga on both the barrel and butt. Nobunaga is regarded as first in a line of military rulers who unified Japan during the mid to late 16th century and one of the first military strategists to embrace the production of firearms and their use on the battlefield. Ultimately, his ritual suicide after a coup d’état by one of his own generals in the Honnō-ji incident of 1582 brought an end to his family line and the use of the family crest and hence dates this weapon to the era of early Japanese gun production before 1582. The imposing ozutsu is decorated with engraved dragons and swirling clouds along the length of its barrel and features the inscriptions Tenshō Gannen (1573), Protector of the Matsudaira clan and the three hollyhock leaf crest of the Tokugawa clan (formerly Matsudaira clan) who became allied with Oda Nobunaga in 1560.

The frantic frontline of battle is brought to life in a large double folding screen on loan from the Art Gallery of South Australia. One of the great war epics in Japanese history, The Tale of Heike, narrates the Genpei War and the monumental struggle between two warring clans, the Minamoto and Taira from 1180 to 1185. The screens on display illustrate the dramatic events that took place at the battle of Ichinotani.

Other episodes from samurai legends will be brought to life through colourful and dramatic woodblock prints that were popular during

the closing years of the Edo and early Meiji periods. These images of blood and bravery include some of Kuniyoshi’s warriors from his 47 Ronin series, Yoshitoshi’s depictions of samurai battling to preserve the Tokugawa feudal system at the Kumamoto uprising and The suicide of Saigō Takamori (Takamori often being referred to as ‘the last true samurai’).

In an adrenaline filled print by Yoshitsuya The death of Kuasnoki Masatsura we can see the famous 14th century general Kusunoki and two fellow warriors battling thought a storm of arrows at the battle of Sakainoura in 1348. In the poetic tradition of many samurai, Kusunoki composed a death poem before this fateful final battle that may have influenced this melodramatic moment as envisaged by the artist.

I have a feelingI will not be returning,so among the namesof those who died by the bowI inscribe my own.

Dedicated warriors who risked their lives in battle cultivated a consciousness for living life as richly as possible, and hence a deep reverence for the arts and literature. Not only were they skilled swordsmen and archers, they were also great patrons of the masked Noh theatre, and famous for their practice of Zen philosophy, calligraphy and tea ceremony. Noh robes on display will include an Atsuita costume worn mainly for male roles, with an overall alternating block design featuring auspicious symbols and a Kariginu costume worn for female roles that displays a detailed overall motif of autumn flowers and

grasses. Accompanying the robes will be Noh masks that represent the three main groups of characters that appear in the Noh theatre: male and female humans, ghosts and spirits and supernatural beings.

The Samurai were renowned custodians of classical literature; they took great pleasure in the sophisticated noble pastimes of falconry, incense and poetry games, and the tea ceremony. During the Muromachi period (1333–1568) a formal style of tea was practiced that preserved ties to Chinese tea culture and the use of Chinese tea ware. This older practice of tea is presented in the fine green Longquan tea bowl and the dark oil spot glazed Jian tea bowl in the exhibition. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1615) innovative tea masters like Sen no Rikyu and his disciple Furuta Oribe, who was high ranking samurai himself, established a new and uniquely Japanese style of tea known as wabi-cha that used rustic and irregular shaped tea bowls. Raku style bowls with red and black glazed surfaces were created through collaboration between Rikyu himself and the potter Chōjirō, and Oribe style tea bowls were designed and decorated in the taste of Furuta Oribe featuring whimsical and often abstracted nature designs.

After many years in storage these magnificent items along with other treasures of samurai culture will be on display at the NGV from 4 July to 4 November, 2014.

wayne crothers is curator Asian Art, National

Gallery of Victoria


aking over the grounds of Madinat Jumeirah (one of the Persian Gulf’s largest hotels) for

four days every March, Art Dubai has become one of the world’s foremost art fairs. Now in its eighth year, Art Dubai sequesters a portion of its wallspace for Marker, a curated, thematic program of booth exhibitions and educational initiatives. Amid its acres of commercial gallery space and plethora of workshops, performances and tours, Art Dubai touts Marker as a ‘site of discovery and cross-cultural exchange’, each year devoted to a particular theme or geography.

Slavs and Tatars, the renowned artists’ collective that concentrates on the space between the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall, curated Marker this year. They placed the spotlight on the arts of Central Asia and the Caucasus and enlisted the creative energies and input of five galleries: Asia Art + (Almaty, Kazakhstan), Yarat (Baku, Azerbaijan), the North Caucasus Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art (Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, Russia), Art East (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) and the Popiashvili Gvaberidze Windows Project (Tbilisi, Georgia), to put together a wide-ranging show that revealed and explored the complexity and diversity of Central Asia and environs. Conceived as a ‘regime of portraiture’, this year’s Marker determined to exhibit ‘faces, places and traces’ representative of the region, bringing Central Asian art to a broader audience.

Slavs and Tatars were at pains to point out that while the region may be regarded as something of a backwater and is little known in contemporary art circles, Central Asian art has always been a central part of the global artistic conversation. Most scholarship on Central Asian art examines its contributions to Russian, Iranian, Indian, or Chinese art. Otherwise, academic research and art criticism tends to freeze the region’s art in a permanent pre-modern zone, focusing on what makes these art works peculiarly Central Asian, but very rarely going into depth about how artists from the region enter a dialogue with their own past and with foreign artistic counterparts.

Central Asia has been known predominantly for its textiles, handicrafts and antiques; bright fields of colour, bold textures and distinctive motifs tended to prevail historically. Such cultural tropes have dominated, but there are plenty of exceptions. In fact, modern art in Central Asian is also notable for updating

and subverting traditional cultural modes. The role of modern art (defined as art from the 1950s through to the early 21st century) in this context has not been simply to amuse or astound, but also to question prevailing political narratives – socialism, nationalism – or to enforce or subvert cultural storylines.

In their curatorial capacity at this year’s Marker, Slavs and Tatars applied an ‘anti-modern’ aesthetic, whereby they celebrate both traditional art and clever co-options of that art. In Central Asia there exists plenty of art that is timeless, but this should not be understood in some ahistorical, camels-and-carpets sort of way. Timelessness is rather about embracing an artistic tradition, one that is passed between people in space (from house to house, neighbourhood to neighbourhood, city to city) rather than through time. The ‘anti-modernism’ present at Marker is not a cliché but rather a conversation Central Asian artists are having with each other, in the context of the Soviet cultural and political framework they have lived within for generations, and their ‘arrival’ into a wider – global – art scene.

Most of Central Asia was under Tsarist Russian and, subsequently, Soviet rule from the 19th century through to the fall of the USSR in 1991. During that time, the creation of much of its art was controlled by ministers of propaganda and culture who censored artists and work that was thought (or imagined) to be at all subversive. Creativity was corralled to conform with Politburo-defined societal goals

and standards. That said, artistic repression did not faze certain artists who were able to produce more nuanced works once the atmosphere became more open after the 1950s. Marker, purporting to offer a broad survey of the region’s art styles, included several artists who were trailblazers in demonstrating this subtle openness in their works.

One example was Natela Iankoshvili, a Soviet-era Georgian artist who by the mid-1950s was able to take advantage of loosening strictures to paint not just objects of Soviet Heroism and Realism, but also more thickly-coloured works representing her homeland, the mountains of the south Caucasus. Her later renderings of beloved pre-Soviet nobility - including a 1958 portrait of Nino Chavchavadze, a legendarily beautiful princess from the mid-19th century - depicted subjects which would have been forbidden closer to the beating, Soviet heart of Moscow. Iankoshvili and her artistic departures from an officially sanctioned trajectory were a harbinger of what was to come from other artists in the region.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, nationalism and identity politics came to replace socialism as the overarching discourse in the newly formed states and semi-independent republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Many artists fell into line to retain the favour of their state sponsors, but they still kept their sense of slyness. Hsar Gassiev, also featured at Art Dubai’s Marker, is a North Ossetian artist who began to produce work in

T

a G l o B a l a U d i E N C E , o N C E a G a i N : C E N t r a l a S i a N a r t at a r t d U B a i

Asher Kohn

marKEr 2014, TOUr, 2014, ArT dUBAI 2014


the 1980s painting many ‘folk’ portraits and scenes that may have borrowed from Soviet vernacular poster art. He painted portraiture in a flat, naive style, almost like Orthodox church icons but of everyday people. However, even though Gassiev painted North Caucasus ‘types,’ in folk costume or in typical village scenes, he gave the paintings laconic titles such as Storyteller or A Bride to demonstrate the similarities between the diverse peoples of the region, bridging (imagined) divides of language and religion.

The works of Iankoshvili and Gassiev, charting a creative course through the constraints imposed by a restrictive political regime, set the tone for many of the other artists featured at Marker this year. Still, Slavs and Tatars were keen to point out that Central Asia and its art should not be viewed solely through a Soviet prism. After all, the century-or-so of direct Russian rule is only a blip in the history of the region.

Slavs and Tatars were also at pains to note that the ‘MENA’ acronym (Middle East & North Africa) does not adequately encapsulate the entire ‘Muslim World’ as it does not acknowledge the Caucasus and Central Asia (not to mention Southeast Asia). By invoking the likes of Rumi, al-Khwarezmi and Avicenna, in their opening address, Slavs and Tatars were able to remind a predominantly Arab and Iranian crowd at Art Dubai that Central Asia shared a history and a vocabulary with them. Of course, these are important figures in the Western literary and academic canon as well, a fact that lends weight to Slavs and Tatars’ contention that Central Asia has long been part and parcel of this ‘outside world’ (even if unacknowledged). Highlighting this global connectedness allowed the artists showcased by the five galleries at Marker to be seen not as exotic peculiarities but as conversationalists in a global debate on art’s role in society.

These artists may have their own ‘national character’, but the layout of Marker emphasized how they work in concert. The gallery space was conceived as a Central

Asian chaikhaneh (tea salon). At its entrance was a large takht; this raised backless sofa had room for people to sit, drink complimentary tea, and read from a curated library on Central Asian art. The inclusion of a literal meeting point in the otherwise-frantic forum of Art Dubai offered an audience perhaps not used to Central Asian art the opportunity to contemplate the works.

The ‘traditional’ takht installed in a place of honour among modern artworks is tellingly emblematic of Central Asian art. Here, ‘tradition’ provides a platform from which to view and assess the modern (and perhaps post-modern). There is also an element of wry humour in this juxtaposition of ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’, a juxtaposition clearly evident at Marker. For example, formerly Tajikistan-based artist Sergey Maslov’s Baikonur 2 installation featured, within the physical space of a yurt, a slide show that couples traditionally dressed Kazakh elders, images of the Soviet space program and alien caricatures. Elsewhere Alimjan Jorobaev’s photographs of Kyrgyz mosques – where those praying turn their backs on images of Communist leaders - stand next to Alexander Barkovskiy’s video of a straight-faced man dancing with a statue of Tamerlane.

As Central Asian art faces the 21st-century, it must engage with the global art market and with market forces entirely different from those at work in Soviet times, or earlier. In

this new context, self-referential dry humour and the ability to surreptitiously subvert overarching paradigms will still be valuable. At Art Dubai, Central Asian artists may now play to the market but they may also slyly play the market against itself.

In 2014, after being showcased at Art Dubai’s Marker, the art of the region may begin to attain a renown beyond the stereotypes of textiles and antiques. There would appear to be new enthusiasm for Central Asian art, and now that some of it has been exhibited alongside works from prestigious galleries around the world, the global art market’s appetite for the region’s art will likely rise dramatically. That said, for Central Asia, the 21st-century art market is not an ‘opening’ of the region’s art to the world but another movement in a long tradition of interaction and friction with artistic styles and patrons throughout the world.

Asher kohn is the caucasus and central Asia Editor

for the Ajam Media collective. He has written

extensively about art and culture in the region for

The Los Angeles Times, al Jazeera, and others. He

currently lives in the United States.

BaiKoNUr 2, SErGEy MASLOV, 1990, INSTALLATION, cOMPUTEr

cOLLAGE, SOUNd PrOJEcTION, TEXT. cOUrTESy OF ASIA ArT+ tHE daNCE WitH tHE God (dEtail), ALEXANdEr BArkOVSkIy, 2008, STILL FrOM VIdEO. cOUrTESy OF THE ArTIST


he ‘Guided Democracy’ years in Indonesia, 1959-1965, were dominated by

Sukarno’s personality, a skilled manipulator of people and of symbols. He represented a centre of power legitimacy, supported by his allies, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), the Military and religious groups. In this revolutionary period, Sukarno needed to instill a sense of ongoing struggle in the minds of Indonesians. Hence, every aspect of life was shrouded by propaganda in order to evoke a sense of patriotism and national pride. Sukarno ordered the official agencies, for instance the Department of Information and the Ministry of Education, to conduct propaganda and indoctrination campaigns throughout Indonesia, by shrewdly manipulating symbols, slogans, and visual arts such as stage shows, portraits, paintings, caricatures and posters. Nevertheless, these propaganda efforts were also supported by various groups outside the official ruling circles such as peasants, workers and students. This article examines the cultivation and dissemination of Socialist Realist art as a medium for the reawakening of a revolutionary spirit in Indonesia from 1959 to 1965.

The idea of ‘art for art’s sake’ was perceived as contradicting the revolutionary spirit with its emphasis on abstractness, beauty and aestheticism. By contrast, Socialist Realist art depicts the real life of ordinary people, for instance of peasants and workers. It reflects their struggle, resistance, will-power and strength. Socialist Realism has its origins in the reign of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union from 1932. Although there are debates about its existence before 1932, Stalin undoubtedly adopted it as a form of official government propaganda. Vladimir Kemenov, an art historian from the Soviet Union, has argued that Socialist Realism was built upon the ideas of patriotism and equality; ideas of humanism and social freedom; the emancipation of labour and the freedom of women (Oliver Johnson 2012: 272). Socialist Realism in art utilises narrative, ideological elements, dramatic compositions, and the liberal use of lines and colour. The principal aim is to win the hearts and minds of the people through the shrewd manipulation of passion and emotion.

In Indonesia, although Socialist Realist art was found earlier than the Sukarno’s years, it had limited mobilization and dynamics as a propaganda medium especially during

the Dutch colonial period, when the arts were devoted to reflecting the beauty of the Netherlands East Indies, a naturalistic form of art known as Mooi Indie (Purnomo Setianingsih 1995: 7).

In 1937, PERSAGI, Persatuan Ahli Gambar Indonesia (Union of Indonesian Painters), led by prominent artist Sudjojono, had started to use art as a form of social reflection. This movement further expanded during the Japanese occupation with the establishment of the Cultural Centre, Keimin Bunko Sidhosjo in 1941. Artists from PERSAGI were assembled here to assist the Japanese authorities with creating propaganda, in part for the recruitment of forced labour, Romusha (Claire Holt 1967: 197-98).

Although it provided an official platform for artists to develop their own national goals, greater freedom of expression was offered by the establishment of PUTERA, Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (Centre of the People’s Strength) in 1943 under the leadership of Sukarno, amongst others. These developments cemented a foundation for the development of a ‘people’s

art’ after Independence in 1945. From 1945 to 1949, during the Revolution against the Dutch, various sanggar (art workshops) bloomed, particularly in Yogyakarta, producing anti-Dutch and revolutionary paintings and posters with the support of politicians.

The end of revolutionary period in 1949 signified a new era with the call by leaders to continue the struggle to build a new society based on kepribadian nasional, Indonesian national identity. All cultural elements must characterise the will and struggle of Indonesian people for a better future. Particularly from 1959, the arts started to be perceived as an important means for conveying government propaganda. The intention to use art and culture in this way was evident in Sukarno’s Independence speech, known as Manifesto Politik (Political Manifesto) in 1959. Art forms such as paintings, drawings, posters and caricatures became a vital propaganda tool in a country with high level of illiteracy, as in Indonesia.

Even before the inception of Guided Democracy in July 1959, Sukarno was inclined to support Socialist Realist approaches.

T

S o C i a l i S t r E a l i S t a r t i N S U Ka r N o ’ S i N d o N E S i a

Sahul Hamid

A MAN wITH AMMUNITION ANd A wOMAN wITH HOE ANd SIckLE, LIFTING GUNS. SOUrcE: GENErASI BArU, NO. 5-6, JUNE/JULy 1964

T


LEKRA, Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat (The Institute of People’s Culture), founded in 1950, was an ardent promoter of arts for the people, with the aim of fighting feudal and imperialist cultures, to opposing the idea of ‘art for art’s sake’ and of cultivating ‘arts for the people’ (Laporan Kebudayaan Rakyat 1959: 24); this was promoted by resolutions at its First National Congress held in Solo, 22-28 January 1959.

LEKRA mobilized its members to consistently use art to represent the working class through painting, statues, song, dance, poetry and short-stories. LEKRA further proposed that there should be a consolidation between politics and art, and patriotism and internationalism. President Sukarno also attended the closing ceremony of this Congress, and in his speech urged that the arts should act as an ambassador of the time and of the masses (duta masa dan massa) (Ibid: 90). Simultaneously, the PKI promoted the same approach as LEKRA. From 1959, the Communists’ power sharing position offered them a favorable opportunity to disseminate Socialist Realist art. The works of Marx, Engels and Lenin, as well as Stalin, were widely distributed through printed media, illustrated and disseminated by the cadres for the people. For them, art and literature should not only depict the real-life of the working class but also present them as dynamic force (Madjalah PKI 1962: 33).

On 27 August 1964, at the opening reception of the National Conference on Revolutionary Arts and Literatures, D.N. Aidit, the Head of the Communist Party Central Committee asserted: “The struggle in art and literature is an ‘Indonesianization’ of Marxism-Leninism” (Tentang Sastra dan Seni 1964: 99). The working class was depicted for example in the newspaper Generasi Baru, as a man,

strapped with ammunition, and a woman with a hoe and sickle, both lifting guns in the air. Indonesian and Communist flags are attached to the guns. This illustration suggests the struggle of the working class for the benefit of the country and also for the communist cause, regardless of gender. The participation of the working class and peasants is also evident in an illustration published in the magazine Desa Membangun, which shows them united with the army to fight Dutch colonialism in West Irian.

The two most influential official representatives to disseminate Socialist Realism in Indonesia during the Guided Democracy years were the Front Nasional, FN (The National Front) and the Departmen Penerangan, Deppen (The Department of Information). D.N. Aidit, the leader of PKI was also an influential figure in recruiting cadres for the FN. In a handbook for propaganda and indoctrination programs, the importance of art and culture as tools for the revolution was clearly stated (Naskah Kerdja Bagian Indoktrinasi dan Propaganda 1962:4). Indonesian arts should not be set apart from the revolution, and art must be devoted to the well-being and dignity of humanity. It was the task of the Fn to fight and eliminate ‘destructive’ art and culture.

From 1959, Deppen became the most diligent and efficient disseminator of state propaganda. It carried out extensive propaganda through various methods such as visual arts, motion pictures, radio, press and stage shows. Earlier, the Information Academy was established in 1957 to train cadres as propaganda agents (Mimbar Penerangan 1959: 602). These cadres were indoctrinated to conduct and disseminate the ideal of Manipol, the political principles derived from Sukarno’s 1959 speech, and Guided Democracy across the country. Deppen organized many arts and cultural events to propagate state ideologies

such as Manipol-Usdek, Pancasila, Marhaen and Socialisme a’la Indonesia. Socialisme a’la Indonesia has its root to traditional conceptions such as gotong-royong (mutual assistance) and mufakat (mutual agreement). An Indonesian Socialist should portray unique traits such as an Indonesian identity and culture, a sense of patriotism, a rational and economist way of thinking and a pioneering will.

This conception was further reinforced by another Independence Day speech by Sukarno, titled Re-So-Pim, Revolusi-Sosialisme-Pimpinan Nasional (Revolution, Socialism-National Leadership) in August 1961. With this speech, Sukarno portrayed himself as a liberator of the people and as the leader of the New Order (Ibid: 579). An image of Sukarno as the ‘developer’ of his people was published in an official publication Mimbar Penerangan, and distributed throughout Indonesia. Sukarno is projected in a heroic manner alongside an uninspiring image of the Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Subsequently, Indonesian Socialism itself was portrayed as a powerful machine able to storm the demonic elements in Indonesian society such as capitalists, landlords and corruptors with the participation of Indonesian people - men and women, peasant and army.

Dr Priyono, the Minister of Education and Culture, Sukarno’s confidant and chief adviser for the creation of a new set of political terms (Adrian Vickers 2013: 151) uttered in Pangkalpinang, Bangka on 28 May 1963: “That the arts and cultures of Indonesia should be felt by the people…Our modern arts must be embracing realism in its style…and socialism in its breath” (Gendang Budaya 1963: 343). Priyono further provided an example of how a fighter should be portrayed in drawings. For instance, the figure of Tjut nyak Dien, an independence fighter, should be illustrated with an optimistic face despite her defeat,

THE PArTIcIPATION OF THE MILITAry, wOrkING cLASS ANd

PEASANTS IN THEIr STrUGGLE TO FIGHT dUTcH cOLONIALISM IN

wEST IrIAN. (DeSA MeMbAngun, NO. 1-2, JAN/FEB. 1962)

[rIGHT] THE HErOIc IMAGE OF SUkArNO cONTrASTING wITH THE UNINSPIrING IMAGE OF TUNkU ABdUL rAHMAN,

MALAySIAN PrIME MINISTEr [LEFT]. SOUrcE: MiMbAR PeneRAngAn, NO. 3, JUNE 1965, dEPArTEMEN PENErANGAN


with the image of Acehnese youngsters standing bravely behind her body. Sukarno’s Re-So-Pim speech marked the beginning of the Pantjawardhana system of education in July 1961, revised and reformulated to suit the revolutionary nature of the times.

Pantjawardhana was an educational scheme designed to uphold the Indonesian revolution and reform the education system. Its developmental objectives were to make the arts a part of life in order to nurture a sense of patriotism, to promote the arts as revolutionary in content and style, and to expand the revolutionary character of Indonesian traditional arts (Pendidikan Nasional 1964: 30).

Within this Socialist Realist framework, pupils must have the ‘freedom’ to express themselves about the nation and country. Ideas, it was posited, must not be confined

by creating a beautiful and abstract painting or drawing, instead thoughts should be unleashed on paper or canvas.

Examples of this ‘freedom of expression’ in children’s arts were published in an official government publication in conjunction with the 1964 Independence Day celebrations. They do not emphasise the beauty of the drawing, but rather the will to self-expression. All the drawings in the publication demonstrate patriotism and the development and peace enjoyed by Indonesia’s new generation. Harmony depicts well-developed infrastructure with people strolling by. Our Forces on Land and Air Fight shows the might of Indonesian’s armed forces as perceived by a 13 and a 7 year old child and Peaceful Priangan Village illustrates a serene traditional village. In relation to these drawings, an artist educationist, Dukut Hendramoto, when interviewed by the publisher, explained that

the children had demonstrated complete freedom and were not restricted by any influences curtailing their imagination and feelings (Pantjasila 1964: 67). In conclusion, the idea of Socialist Realist art in Indonesia started to develop rapidly only after Independence, and particularly after 1957, when Sukarno commanded his official apparatuses to disseminate state ideologies such as Manipol-Usdek, Pancasila and Socialisme a’la Indonesia. The Socialist Realism conception was in-line with Sukarno’s most celebrated term representing the majority of Indonesians, those living in poverty. Although Sukarno played a fundamental role in formulating these policies, the development of Socialist Realist art in this period relied on the participation and contribution of countless individuals and organizations in Indonesia.

Sahul Hamid Mohamed Maiddin obtained a

Masters degree in History from the University of

Malaya, Malaysia. currently, he is a Phd candidate

at the department of Indonesian Studies, University

of Sydney. His research is on Propaganda and

indoctrination in indonesian Politics, 1959-1965.

rEfErENCESd.N. Aidit, 1964, Tentang Sastera dan Seni, Jakarta: yayasan

Pembaruan.

Desa Membangun, No. 1, 1961.

Desa Membangun, No. 1, 1962.

gendang budaya, No. 5, 1963.

generasi baru, No.5-6. June/July 1964.

Holt, claire, 1967, Art in indonesia, Continuities and Change,

New york: cornell University Press.

Johnson, Oliver, 2012, “Aesthetic Enemies: The ‘Two cultures’

Theory at the Outset of the cold war”, in david welch and Jo Fox

(eds.), Justifying War: Propaganda, Politics and the Modern Age,

Uk: Palgrave Macmillan.

Laporan Kebudayaan Rakyat, dokumen I, 1959, Bagian Penerbitan

LEkrA.

Madjalah PKi, No. 2, 1962.

Mimbar Penerangan, No. 3, June 1965, Jakarta: departemen

Penerangan Indonesia.

Mimbar Penerangan, No. 1, September 1959, Jakarta:

departemen Penerangan Indonesia.

naskah Kerdja bagian indoktrinasi dan Propaganda 1962, Front

Nasional No. 172.

Pantjasila, Volume 1, 17 August 1964.

Pendidikan nasional, No. 9/10, 1964.

Purnomo Setianingsih, 1995, “The Voice of Muted People in Modern

Indonesian Arts”, M.A. Thesis, University of western Sydney.

Vickers, Adrian, 2013, A History of Modern indonesia, chicago:

cambridge University Press.

INdONESIAN PEOPLE IN cONcErTEd AcTION AGAINST THE STATE’S ENEMIES. SOUrcE: dESA MEMBANGUN, NO. 1, NOV/dEc 1961


or millennia, traditional Chinese architecture relied on a single indigenous

system of construction for palaces, temple halls and larger private houses, based on a timber skeleton of columns and cross beams, topped by a tiled roof with wide overhanging eaves. Over time this system gave rise to many elegant and sophisticated architectural solutions. A new architectural innovation emerged during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), halls built entirely of brick, with thick load-bearing walls supporting arches and vaulted ceilings (only otherwise employed in tombs or pagodas). Referring to the absence of wooden frames, in China these buildings are known as wuliang dian, or ‘beamless halls’ (a different character liang with the same pronunciation yields the more Buddhist meaning ‘boundless halls’). This style of architecture has been almost entirely neglected in English-language writings on Chinese architectural history (but see Liang 1984: 71).

Remarkably, five of the dozen known examples of beamless halls were the work of a Chan Buddhist monk, Fudeng (1540-1613), often referred to by his religious name Miaofeng. A sixth posthumous example also shows signs of his influence. The beamless hall was radically different from that of traditional buildings. Thick brick walls pierced by semi-circular arches supported one or more internal barrel vaults. In the larger examples, the barrel vaults ran both longitudinally and latitudinally through the building, dispersing stresses around the walls. The roof was usually a traditional curved gable tile roof supported by internal brick arches rather than timber beams. All Miaofeng’s halls but one were two-storeyed. External walls and eaves and internal ceilings were decorated with brick or plaster features imitating the columns, beams and brackets of the traditional wooden hall.

It is easy enough to find reasons for the invention of the brick beamless hall. It offered greater permanence than wooden structures. It was fireproof and hence ideally suited to the storage and protection of precious books and objects. Finally, it overcame a problem that had begun to emerge by the Ming: the diminishing availability of timber suitable for building.

Despite these advantages, these buildings are rare. So why was the traditional system preferred? Doubtless a major factor was

the artisanal nature of building work in China. Designers and tradesmen alike were intensively trained in carpentry-based skills, with an emphasis on shaping intricate and ingenious combinations of brackets and joints. Since 1103 these systems had been codified in a manual for use in construction of official buildings (Liang 1984:14). brick vault construction required entirely different technical skills and knowledge, more akin to those of an engineer than a carpenter.

One must also suspect an aesthetic and emotional element attaching to traditional timber-frame halls: the form had become sanctified over 3,000 years of evolution. Alongside substantial technical evolution, developments in the stylistic and symbolic vocabulary of these buildings could not be easily jettisoned, as evidenced by Miaofeng’s imitation of traditional wooden columns, beams and brackets as decorative elements on both exterior and interior of the brick halls.

Miaofeng was a native of Shanxi province, born of humble parents and orphaned at the age of six. His life was transformed in his teens when he came to the attention of a member of the Ming imperial family who was living in a monastery where Miaofeng came to seek shelter. Prince Shanyin was to be his lifelong protector and benefactor. Under his supervision Miaofeng began a regime

of meditation and study at small, secluded monasteries before becoming ordained at the age of 26. Much of Miaofeng’s subsequent career depended on his ability to gain the patronage of members of the imperial family.

Miaofeng would certainly have seen two of the earliest beamless halls in his travels following his ordination in 1566. On a pilgrimage to Putuoshan he stayed in Nanjing, home of the earliest beamless hall, the great hall at the imperial Linggu monastery, usually dated to 1381 (but see Bodolec 2005: 127-131). Certainly

F

tHE ‘BoUNdlESS HallS’ of BUildEr moNK miaofENG (1540-1613)

John Millbank

WaNNiaN Si, EMEISHAN, EXTErIOr OF SAMANTABHAdrA HALL. PHOTO: JOSEFA GrEEN

iNtErior of WaNNiaN Si SamaNtaBHadra Hall, EMEISHAN,

SHOwING SONG PErIOd STATUE OF SAMANTABHAdrA ON HIS

ELEPHANT. PHOTO: cHINA TrAVEL ANd TOUrISM AdMINISTrATION


many of the features he subsequently adopted, such as radiating brick arches and use of barrel vaulting, appear first in the hall at Linggu si. He may also have seen the other two pre-existing beamless halls, both in Beijing, but these bear fewer similarities to his own works.

A crucial event took place when he was 40. While in retreat on the Buddhist mountain of Wutaishan in Shanxi, he and a friend conceived the idea of a great religious ceremony focusing on the Avatamsaka (Flower Garden) sutra, which they had been copying in blood. Miaofeng spent the year 1580 in Beijing, gathering donations to feed and house the thousands expected to attend. The event, the Wutai Dharma Assembly, became famous as one of the great religious assemblies of the Ming.

With the consent of the Wanli emperor (r. 1573-1620) and his mother the dowager empress Li Cisheng (1546-1614) prayers for the birth of an imperial heir were included

among the devotions. When an heir was duly born in August 1582 the grateful empress dowager showered the organising monks with favours. It is said she never afterwards refused to sponsor Miaofeng in the building of a temple (Glahn 1976).

Miaofeng’s first essay in the ‘beamless hall’ style of architecture was at his former home, Wangu monastery, which he was commissioned by the provincial governor to rebuild and enlarge. The new constructions, dated to 1586, included a 13-storey brick pagoda and a set of three vaulted halls made entirely in brick. We do not know what motivated him to adopt this innovation, but presumably its greater durability was one factor.

His work at Wangu si gained him a reputation as a master builder with considerable engineering skills. He had also mastered the secrets of metal–casting. His skills were verified in two successful commissions by provincial officials to build stone bridges, one in Shaanxi and the other in Hebei province.

His reputation also spread among building workers, who flocked to him whenever he undertook a new project (Ho 1996: 73).

Twenty years before, during an illness, he had taken a vow that if he recovered he would give thanks to Buddha by casting gilt-bronze statues and bronze pavilions for three great bodhisattvas on the three Chinese mountains dedicated to them. By the 1590s he was in a position to begin to fulfill this vow. Three of his beamless halls were built in connection with these bronze pavilions.

The way was opened by an invitation from another imperial relative, Prince Shen of Lu’an, who had cast a golden bronze statue of Puxian (Samantabhadra) and wished to have it installed on Emeishan, the mountain sacred to the Bodhisattva. Seizing his chance, Miaofeng asked for additional funds for a bronze hall to house the statue (“How much?” asked Shen. “Wan jin,” Miaofeng coolly replied – a phrase that can mean either “ten thousand gold pieces” or simply “a huge amount”). The golden bronze pavilion and statue were completed around 1602 on the summit of Emei, earning it the title of Jinding or Golden Summit.

Further down the mountain, in what is now Wannian monastery, a massive bronze statue of Puxian, cast in 979 at the order of the emperor Song Taizong, had recently lost its protecting wooden hall in a fire. While he was there, empress dowager Cisheng commissioned Miaofeng to erect a solid brick replacement structure over the statue. The hall is unique in Miaofeng’s work. Its plan is square, each wall 15.7m with arched doorways and windows in the front and rear. The roof consists of a smaller upper dome on a wider base resting on triangular sconces at the corners, a solution unknown in Chinese indigenous temple architecture. On the outside the lower dome has been squared off to resemble a traditional gabled roof, crowned by the smaller dome on top. At each corner of the roof and in the centre of the dome are decorative Tibetan-style stupas, completing the exotic effect. Inside, the spectacular statue, 7.35 m high, dominates, the top of Puxian’s golden crown almost brushing the domed ceiling.

There may have been a precedent for this structure. On the northern borders of China, in the north-west of Hebei province, is a domed brick structure resembling the hall on Emeishan. In 1999 it was identified as a royal mausoleum built in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), probably by an Iranian architect of the Mongol empire. It is not known whether Miaofeng ever saw this building, but his

WaNGU Si, SHANXI, INTErIOr cEILING VAULT OF BEAMLESS HALL SHOwING FAUX wOOdEN

BrAckETS cArVEd IN BrIck. PHOTO cOUrTESy cHrISTOPH rEHAGE

BEloW: UPPEr faÇadE of WaNGU Si BEamlESS Hall. PHOTO cOUrTESy cHrISTOPH rEHAGE


earlier work on a bridge over the Yanghe River took him within 80 kilometres (Prip-Møller 1932:278; CCTV 2010).

In 1603, on completion of his work on Emeishan, Miaofeng petitioned the empress dowager for further funds to build and install a golden Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) image on the sacred island of Putuoshan. However the Putuo monks, victims of repeated raids by pirates, objected. Miaofeng therefore settled on the small monastery of Huiju si at Baohuashan near Nanjing. Receiving the green light from the empress dowager, he commenced work. By the Buddha’s birthday 1605 the bronze pavilion had been finished and the statue installed. A pair of smaller beamless halls flanked the Guanyin pavilion. The empress dowager granted a new name, Longchang monastery, and gifts to commemorate the occasion.

She then summoned him to Wutaishan, sacred to the bodhisattva Wenshu (Manjuśri), to rebuild Xiantong monastery, traditionally the senior monastery on the mountain. A stream of officials, eunuchs and scholars came from the court, presenting gifts from the Imperial Treasury and assisting in choosing the site of the new buildings. Miaofeng designed a vast compound with six halls on a central axis, surrounded by living quarters and storehouses. Five of the main halls are of conventional construction. The rearmost was his largest and most sophisticated beamless hall.

Twenty-eight metres wide, 16m deep and 20m high, from outside it has the appearance of two storeys, separated by an overhanging eave which runs round the building. However from inside it becomes clear the upper tier of windows serves to provide additional

illumination in a soaring, vaulted chamber. The interior consists of three connected spaces, the largest, central space running transversely across the building between two narrower halls running from front to rear. Brickwork carved to resemble wooden brackets and wooden caisson ceilings disguise the three vaults. Rows of arched niches along each side are used to display images but, along with the combination of lengthwise and transverse vaults, also serve to strengthen the structure.

Externally seven masonry pilasters imitating the columns of a wooden hall separate the arched doors and windows. Between the pilasters are tablets naming the seven locations where the Buddha preached his sermons. Faux brackets under the eaves continue the impression of a wooden structure. Seven upper-level windows echo the arrangement of the openings below.

On a raised terrace behind the large brick hall is his bronze pavilion containing the golden figure of Wenshu on his lion. Flanking it is a pair of smaller beamless halls similar to but larger than Baohuashan, housing scripture repositories. Completion of this third bronze bodhisattva pavilion marked the fulfilment of the vow he had made 40 years before. However his building career was not yet over.

Miaofeng’s one last project was the rehabilitation of Yongzuo monastery in the city of Taiyuan. Here he constructed a new brick pagoda, matching a Tang one which had developed a lean. The twin towers have since become a symbol of the city. He also built three new beamless halls and side buildings for the monastery arranged around three sides of a central courtyard. The central hall is of the style of Xiantong si with two true

storeys, the lower for worship and the upper for storing and reading scriptures.

In 1612 he fell ill while working on a bridge to the south of Taiyuan, returned to Wutaishan and died there. The Wanli emperor posthumously showered him with titles, including Huguo Chanshi (Protector of the Nation and Chan Master).

Of Miaofeng’s three bronze bodhisattva pavilions, only one still survives, on Wutaishan. By contrast all his beamless halls still stand intact. All share certain common features, as does a sixth, a scripture hall in Suzhou built five years after his death. Despite a lack of imitators, Miaofeng’s legacy entitles him to be remembered as perhaps the most innovative and original architect of Ming China.

dr John Millbank is an independent scholar who has

been undertaking research on the sacred mountains

of china.

rEfErENCESBodolec, caroline, 2005. L’architecture en voûte chinoise – un

patrimoine méconnu, Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris.

ccTV English channel, Journeys in Time: A Mysterious Ancient

building, 3 parts, first transmitted 15, 16, 17 September 2010

(available online at www.english.cntv.cn)

Glahn, Else, 1976. ‘Fu-teng’, in carrington Goodrich ed.,

Dictionary of Ming biography 1368-1644, columbia University

Press, New york, vol. 1, 463-666

Ho Puay-Peng, ‘Building for Glitter and Eternity: The works of the

Late Ming Master Builder Miaofeng on wutai Shan’, Orientations,

May 1996, 67-73

Liang Ssu-ch’eng (Sicheng), 1984. A Pictorial History of Chinese

Architecture, ed. wilma Fairbank, MIT Press, cambridge, Mass.

Prip-Møller, Johannes, 1937. Chinese buddhist Monasteries,

their plan and its function as a setting for buddhist monastic life,

copenhagen; republished by Hong kong University Press, 1967

www.thelongestway.com

xiaNtoNG Si, wUTAISHAN, rEAr OF LArGE BEAMLESS HALL FrOM THE GOLd BrONZE PAVILION.

ONE OF THE SMALL BEAMLESS HALLS IS ON THE LEFT. PHOTO: JOSEFA GrEEN

iNtErior of xiaNtoNG Si BEamlESS Hall.

PHOTO: SHANXI PrOVINcIAL TOUrISM AdMINISTrATION


hen the Australian National University was a very new institution, its first

Professor of Classics, Richard St Clair Johnson, advocated the development of a Classics collection at the University, arguing that a small museum on campus would give students in Canberra, far from ancient sites around the Mediterranean and the great museums of the world, the opportunity to engage with objects once handled and enjoyed by those who lived in the Greek and Roman worlds.

In 1962 the ANU Classics collection began to take shape when two items were acquired: a small cup and a black-figure lekythos (oil bottle) depicting Herakles doing battle with the Amazons (one of the hero’s 12 labours). These items were joined by two equally modest purchases in 1963. Just over 50 years later, the Classics collection, located in the atrium of the A.D. Hope Building on the ANU campus, comprises about 650 items from the Greco-Roman world, ranging in time from the third millennium BCE (the Bronze Age world) to approximately CE 500 (late antiquity). The collection is drawn from a vast region that at different periods came under the rule of Greece or Rome: from Britain in the west, across Europe, North Africa and Egypt, and as far east as Syria and Iraq, far-flung regions where Greek and Roman influences mingled in interesting ways with existing traditions and technologies.

This was never to be a collection like that of the Nicholson Museum, at Sydney University, with its splendid and substantial pieces collected by Charles Nicholson in the 19th century. Nor has it ever aspired to rival the Greek vases of the Felton collection in Melbourne. The ANU collection - which illustrates the activities of everyday life, in the home, in the workshop, and in the marketplace-has been shaped with teaching and learning in mind.

It is our intention too that students should be able to handle these items (under supervision): this hands-on experience brings the ancient world alive. In our museum you will find simple terracotta loom weights from the home, a steelyard weight from the marketplace, some small examples of Roman wall-painting, lamps, and even a baby’s feeding cup. We have a tiny cylinder seal made of lapis lazuli and small but perfectly

formed terracotta storage vessels, all from the Late Bronze Age. We have examples of ancient writing, including a small cuneiform tablet from the Sumerian world (ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq and Kuwait) of 2100 BCE, which documents the sale of oxen to plough a field, in addition to papyrus fragments and a wax-lined wooden writing-tablet, both well-preserved in the dry climate of Egypt. In the wax of the writing-tablet we find the handwriting (in Greek) of its last user. We have red ware dishes from the Roman world, on the back of which we can see the potter’s fingerprints marked in the slip. We have a small piece of textile, from Christian-era Egypt. We have a fine collection of funerary items: grave stelai and a ‘hero’ relief from the Greek world and commemorative inscriptions with their handsome lettering from the world of Rome. And we have a fine display of small blown glass vessels, brilliant evidence of a technique developed in Syria at beginning of the common era.

A story of loss. Nine years ago the Classics Museum suffered a significant loss: a fine bronze portrait head of a woman, perhaps a female relative of the Emperor Augustus, was stolen from its cabinet. The ANU subsequently approved the rehousing of the collection in more secure conditions; and the academic staff in Classics and Ancient History began

to consider how best to use this opportunity to re-interpret ANU’s antiquities for our students, the university, and the wider public.

It was not difficult to draw up a list of desiderata. My colleagues and I wanted large, secure, well-lit, and discreet cabinets that would allow each artefact to ‘shine’. We wanted the collection’s chronological thread to be obvious to visitors as they moved from cabinet to cabinet. Although many museums today prefer thematic displays, chronology is essential in a relatively small collection that covers such an extended period of time. We have not abandoned the idea of thematic displays completely, however: we have, for example, brought together in one cabinet a fine display of artefacts that illustrate the history and uses of writing.

We wanted maps in abundance; contextual signage, so that visitors could locate themselves historically, socially and culturally; and informative item labels. We desired a more effective means for displaying our excellent collection of ancient coins. And we needed a creative solution to a peculiar curatorial and diplomatic challenge: a replica of the Aztec Calendar Stone, a gift of the Mexican government to the University in the 1970s, which had been installed to overlook the Classics Museum

W

S H E d d i N G N E W l i G H t o N t H E a N C i E N t m E d i t E r r a N E a N W o r l d :

t H E a N U C l a S S i C S C o l l E C t i o N

Elizabeth MinchinrEfUrBiSHEd aNU ClaSSiCS mUSEUm. PHOTO: STUArT HAy


space. Because of its position and its dimensions the Calendar Stone dwarfed our collection, and, as a result, was for many visitors its most memorable element.

Lucy Bannyan of Bannyan Wood took over the administrative reins of the refurbishment and gave us her expert guidance. Lucy left to us certain tasks: deciding how we would distribute the collection across our 12 new state-of-the-art cabinets (it was critical that the objects be grouped meaningfully to tell a ‘story’ or make a historical point), deciding what graphics would form the background in each case, and developing text for signage (the introductory panel; a contextualizing panel for each cabinet; and individual object labels). She herself engaged with larger, presentational, issues: colour, style, and the practicalities of installation.

Transformation. The walls of the museum space, now painted in a brooding, grey-brown, provide a dramatic background for our display. Large cabinets with subtle graphics and imaginative installation layer the display internally. Spot lighting caresses each item and shows it at its best. The coins are easily viewed; and a clear image represents the side not displayed. The museum’s external banners, which feature our ‘hero image’ (which appears on the collection’s Johnson Vase), the substantial introductory panel, and the signage throughout the museum space convey a sense of purpose and a dignity that the collection previously lacked. And the Aztec Stone, set now against a near-identical grey background, has been allowed - or persuaded - to fade into the background.

Apart from the general delight generated by this new display, there have been two further

consequences of this refurbishment. Firstly, the collection in its new guise, with readable information, maps, and a clear chronology, now functions effectively as a resource for teaching and learning, as it should. The two new coin cabinets are particularly successful in engaging the interest of students and visitors.

The second outcome relates to the museum’s place in the community. As our ‘new’ museum emerged in 2010, two of our supporters, convinced that this collection would now be a genuine destination for visitors, proposed that a group of volunteer guides be established on the model operating at the National Gallery of Australia or the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The initial group of volunteer guides was formed in August 2010, a few days after the official opening of our refurbished space by the Chancellor of the University, Professor Gareth Evans AO. Over several months a dozen trainee docents developed their own education program, meeting fortnightly for an afternoon of tuition and study. Colleagues in Classics and Ancient History gave talks on individual areas of the collection; the trainee guides gave presentations to each other; they shared research notes; and they gave practice tours to friends.

Since mid-2011 our guides have given tours and talks to over 1500 visitors - many of whom have enthusiastically requested another tour, or have passed the word along to their friends. At the beginning of 2014 the training program has again resumed, allowing new participants to join this collaborative enterprise that brings them - and the wider community - so much pleasure, and that brings me and my colleagues a great deal of satisfaction as we observe our refurbished museum humming with activity.

What we have learnt from this project - from the bitter experience of theft, through the long but rewarding refurbishment process until today - is that an investment of significant funds can pay very satisfactory and even unexpected dividends. But we are also aware that to maintain its vibrancy and its relevance we must continue to develop the collection and not allow it to gather (metaphorical) dust. We are working on further projects that will increase its attractiveness and accessibility both to students and to a wider public. The first of these is the cleaning and refurbishing of our large model of ancient Rome, which represents the layout of the city in the fourth century CE. The second is to have our museum catalogue published online.

Over the past three years our small museum has become much more firmly integrated not only into the life of the ANU campus, for which it again serves as a lively hub for teaching and learning, but also into the life of the Canberra community. And we hope that it will remain so. For it is through the incidental items and the paraphernalia of every day that are housed in the ANU Classics collection that our students and our visitors- as Richard Johnson had envisaged 50 years ago - gain insight into the lives and the livelihood of those who lived during those extraordinary times.

Elizabeth Minchin is Professor of classics at the ANU,

where she teaches Ancient Greek and Latin language

and literature and social history. Her research

specialization is ancient epic, particularly the epics

associated with Homer’s name. She is honorary

curator of the ANU classics Museum.

Wax-liNEd WoodEN WritiNG taBlEt, wITH TEXT STILL VISIBLE, EGyPT? 1ST Or 2Nd cENTUry cE. PHOTO: BOB MILLEr

BALSAMARIuM (PErfUmE BottlE), SyrIA, 3rd Or

4TH cENTUrIES cE, BLOwN GLASS. PHOTO: BOB MILLEr


tepping into Geoffrey Bawa’s home in Colombo gave us a taste of what we would

see as we explored Sri Lanka, our aims being to look at Buddhist sites and to stay in some of the hotels designed by him. Bawa (1919-2003) is renowned for his role in the development of a style of architecture known as ‘Tropical Modernism’. The House at Number 11 was Bawa’s city residence from the 1960s until his death in 2003. At this site, Bawa united four narrow bungalows, using his trademark elements of extended entrances which build expectation and surprise, use of light and shade through fluid transitions between exterior and interior, and the use of private courtyards. The house also contains domestic works of art and design from friends and colleagues whose creations appear in many of his larger scale buildings. For example, the house contains a replica of doors painted by Australian artist Donald Friend, the originals of which are now in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

One of the first major buddhist sites we visited was the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara where the Buddha was said to have preached on one of his visits to Sri Lanka. Swarms of devout pilgrims visit the complex to lustrate the large Bodhi Tree and view a remarkable program of murals by Soliyas Mendis (1897-1975). The present image house, which contains Mendis’ murals, was designed by H.H. Reid and constructed between 1923 and 1946. Bawa was employed by Reid as an assistant in 1951. Neither architect was Buddhist by belief, but both designed significant buddhist temples: that built by Bawa is the Seema Malaka (1976) on Beira Lake, Colombo.

As one of the aims of our trip was to view the Navam Poya, or the procession of the Buddha’s relic in Colombo, we were unable to visit Bawa’s temple as it was being used by the participants of this important religious celebration. However, a major Bawa building close to the Kelaniya temple site is the National Parliament at Kotte (1979). Both Seema Malaka and the National Parliament consist of pavilions constructed on islands, removed from the humdrum of everyday life and accessed by causeways.

Bawa, who came to architecture at a relatively late age, was a pioneer in moving it on from the colonial model, as practiced by his early employers, Edwards, Reid and Begg, drawing

inspiration from historical prototypes and vernacular architecture. He incorporated sculpted forms and water ponds, pavilions and rock faces, creating transformative spaces which seamlessly connect. It is interesting to note that Bawa’s architectural concepts were later introduced to Bali by Bawa’s Australian associate Donald Friend and his colleague Peter Muller, who designed the well-known Amandari Hotel there. Muller invited Bawa to be the architect of an estate of villas called the Matahari project at Batujimbar in 1973 – although only three of the intended villas were built, they were to exert a major influence on later important expatriate architecture in Bali (Robson, 2007:198).

As we explored the ancient city sites in central Sri Lanka we could sense the influence of indigenous monastic and palace architecture in Bawa’s work. The ruined city of Anuradhapura, which dates back to the 4th century BCE, was once a massive monastic complex. By the 6th century CE, 50,000 Buddhist monks were estimated to have lived there. It is thought that buildings like the Western Monasteries and monumental palaces such as the Brazen Palace, built by King Dutugemunu in 162 bCE, influenced Bawa’s designs for the National Parliament; in particular the copper roof of the Brazen Palace (Robson, 2002:150).

Only the lower storey of the Brazen Palace is still standing, but when first built it consisted of a massive nine storey square structure housing 1000 monastic apartments, decorated with silver and crowned with a roof of copper

tiles. The original palace was destroyed but rebuilt by King Parakramabahu in the 12th century. In Polonnaruwa he also built a council chamber consisting of an open-sided columned hall, raised on a stone plinth formed by 23 stone ledges and reached by a vast staircase. This building is also said to have been a prototype for Bawa’s debating chamber in the Kotte parliament.

Certainly the pavilions and ponds characterising many monasteries at Anuradhapura, and also at Polonnaruwa and the mountain palace fortress of Sigiriya (apex 5th century CE), where glimpses through rock cliffs, unexpected views along walkways and reflective water reservoirs invite contemplation in nature’s midst, inspired an atmosphere often recreated in Bawa’s hotels. We saw this at both the Bentota (1967-73) and Kandalama (1991-94) hotels where we stayed.

At the Bentota Beach Hotel, the approach consists of a staircase emerging from the rock podium of the original building, reminiscent of ancient Dutch fortifications. The entrance foyer opens unexpectedly into a colourful low roofed reception area featuring lively batik artwork on the ceiling by Bawa’s colleague Ena de Silva. In fact the colour use in this early Bawa hotel differs from his more characteristic palette of black and white (which he even maintained in his favourite Dalmatian dogs!). The foyer looks out over a contemplative pond, a frequent feature of Bawa buildings.

Ancient Sri Lanka had a sophisticated irrigation network of reservoirs, some

S r i l a N K a’ S B a W a : a r C H i t E C t U r E ’ S S E r E N d i P i t o U S l i N K S

Sabrina Snow and Ann Proctor

SNatioNal ParliamENt, kOTTE, SrI LANkA . PHOTO: SABrINA SNOw


immense, like the Sea of Parakrama in Polonnaruwa fed by the Amban Ganga, which permitted multiple rich fertile harvests. Monasteries and Palaces often featured bathing ponds which fed from these tanks; royal gardens used them as a design feature, such as the renowned Water Gardens at Sigiriya.

At Bawa’s Lighthouse Hotel, Galle (1995-97), an element of surprise is produced by a stunning spiral staircase featuring metal sculptures of animated historical figures from Sri Lanka’s past such as Portuguese and Dutch invaders. The staircase reaches up abruptly from Bawa’s characteristic sensual elements of rock formation and water pond. The sculptures were designed by Laki Senanayake, who collaborated with Bawa in many of his building projects. In another link with Australia, Senanayake studied and taught art in Melbourne in the 1950s.

The Kandalama Hotel is a particularly arresting expression of Bawa’s design principles. As we approached, the 6 storey edifice seemed to emerge amorphously from the surrounding rock face and jungle; one could not tell where the man-made structure began and the jungle finished.

The entrance consists of a rock corridor, reminiscent of the nearby Dambulla cave monasteries, set in a smooth white polished floor snaking around the curve of the building. Once inside, the building’s structure seems to disappear. The vast public spaces spill out into the surrounds, vines enveloping the

balconies of the rooms, rocks protruding into the living areas and monkeys dancing on the railings. From the upper levels one is swept into a vast panorama of lake and vegetation below: kilometres of shores reach across flat green swamplands to sparse trees and distant views. Outside and inside become one with a massive bronze owl by Laki Sennayake soaring towards the horizon from an upper landing. Bawa attributed great importance to how his buildings sat in the landscape. He referred to Kandalama as a kind of lookout from which to observe the sweeping panorama of landscape and history. He said what is seen from a building is often more important than the building itself. The carved rock temple spaces of Dambulla and its first century caves, towering over the valley below, the reservoirs of Anuradhapura, the rock fortress of Sigiriya and the countless garden monasteries … a thousand and more years of the past are referenced in this amazing place.

Bawa’s country residence of Lunuganga (1948-97) built on a disused rubber estate, reflects the architect’s youthful engagement with Italy in features such as its terraces, classical sculptures and a ha-ha. Here Bawa, in his longest running project, created an idyllic retreat, a garden paradise that incorporated many of his trademark design features: elevated views, glimpsed vistas through tunnels of trees, terraces cascading down to lily ponds and purpose built paddy fields and the lake beyond. The gardens and entrance contain hidden surprises and follies and delight at every turn; “a place of many

moods, the result of many imaginings: a garden within a greater garden that is Sri Lanka” (Bawa et al. 1990: 219)

Throughout our journey in February 2014 on the island formerly known as Serendip, we were constantly impressed by the fortuitous links between Bawa’s architecture, historical sites and Australian connections. From a personal viewpoint, we felt that by delving into Sri Lanka’s rich and ancient past, we were able to experience and understand the unique visual and spiritual links that so inspired Bawa’s creativity and architectural legacy. He himself said: “In my personal search I have always looked to the past...I mean all the past, from Anuradhapura to the latest finished buildings in Colombo, from Polonnaruwa to the present – the whole range of effort, peaks of beauty and simplicity and deep valleys of pretension… for all examples of these periods have taken Ceylon into account.” (Robson 2002: 41)

Ann Proctor is an art historian with a particular interest

in Vietnam. Sabrina Snow has a long association with

the AGNSw and has a particular interest in the arts

of china.

rEfErENCESBawa, Geoffrey, christoph Bon and dominic Sansoni, 1990.

Lunuganga, Times Editions, Singapore

daswatte, c., 2006. Sri Lanka Style, Periplus

robson, d., 2007. beyond bawa: Modern Masterworks of Monsoon

Asia, Thames & Hudson, London

robson, d., 2002. geoffrey bawa: The Complete Works, Thames

& Hudson, London

http://www.geoffreybawa.com/

StairCaSE, liGHtHoUSE HotEl, GALLE, SrI LANkA. PHOTO: SABrINA SNOw

KaNdalama HotEl faÇadE, dAMBULLA, SrI LANkA.

PHOTO: ANN PrOcTOr


fter a few briefing phone calls and emails from the Tokoname Studio in Japan,

I went to meet Yoshikawa Masamichi at Adelaide Airport as his Japanese/English language interpreter for the ceramic master classes he was giving at the 2012 Australian Ceramics Triennale, ‘Subversive Clay’. This four day international ceramics event aimed, according to the official organisers, at “exploring clay as a medium capable of challenging artistic, social and cultural issues through investigation across traditions and new experimentations.” I remember well the excitement with which we all awaited for Yoshikawa and the other ceramics artists to arrive from around the world.

From his deep voice and honorific Japanese briefing over the phone, I half expected ‘Yoshikawa Sensei’ to be dressed as a tea ceremony master, wearing an indigo kimono and geta. Instead, he came towards me in his Issey Miyake jacket and jeans, observing me quietly with amusement. There was something both traditional and avante garde about this internationally famous Japanese ceramic artist who put me at ease at once by smilingly saying, “Call me Masamichi – not sensei!” We drove to the artist-in-residence studios at the Jam Factory and the ceramics creation and lectures that Masamichi referred to as “the ceremony of art and life” began the next day.

In our encounters over the next four days, Masamichi took workshop participants fragmentarily through the history of Japanese contemporary ceramics, in particular recognizing the influences of China and Korea. In the contemporary spectrum, he made frequent mention of the visual arts dialogue between Japan, New York and Paris, including his own work held in collections in Lausanne and London. During both the ceramic workshop master classes at the Jam Factory, and theoretical lectures at the University of South Australia, Yoshikawa made reference to the visualisation both of the natural world and of ancient imaginary worlds, as existing key conceptualization elements in the creative process of his life as a ceramic artist.

The power of sensory consciousness was woven into a narrative by Yoshikawa in relating the first time, as an art student, he touched a shard of ancient pottery during an archeological dig. He described the experience of touching the shard as being physically connected, in that

moment, with the reverberations of an ancient voice: the voice of the one who had made that clay vessel, in either the Yayoi or Jomon eras. Later in the master classes, Yoshikawa referred to the impressions of lines and points made with sharp instruments into the ancient clay, each impression made over a thousand years ago and representing a moment in the life of its creator. This paralleled Yoshikawa’s own creative process, alive in the impression of each of his fingerprints on the asymmetrical surface of a tea bowl.

When beginning to create maketo (the Japanese term for ‘object ceramics’, or ceramics that have non-utilitarian shapes), we were told to begin by imagining a castle or ruin, either visited or seen in a dream. As we prepared slabs of clay, with size and thickness of our own choice, Yoshikawa spoke intermittently in a quiet monologue while he created his own castle along with ourselves. The imaginative possibilities he offered encouraged each person to conjure their own sculptural castle from the slab of clay. The list of potential works-in-creation included objects that might be found in an archeological dig in Egypt, a memory of a castle on a hill in Greece or Italy, a hacienda in a desert in Mexico: a diverse range of possibilities, roaming over the world.

Yoshikawa taught through a strongly historical dialogue, making reference to the linked arts of ikebana, chado (the way of tea) and ceramics. He spoke of the defining moment in Japanese socio-political history in the late 16th century represented by the tea master and philosopher Sen no Rikkyu, and the highly symbolic place of chado and the ceramics used as interlinked ceremonial art forms within the then radically shifting philosophical climate of Japan.

Yoshikawa frequently spoke of the creation of ceramics as a ceremony, a rite in the life of the ceramic artist. The philosophy of Zen, and its poetic symbolism imbued in ceramics used traditionally for tea ceremony, is manifested in the political statement of ‘freedom of art’ expressed in the contemporary world of the avante garde. The power of art, of avante garde ceramics in Japan, as both subversion and regeneration of tradition, was perfectly embodied in this Triennale with its theme, ‘Subversive Clay’, where ceramicists from Asia and globally presented contemporary works from a range of cultural sources.

Yoshikawa urged participants to “create without preconception” – a creative maxim I have heard applied to the choreography of the avante garde Japanese dance world of buto. The work of one participant whose clay fell down in a heap through imbalance during the sculptural process, was reconfigured by Yoshikawa as representing an opening lotus bud. This vessel was then left to dry as it was, following Yoshikawa’s visualization that it would be perfect as an ikebana vase, with its imaginary pool of water in the base and the open mouth of a lotus from which a reed would spring.

The drifting, gliding, shifting plates of ice of either the North or South Poles of our imagination, were used as a metaphor by Yoshikawa to describe his frequent use of a pale icy blue celadon glaze. The translation of the term ‘celadon’ into Japanese is seihakukuji, or ‘blue white glaze’. Through the translation of this and other Japanese terminology, Yoshikawa discussed the multidimensional evolution of ceramics in Japan, including the influence of Chinese and Korean traditions, not just through ceramic practices but also through the media of literature and language.

f o U r d a y S W i t H C E r a m i C a r t i S t y o S H i K a W a m a S a m i C H i

Wendy Ella Wright

A

yoSHiKaWa maSamiCHi at tHE maStEr ClaSS.

PHOTO: BrAd BONAr

kAYOHO 2012, MASAMIcHI yOSHIkAwA, B. 1946, JAPAN,

POrcELAIN wITH cELAdON GLAZE, 25 X 29 X 28 cM. NATIONAL

GALLEry OF AUSTrALIA, cANBErrA, PUrcHASEd 2012


fLASk (TOkkuRI), c. 2000, yOSHIkAwA MASAMIcHI, B. 1946, JAPAN, TOkONAME POrcELAIN, UNdErGLAZE BLUE dEcOrATION,

17.0 cM (H). cOLLEcTION OF rIcHArd McMAHON. IMAGE cOUrTESy OF THE ArT GALLEry OF SOUTH AUSTrALIA

Yoshikawa described the breadth of his own practice, including his signature use of underglaze blue porcelain wares, for work as diverse as a very large tile wall mural/sculpture installation in Nagoya Airport, and an enigmatic sake bottle now at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

I think that no workshop participant will ever forget Yoshikawa’s emotive description of how he created the ceramic installation and mural commissioned by the new Nagoya Airport. After describing the difficulties of deadlines, works exploding in the kiln, and then kilns being shaved internally to fit several large ceramic globes, Yoshikawa told us about the day he flew through the airport himself to return to Japan, some months after the completion and opening of the installation.

Yoshikawa showed us some photographs of the ceramic globes in the foreground of the ceramic wall mural, and we could see the scale of the composition when viewed in relation to the children clambering on top of these sculptural works. On that day, returning from ceramics related business in Korea and seeing the children physically interacting in this way with the work, Yoshikawa claimed that he instantly knew as an artist that he had created “real art”.

One aspect of Yoshikawa’s workshop lecture was his presentation of a video which showed a series of photographs of his various compositions, accompanied by his own live

dialogue in the darkened lecture room. His account of the influences on his own creative process was accompanied by a range of music including the sound track from the seventies film Easy Rider, accompanied by photos of himself and friends on motor bikes, acting pretty wild themselves, back then in those days.

After the workshops ended, Yoshikawa Masamichi returned to Japan to continue lecturing in design at Nagoya Art University. Packing an oil painting that depicted a glimpse of Australian gum trees somewhere, he said that he strongly wished to come again soon, to see more of the country. In the meantime, he has left us with a few pieces in the permanent collection of the Australian National Gallery, the Art Gallery of South Australia and, of course, a few unglazed pieces at the Jam Factory studio that he created daily from 4 am onwards, before each workshop.

On our last day we were driving along a beach in Adelaide where the wild surf crashed onto the sand through the windswept rain. Flecks of foam flew into the air and Masamichi said quietly, “The beauty of Australia’s wild nature is an environment for great art which celebrates life. For something new.”

dr wendy Ella wright, poet and translator, graduated

B.A. from the comparative culture department of

Sophia University in Tokyo. wright is now a Visiting

Fellow at the Japan centre of ANU where she is writing

a book on translation of ancient and contemporary

Japanese poetry and other ephemera.

To register your interest, reserve a place or for further information contact Ray Boniface

PO Box U237 University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia

p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129e: [email protected]

ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N SN AT U R E • B U I L D I N G S • P E O P L E • T R A V E L L E R S

INSIDE BURMA: THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

23 October – 11 November 2014 SOLD OUT12 February - 03 March 2015

Burma is undergoing unprecedented change and publicity. Archaeologist and TAASA contributor

Dr Bob Hudson is the doyen of Burma guides and an additional departure of his longstanding annual tour program is planned due to popular demand.

As usual, extended stays in medieval Mrauk U (capital of the lost ancient kingdom of Arakan) and Bagan, rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast Asia’s

richest archaeological precinct are featured. Exciting experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and

a private cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady are also included. Now is the time to see Burma before

development and 'progress' change it forever. Land Only cost estimate per person

twinshare $5975

23 February - 11 March 2015Writer, blogger and creative writing teacher Walter

Mason has designed and brings personal and professional insights to a journey based on his

WEA Sydney Viet Nam: Four Cities lecture series in August this year. Fluent in Vietnamese, Walter studied the language at the Ho Chi Minh Social

Sciences University and has spent part of every year in Viet Nam for over two decades. Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho are the four influential

cities providing the focus of the tour punctuated with interesting stays at Halong Bay, Hoi An and Da Lat.

Viet Nam today is a vibrant, complex and welcoming country with a diverse range of landscapes, cultures

and ethnic groups. Our tour explores its contemporary place in the world within the context of Viet Nam's

rich imperial, colonial and recent history.Land Only cost estimate per person

twinshare $5800

VIET NAM: FOUR CITIES JOURNEY

26 TA A S A r E V I E w V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2


his current display in AGSA - ending 23 June 2014 - showcases over 40 works from

the collection of Richard McMahon by some of Japan’s most exciting living potters as well as a selection of ceramics, prints and sculpture from the Gallery’s collection. Elements in harmony displays the work of artists whose diverse experiences imbue historic forms with a new sense of vitality and relevance, evoking the transformational power of the elements. In ancient Japan the elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) were integral in interpreting and placating the numinous powers of the natural world. Along with astrology and geomancy, diviners and prognosticators used the ‘five phases’, an elaborate system of correspondences among the planets, directions, seasons, zodiac and the elements to attain harmony.

According to the ‘five phases’, the elements of earth and fire are complementary and Japanese ceramicists have harnessed their potential to create a culture of unmatched richness and diversity. Artists continue to create vases and tea wares according to traditions passed down through generations at ‘the six old kilns’ (Shigaraki, Bizen, Tanba, Echizen, Seto and Tokoname) while simultaneously confronting the idea that objects made from clay should only aspire to utilitarian shapes.

The Bizen kilns located in Okayama prefecture are renowned for wares created from refined rice field clay which display subtle reddish-brown modulations and natural glazes. The Gallery’s 16th century Storage jar (tsubo), evokes the wabi and sabi aesthetics of utilitarian wares so coveted by tea masters during the Momoyama period (1568-1600). Placed next to Large jar (c. 2000) by Mori Tozan (b. 1938) and Wave jar (c. 2000) by Mori Seishi (b. 1944) these wares resonate with each other and exemplify both the familial lineage as well as diversity of ceramics created at Bizen today. It also portrays recent revitalization taking place at historic kilns throughout Japan often fostered by ‘outside’ artists with diverse artistic backgrounds.

Kakurezaki Ryūichi (b. 1950) was born in Nagasaki and studied design at Osaka University of Art before taking up an apprenticeship at Bizen with National Treasure Isezaki Jun (b. 1936). Kakurezaki’s wares display similar colours and ash effects, but are sculptural, hand built from slabs of

clay which reveal his reverence for the natural world, illustrated by works in the display such as Tsurukubi (cranes neck) vase (2005) and Penguin vase (2004). Kakurezaki’s innovative blending and firing techniques were the result of economic imperative, which required him to use rock-filled coarse or ‘garbage’ clay rejected by other Bizen artists. As he has stated: “I come from Nagasaki, far from Bizen, and that allowed me to express myself in more unchained ways. Looking from outside I am indeed a Bizen ceramic artist, but looking from within the tradition of Bizen, I do appear quite different”. (E-yakimono.net, Kakurezaki Ryuichi: Bizen unchained, http://www.e-yakimono.net/html/r-kakurezaki.html, accessed 12/3/14

Unlike Kakurezaki, Kato Takahiko (b. 1952) was born in Shigaraki and draws inspiration from utilitarian masterpieces created there during the 15th and 16th centuries, which featured coarse clay and natural ash glazes. He is known for putting twists on old classic forms such as tea bowls and creating primeval sculptural works with crusty natural ash glazes, the result of a three day firing process which activates impurities on the surface. As a vessel for flowers or simply as a work of sculpture, Scaled vase, Shigaraki ware (c. 2006) reveals Kato’s vivid imagination and ability to conjure the true flavour or tsuchi aji of gritty Shigaraki clay.

Rather than referencing the elements themselves, artists such as Akiyama Yō (b. 1953) and Ōhira Kazumasa (b. 1943) evoke the natural cycle of creation and disintegration from which the elements are born. Both feature rugged, geometric forms with natural ash glazes. The muscular clay form of Akiyama’s Object, with rope base (2003) seems to imply the slow steady movement of great forces in the earth’s crust responsible for the geological origins of clay itself. Ōhira’s Wind vessels (c. 2000) take their name from his

sculptural concept kaze kangen, literally ‘wind’ and ‘return to origins’, which refers to the inevitability that all worldly phenomena will return to their elemental properties.

Complementing the selection of ceramics are prints by Yoshida Hodaka (1926-1995) and a sculpture by Endo Toshikatsu (b. 1950). Yoshida’s Pachamama (1968), ‘mother earth’, presents a landscape which mirrors the female form and references the benevolent fertility goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes for over 2,000 years. This work was inspired by artefacts, architectural ruins and myths of pre-Columbian Mayan culture, part of a series of works created between 1966-74 subsequently titled Mythology and Landscape.

According to the ‘five phases’, the combination of water and fire are perceived as ominous. To create Allegory III (1988) Endo Toshikatsu (b.1950) carved a wooden canoe, set it on fire on a lake and later, sealed the interior with tar and filled it with water. According to Endo, his aim was to construct a situation where two incompatible elements, water and fire, co-exist and through an act of ritual destruction or sacrifice, are transformed. For Endo, only direct experiences with phenomena, unmediated by language, will enable humanity to return to its origins: language has stranded humanity in an artificial world of endless possibility, devoid of primal emotions and instincts associated with life, sex, creation and death.

russell kelty is the assistant curator, Asian art at the

Art Gallery of South Australia.

rEfErENCESEarle, Joe. 2005. Contemporary Clay: Japanese ceramics for the

new century, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

de Jongh, karlyn, 2011. ‘Facing the void: A conversation with

Toshikatsu Endo’, Sculpture, Vol. 30, No. 5 (June 2011).

koe Magazine Online, Kato Takahiko: Shigaraki Ceramic Artist, July

2013, http://www.koemagazine.com/2013/07/kato-takahiko/

E L E M E N T S I N H A R M O N Y: C O N T E M P O R A R Y J A PA N E S E C E R A M I C S -

a d i S P l a y a t t H E a r t G a l l E r y o f S o U t H a U S t r a l i a

Russell Kelty

T

allEGory iii, 1988, ENdO TOSHIkATSU, SOUTH AUSTrALIAN GOVErNMENT GrANT 1991; StoraGE Jar (tSUBo) LATE 16TH c.,

GIFT OF SUE TwEddELL 2007; larGE Jar, MOrI TOZAN ANd WaVE Jar, MOrI SEISHI, cOLLEcTION OF rIcHArd B. McMAHON


Exhibiting the Past: Historical memory and

the Politics of museums in Postsocialist China

kirk denton

University of Hawai’i Press, 2014

rrP US$59.00, hard cover, 350 pages

“Not another museum!” is a familiar refrain from someone participating in a tourist visit to China, only equalled by the alternative, “Not another temple!” A recent survey of Chinese museums listed a total of 2,200 across the country and undoubtedly most people have spent time in several, some with first-class displays and excellent explanatory material and some with boring poorly-lit glass case displays and information only in Chinese language text.

Back in Cultural Revolution years, I was once asked to take a group of Australian jockeys round the National History Museum (don’t ask me why, it is a long story). The material was organised in what was then standard Maoist/Marxist sequence, beginning with Primitive Society, then moving through Slave Society to Feudal Society. It was hard to hold my charges’ attention through rooms of oracle bones and clay pots. When we at last reached the period of bronze artefacts, I focussed on the famous bronze statue known as the “Flying Horse” (later adopted as the logo of China International Tourist Services). I pointed out how remarkable it was that 2000 years ago, long before the development of high speed photography, the sculptor had caught the action of the galloping horse. Around the same time, in Roman Europe, horses were drawn with both front and back legs extended as if flying, but the Han dynasty bronze showed a natural action. The jockeys were indeed interested and carefully considered the statue, but then commented: “That horse shouldn’t be called ‘Flying’. It is not galloping at all but swimming, and that

is how the sculptor was able to observe it moving in slow motion.”

Kirk Denton is a scholar of modern Chinese literature and this book is his first venture into the multi-disciplinary field of museum studies. He has produced a fascinating commentary on the role of museums in contemporary China, on the picture that they present of China’s past as well as future, and on some of the Party and government policies that are enshrined in the presentation of exhibits and narratives designed to build Chinese nationalism. He also discusses how their representation of the past is changing as society evolves, stressing that although the vast majority of museums are state-run, this does not mean that they present a uniform one-Party view. The exhibits and displays are rather the result of negotiations and compromises and constantly reviewed and revised.

Chinese museum authorities categorise establishments into three types according to their contents: either arts, history or science. Denton’s book focusses on history museums and particularly those relating to the modern and contemporary periods. Since most international scholars have provided commentary on the role of arts museums, this volume therefore extends the discussion into new and fruitful fields. From the vast number of modern history museums, Denton has selected a small number for detailed analysis, all being state-run. Besides regular museums, he has added memorial halls and parks, and one chapter is devoted to sites related to “red tourism”, offering nostalgic and patriotic educational visits to sites associated with the early development of the Communist Party and its role during the War of Resistance to Japan.

Some might criticise the fact that he has concentrated on state-run museums and not the new and growing number of private museums such as the Sanyuan Museum in Hunan Province, financed by local interests, which is devoted to the commemoration of three great revolutionary leaders, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De. However, since Denton’s main aim is to discuss the political role of museums, this is best illustrated by reference to official establishments. By contrast, in November last year, I myself spent a day at the Jianchuan Cluster Museum outside Chengdu. This is an

extraordinary group of exhibition halls built up by a private collector, reflecting his personal collection interests, but also testimony to the growing freedom in China to discuss topics in modern history that are too sensitive to feature in official collections. Jianchuan, for instance, has halls featuring the role of the “Flying Tigers” and nationalist fighters in the War of Resistance to Japan, and also has an impressive collection of Mao-era popular culture such as enamel household items and teaware featuring Cultural Revolution art and political slogans.

One of the more interesting chapters deals with the museum presentation of ethnic minorities. Against the background of considerable controversy in the United States and Europe regarding ethnic culture museums, particularly relating to their origin in colonial and imperialist policies, Denton notes the dilemmas facing Chinese museum authorities as to how to present their ethnic minority people. Should displays focus on their unique traditional arts or place them in the national narrative of progress towards modernity and the “Road to Revival”? In recent years a private Chinese group set up a theme park in Florida known as “Splendid China”, similar to the one of the same name based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. This park showcases the many ethnic minorities of China, intending to attract tourists with traditional arts and crafts, demonstrations of dances and so on, but expatriate Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians have attacked the displays as insulting and evidence of Han chauvinist attitudes to their cultures.

Above all, this book explores how national history is presented to the public and to international visitors to China, to support Party educational and propaganda objectives. Anyone planning a trip to China, whether to explore its ancient or modern history or to study its extensive cultural traditions and their modern expressions, will find Denton’s book an invaluable resource that will greatly enhance an understanding of museum and memorial hall displays.

Jocelyn chey is Visiting Professor in the School of

Languages and cultures at the University of Sydney

and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International

Affairs.

B o o K r E V i E W: E X H I B I T I N G T H E PA S T

Jocelyn Chey

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2 29

TAASA NSWChinese Opera Evening27 February 2014TAASA, with AASI (Australasian Art and Stageworks Inc), treated guests to the traditions of Chinese Opera. Fiona Reilly, Head of Costume at NIDA, provided insights into some of its symbolism and background.

We watched renowned Chinese Opera performer, Gabrielle Chan, being made up by professional make-up artist, Wong Ka Bo. Gabrielle represented the hua dan or female role with a dramatic, white and pink face and slanted, ‘phoenix’ eyes lined in black. A wig was applied in pieces soaked in tree resin to accentuate the performer’s face and to serve as a base for her elaborate headdress. Lastly, over her white, inner garments she was dressed in an embroidered, pale, silk costume with long, expressive ‘water sleeves’. Meanwhile, Gabrielle’s husband, Michael Quan, applied his own makeup in the sheng or bold, male role. After our Chinese banquet, we watched a Cantonese opera excerpt performed by Gabrielle and Michael. Margaret White

TAASA CERAMICS STUDY GROUPAn Exploration of Ly and Tran Dynasty Ceramics (1009-1400) in Historical Context11 March 2014Authority on Vietnamese arts, Kerry Nguyen-Long, focussed on the ceramics from this period, little researched until recently. Ly and Tran ceramics were composed of fine- textured white clays, their warm white, pearl grey and cream colours resulting from thin, ash glazes. Greenish or iron brown wash wares decorated with sgraffito designs were also typical.

Her talk outlined the ways in which Buddhist and Champa kingdom influences are evident in Ly Dynasty ritual ceramic shapes and

iconography. The Tran Dynasty essentially continued the arts of the Ly, however ceramic export trade was stimulated by restrictions on Chinese trade, exposing Viet potters to new influences and resulting in new designs on monochrome celadon green and brown wares. Free-hand brush painted decoration and blue and white wares followed.Margaret White

TAASA TEXTILE STUDY GROUP A Tale of Two Cities: Modernity in early 20th c. SE Asian Textiles12 March 2014Similar motifs and composition on a Pekalongan (Java, Indonesia) batik and a tye-dyed silk from Phnom Penh (Cambodia) intrigued TAASA President, Gill Green, to hypothesize how designs using symbols of modernity such as cars and postal services were embraced in the early 20th c. by different cultures some 2000kms apart.

Gill postulated that the thriving, interregional trade network led by Arab Hadramas who migrated to SE Asia aided the movement of batik to the north in the 19th century. Later, skilled Javanese weavers and batik makers migrated to the Kelantan/Trengganu region of NE Malaysia bordering Cambodia. It was but a small step for Cambodia to absorb their new cutting edge designs.Margaret White

Performing the Quilt- an expression of cultural and individual identity 9 April 2014An old collection of family photographs from her early life in Quetta, Pakistan, kindled Sarah Tucker’s memories of quilts, handmade by local women, and led to a general fascination with textiles and the quilt form. Sarah focussed on NW India and Pakistan’s Ralli/Rilii quilts and the Tivaevae quilts from the Cook Islands in the south Pacific, closely

associated with the Maori and Polynesian peoples and their life cycle events.

A Ralli quilt may include patchwork, appliqué blocks or the use of embroidery to join layers together whereas a Tivaevae is created on thick, cotton cloth and sewn with an oyster stitch in similar methods to Ralli quilts. Dramatically, the Tivaevae tatura employs paper cut stencils for the appliqués and bold colours to depict tropical foliage. Sarah concluded that until recently the production of quilts was not highly regarded, however they can now be interpreted as performances of rich cultural and individual identity. Margaret White

TAASA IN VICTORIAVisit to Chinese Museum22 March 2014TAASA members and guests took part in a guided tour of Melbourne’s Chinese Museum. Off one of Melbourne’s laneways in the heart of Chinatown, the oldest area of continuous Chinese settlement in the western world, the museum preserves, collects and researches the history and culture of the Chinese and their descendants in Australia. The tour brought to light the reality of life of Victoria’s Chinese community during the gold rush of the 19th century and later. Members enjoyed lunch at the nearby Hutong Dumpling Bar, famed for its soup-filled dumplings, xiao long bao.

TAASA IN QUEENSLANDIn Conversation with Bundit Puangthong12 April 2014 Brisbane members enjoyed a joint TAASA and Edwina Corlette Gallery artist talk by exciting Melbourne-based artist, Bundit Puangthong, coinciding with his exhibition at the Gallery. Bundit explained how the vibrant colours and imagery of his native Thailand have inspired his work.

r E C E N t t a a S a a C t i V i t i E S

Boris Kaspiev is an independent, private collector of Asian art, with a specific interest in the Buddhist art of Tibet and Mongolia. His collection, acquired over nearly 30 years

in partnership with the late Richard Price, comprises more than 400 works dating from the 10th century BCE to the early 20th century.

Born in Canberra of Russian émigré parents, Boris has lived in Melbourne since the mid-1970s. He was inspired in his collecting by his heritage from the south of Russia on the edges of Central Asia, and by the small collection of Chinese art assembled by his godmother, who was a harbintsy, a white Russian who settled in Harbin in the early 20th century.

Having recently retired after working for more than 30 years in social policy, he is

now able to devote more of his time to researching and documenting the collection, and pursuing his passion for Asian art and culture. Believing he is only the custodian of the collection, Boris has always been keen for others to enjoy it, and has on a number of occasions hosted visits from VisAsia, NGV Asian Art supporters, members of TAASA, and private researchers. Boris has recently joined TAASA’s Management Committee and will convene TAASA’s activities in Victoria.

t a a S a m E m B E r P r o f i l E S B O r I S k A S P I E V

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 230

TAASA Weekend Excursion to Canberra14 – 15 June, 2014On Saturday, members are invited to attend the full day Symposium: Borobudur to Bali: past and present photographic art in Indonesia at the NGA, and on Sunday a guided tour of the exhibition Bali: Island of the Gods curated by Robyn Maxwell, followed by a Balinese dance performance. With drinks courtesy Asia Bookroom, dinner on Saturday evening, lunch at the NGA on Sunday, this should be a stimulating weekend. Details to follow. Enquiries: Ann Proctor at [email protected]

TAASA Symposium: Symbolism and Imagery in Asian Textiles10 am – 1.30 pm, Saturday 19 July 2014 Target Theatre, Powerhouse Museum, SydneyExplores the dissemination of symbolism and imagery in textiles and the movement of ideas through various trade routes. Speakers are:Susan Scollay: Translating textiles: poetry, profit and politics in the imagery of the woven art of AsiaSiobhan Campbell: The symbolism of Bali Christina Sumner: From pinecone to Paisley: a case study of the ubiquitous ‘boteh’.TAASA/VisAsia/AGS/Powerhouse/NGV/QAG members $45; Non-members $50; Life members $15 for catering.Please book by email to [email protected] or (02) 9460 4579

TAASA IN VICTORIAPrivate Melbourne collection viewingThursday 12 June 2014, 6-8pm With a particular focus on textiles from Laos.Refreshments provided. $20 at the door for members, $25 for guests. Numbers limited. Address provided on RSVP.

TAASA viewing of the NGV’s exhibition Bushido: The Way of the SamuraiSaturday 5 July 2014, 2-3pm Curator Wayne Crothers will lead TAASA members through this exhibition, which explores the fascinating world of the samurai: warriors, rulers and aristocratic elite of

Japanese society for more than 800 years. Free. RSVP appreciated.For more information on TAASA Victoria events, contact Boris Kaspiev at: [email protected] or 0421 038 491.

TAASA TEXTILE STUDY GROUPAll meetings held at the PLC Room, Powerhouse Museum, 7.15 – 9.15pm

Wednesday 11 June: From Fashion to Passion: A personal exploration of the kimono culture of Japan from 1900 to the present: Fiona Cole will explore aspects of women’s kimono such as its varying styles, construction, materials and motifs and share examples of pieces she has collected.

Wednesday 13 August: Topic TBARefreshments provided. $10 members; $15 non members. Email enquiries to Helen Perry at [email protected].

TAASA CERAMICS STUDY GROUPIkebana and Ceramic WaresSaturday 7 June 2014, 10am-12pmKuniko Nagano, Head of the Sydney Ohara School of Ikebana, will discuss the relationship of ceramic wares to floral arrangements and provide a hands-on demonstration of several arrangements matched with a range of ceramic containers.

Members $20; Non members $25. Light refreshments. Venue: Pymble, exact location provided on registrationRSVP essential to Margaret White: [email protected]

TAASA IN QUEENSLANDMember Preview of Mossgreen Asian Art Auction6- 8pm, Thursday 5 June 2014Jan Manton Gallery1/93 Fortescue St, Spring Hill Mossgreen Director, Paul Sumner will speak about highlights of this auction, held in their Melbourne Rooms on 16 -17 June. A small selection of pieces will be available

for viewing. Cost: $10 for TAASA members; $15 for non members, payable at the door. RSVP: Jan Manton Gallery at [email protected]. Limited numbers; early reply appreciated.

Artist Talk by Khadim Ali6-8pm, Thursday 3 July 2014Josh Milani Gallery54 Logan Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane Khadim Ali will speak about his current exhibition at the Gallery which, through images that interpret the 10th-century Persian epic poem the Shahnameh, considers the Hazara people and culture, and the emergence of a lawless society in contemporary Afghanistan. Free event but numbers limited; early RSVP appreciated to Josh Milani at his gallery website www.milanigallery.com.au.

Lecture - A Contemporary Traditional Wedding in Sumatra 2 – 3.30pm, Saturday, 2 August 2014 QAG (Water Mall) Auditorium at SouthbankAt this TAASA and ACAPA/ QAGOMA event, Dr Chris Reid from the Australian Museum and Safrina Thristiawati will use aspects of their own Sumatran wedding in 2000 to discuss the creation and symbolic purpose of the sumptuous textiles used. Safrina will wear a traditional costume and explain how house decorations go up in preparation for the ceremony. They will bring numerous examples of ceremonial textiles. Free.

Opening talk - The Doily Collecting Cowboy: Indonesian Textiles from Lampung, South Sumatra3 for 3:30pm, Sunday 3 August 2014Gallery 159 (159 Payne Road) BrisbaneFor this joint TAASA/TAFTA (The Australian Forum for Textile Arts) event, Greg Pankhurst, the ‘Doily Collecting Cowboy’, will open the exhibition with a talk about his passion for collecting Sumatran textiles, especially those from Lampung where he has long maintained a home. Free.

taaSa mEmBErS ’ d iary

J U N E – AU G U S T 2 0 1 4

I grew up in Queensland. After some years living and working in London, and travelling throughout Europe I met and married John, an Englishman, and together in 1972

we adventured overland (the so called Hippie Trail) from London to Brisbane, by public transport. We settled in Sydney, where our two children were born.

I have always thought of myself as a ‘left brain’ person, although art was one of my school subjects and sewing, photography (using first a box brownie, a gift from dad), and later on, pottery were early interests.

I still love and buy fabric, for their feel, colour and design, and use it in patchwork & quilting, but my interest in textiles was awakened on joining the TAASA Textile Study Group sometime in the late 1990s. My interests include learning about various textiles, especially those

of SE and Central Asia, photography, quilting, cooking (read food), music, and learning French, a lost cause! And last but not least travel. I love Asian destinations as much as I love France & Italy.

I was invited to join the TAASA Events committee last year and now find myself the chair of said committee as well as a newly appointed member of the Management Committee. I am sure there will be many challenges ahead but I know that I have the support of committee members.

t a a S a m E m B E r P r o f i l E S S A N d y w AT S O N

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O . 2 31

W H a t ’ S o N : J U N E – A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

A S E L E c T I V E r O U N d U P O F E X H I B I T I O N S A N d E V E N T S

Compiled by Tina Burge

NSW

Plumes and pearlshells - art of the

New Guinea highlands

30 May – 10 Aug 2014

Art Gallery of NSw, Sydney

The peoples of the New Guinea highlands are renowned for their spectacular ceremonies, which involve hundreds of dancers festooned with elaborate body adornments, including highly prized Bird of Paradise plumes and the revered kina, or pearlshell.

Sydney businessman Stanley Gordon Moriarty assembled one of the finest collections of highlands material culture during his travels there between 1961 and 1972. Among these were exquisitely constructed headdresses, arm- and leg-bands, ear- and nose-rings and necklaces, made of feathers, shell, barkcloth, animal and plant fibres and natural pigments.

theatre of dreams, theatre of play –

Nō and Kyōgen in Japan

14 June – 14 September 2014

Art Gallery of NSw, Sydney

Featuring 165 works – including masks and costumes as well as paintings, musical instruments and books – from the collection of the National Noh Theatre, Tokyo and the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, this is the first comprehensive exhibition of the rich material culture of nō and kyōgen theatre (nōgaku) to be shown in Australia.

The beauty of the exhibits showcases Japan’s unique aesthetic sensibility and the excellence of its traditional arts and crafts. The splendour of the masks, robes and paintings invites all who see it to appreciate this complex and sumptuous world.For further information go to: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

tabaimo: medurumeku

Museum of contemporary Art, Sydney

3 July-7 September 2014

Tabaimo: Mekurumeku is a survey of works by leading Japanese artist Tabaimo. The exhibition includes multi-screen video works that immerse gallery visitors within constantly moving, changing environments that combine hand-drawn imagery and sound. Tabaimo’s works draw upon the historical Japanese woodblock tradition, peering into hidden corners of the human

psyche to reveal a highly surreal world of beauty, anxiety and horror within.For further information: www.mca.com.au

the mann-tatlow Collection of asian art

15 March – 20 July

wollongong Art Gallery, wollongong

The Wollongong Art Gallery is celebrating 10 years of the Mann-Tatlow Collection, which includes Asian ceramics, objects and items of furniture from the Neolithic Period to the early 20th century. During the exhibition there will be a number of activities such as floor talks and writers’ workshops to engage contemporary visitors with the Collection.For further information: www.wollongongcitygallery.com

Subject to ruin

24 May - 6 July 2014

casula Powerhouse Arts centre

Renowned Chinese contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei rose to prominence in 1995 with Dropping a Dynasty Urn, where he purposely dropped a Neolithic Chinese vase from a height, smashing it into pieces. The provocative statement underscored the disposability in contemporary China of signs and symbols of the past, displaced by a new consumer aesthetic of cheap abundance.

Subject to Ruin is a contemporary art exhibition that not only responds to facets of destruction, degradation and disaster in everyday society, it is a platform for reflection, experimentation and free speech with reference to actions of awareness and a need for change. For more information to: www.casulapowerhouse.com

SoUtH aUStralia

Netsuke and other miniatures

11 April to 31 August 2014

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

2014 is the centenary of the establishment of the Art Gallery of South Australia’s collection of Japanese netsuke, inrō and other carvings. This collection, around 300 works of art, has been developed through the generosity of many South Australians including early notable art connoisseurs such as Sir Samuel Way (1836-1916) and more recently, Max Carter AO.

For further information about events associated with the exhibition go to: www.artgallery.sa.gov.au

ViCtoria

Bushido – Way of the Samurai

4 July – 4 November 2014

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Bushido explores the fascinating world of the samurai who were the warriors, rulers and aristocratic elite of Japanese society for more than 800 years. Bushido: Way of the Samurai will focus on samurai as both warriors and men of refined culture. It will showcase the attire of the samurai and display their cultural pursuits in the form of Noh costumes, calligraphic scrolls, lacquer objects and tea utensils. The life of the samurai is represented in screen paintings, woodblock prints and studio photographs.For further information about events in association with the exhibition go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au

QUEENSlaNd

The doily Collecting Cowboy - indonesian

textiles from lampung, South Sumatra

3 – 24 August 2014

Gallery 159 (159 Payne road) Brisbane

Greg Pankhurst has an extensive collection of South Sumatran textiles, in particular from Lampung where he has long maintained a home and business. Selected works will be exhibited at the dedicated gallery space of TAFTA, The Australian Forum for Textile Arts Ltd. At the opening (3:30pm on Sunday 3 August), Greg will talk about some of the works, and his passion for collecting, linking it to his life in Sumatra, shared with his family.

OkIMONO, kARAkO PLAYINg BLINdMAN'S BLuff,

LATE 19TH cENTUry, IVOry,wITH SEMI PrEcIOUS STONES ANd

LAcQUEr, 6.8 cM, M.J.M. cArTEr AO cOLLEcTION 2004

ArT GALLEry OF SOUTH AUSTrALIA, AdELAIdE

review_23_2_2014_june

Documents

single australia

libraries australia

dual australia

australia post

taasa membership rates

central asian art

taasa web site

n pictures