Akar Prakar
It’s Personal!
August 29 – September 27, 2023
Opening Reception: Tuesday, August 29, 6–8 PM

D-43, First Floor
Defence Colony, New Delhi

Akar Prakar is excited to announce the opening of their next exhibition, It's Personal!, a group show curated by Siddhi Shailendra. Artists include Arhant Shrestha, Debasish Mukherjee, Kaldi Moss, Manir Mrittik, Naghmeh Abbasi, Siavash Yazdanmehr, and Zoya Siddiqui.

For more information, click here.

The first female Japanese study-abroad students to the U.S. sponsored by the Meiji Government

Meiji Modern: What Women’s Education Means Then and Now
Sunday, August 27 at 7PM EDT (Monday, August 28 at 9:15AM Toyko Time)
International House of Japan
5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

In recognition and celebration of the Japanese Art Society of America’s upcoming exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan opening at Asia Society New York on October 3, 2023, this panel discussion explores the significance of education, in particular women’s education and modernization, by a panel of experts.

Japan took its steps to modernization 150 years ago. What was achieved then, and how is it still relevant today? The significance of education will be discussed by Dr. Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of History, Columbia University; Dr. Junko Hibiya, Former President of International Christian University; and Dr. Nick Honma of Digital Museum of Japanese History in New York. The program will be moderated by Claire Chino, Asia Society Japan Founding Member.

This event will be conducted online and in-person and registration is required. Online participation is open to the public and free. In-person participation is for Asia Society members and guests only.

For more information, click here.

Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum

A Curious Affair – Toward an Understanding of Art and Globalization
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco – Samsung Hall
Friday, August 25, 2023
10:30 AM

As an industrialized world grew more connected, how did Asian countries respond? Humans have always been curious about the cultures of faraway lands, and precious trade objects have offered a window into the lives of their makers. Advances in maritime technology at the beginning of the 15th century led to a veritable explosion of material and information exchange between distant nations. Christian Jesuit priests traveled to all parts of Asia, leaving behind visible legacies; at the same time, China emerged as the springboard for ideas and cultures that spread throughout Asia and beyond, while the Ottoman empire created artwork reflecting its globally intermediary position.

At the dawn of the 20th century, countries debated the meaning of national identities and modern society. Meanwhile, European military power and colonial policies drastically altered the course of history. As their world changed, how did Asian countries react?

Join Forrest McGill, the Wattis Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, as he kicks off this lecture series with a discussion on the art and ideas that resulted from these interactions, conflicts, and exchanges.

Tickets for talks in this series are available at the door.

For more information, click here.

Illustration to a Ragamala series: Todi Ragini, Mughal, 18th c., opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, Image: 5 ⅛ x 3 in. (13 x 7.6 cm), Folio: 6 ¼ x 4 ⅛ in. (15.9 x 10.5 cm)

Kapoor Galleries join in celebrating the United Kingdom’s South Asian Heritage Month with a series of works that tap into the collective histories and cultures of the region. Spotlighting Mughal miniatures and Company Paintings from the Indian subcontinent, these brightly colored and extensively detailed paintings assist in showing prominent Persian and European influences. The contextual oeuvre of these paintings covers a diverse range of themes from court scenes, portraits, architectural drawings, Ragamala paintings to illustrations of flora and fauna; all creating a theatrical spectacle for the viewer and, thereby, drawing our attention to the storytelling aspect embedded in them.

In this striking watercolor, a lone nayika wanders an open glade and stands beneath the pink blossoms of a small sapling. The vast empty landscape emphasizes the woman’s loneliness, the only audience for her longing tune being a blackbuck deer—horns delicately embellished with gold and a jeweled necklace around its outstretched neck—who serves as a stand-in for her absent lover. A cool white sun peeks through the morning haze, bringing a tinge of gold into the slowly brightening sky—the flat layers of metallic and cool colors evoking the feeling of a spring morning. The iconography is immediately recognizable as that of Todi Ragini, which recalls the wistful mood of love in separation.

For more information and to view digital catalogues, click here.

Wada Akira, Hyouri; Front/Back, 2020, unglazed carved porcelain, 8 ¼ x 5 3/4 x 5 1/4 in., Photo by Richard Goodbody

Born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan in 1978, Wada Akira belongs to the younger generation of Japanese ceramists who work within the medium of white porcelain. He first throws and then carefully carves the surfaces of his nominally functional forms that read more as sculpture than vessel. Due to the absolute precision required in using delicate dental-style tools to carve each ceramic, the making of a single sake cup may consume an entire day. Wada chooses to leave his vessels unglazed with a matte white surface or applies a clear glaze that softens the edges and reflects the light, focusing the eye of the viewer on form and contours of the vessel.

These uniquely sculptural porcelains have earned Wada grand prize awards at the Paramita Ceramic Competition, The TOKI Oribe Contemporary Teaware Exhibition and the Kikuchi Biennale at the Musée Tomo, despite his young age.

His solo exhibition, Ceramic Artist: Akira Wada — Light and Shadow, is currently on view at Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art /Ceramic Art Messe Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan through October 2023.

To learn more about his process and view available works, click here.

Arnold Chang & Michael Cherney, Angles 角度 #2, 2020, photography and ink on xuan paper mount on paper, 23 x 54 1/4 in. (58.4 x 137.8 cm)

Exhibited last year during Asia Week New York, Angles #2 depicts Michael Cherney’s photograph of the eroded landscape of the Loess Plateau (Mizhi county, Shaanxi province) and Arnold Chang’s distinct brushwork of a landscape that expands the dominant triangular form flowing outward in multiple directions and creating subtle tensions between the two mediums.

Chang and Cherney began collaborating in 2009 and over the years, their work has blurred the distinctions between photography and painting by harnessing the similarities between film grains and ink dots. Angles #2 is neither solely a photograph nor painting, but rather a dialogue between two artists, working in different media, embracing and reaffirming the classical aesthetics of Chinese landscape art while challenging the public's definition of shuimo 水墨 (“ink painting”).

With their deft abilities to bridge Eastern and Western aesthetics and collapse cultural binaries, Chang and Cherney stand at the forefront of the Contemporary Ink Art movement, as evidenced by this work joining The Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

For more information, click here.

Katayama Shunpan, Pictures of the Taisho Earthquake: No Escape Route at Hanazono Pond (Taisho Shinsai Gashu: Nigeba wo Ushinatta Hanazone-Ike), 1880-?

In Memoriam – 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake
Scholten Japanese Art
Online Exhibition

This year the month of September marks the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and Scholten Japanese Art recognizes the tragedy in solemn commemoration. While this event is frequently refer to as a means to date and categorize modern Japanese prints (as in ‘pre-earthquake’ or ‘post-earthquake) it is imperative to remember the humanity, resilience, and profound spirit of those who endured its devastating impact.

At two minutes before noon on September 1, 1923, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale emanated from Sagami Bay south of Tokyo, the jolts roiling across the Kanto plain and striking Tokyo and Yokohama with tremendous force. The quake was followed by a massive tsunami and hundreds of fires were sparked by overturned stoves and broken gas lines. Over the course of three days, the fires spread across Tokyo, leaving behind a landscape of destruction and chaos.

In the aftermath, there were several artistic projects and publications which sought to record the seminal catastrophe and efforts at a rapid restoration of the capital. Their work serves as a somber memorial to the tragedy, offering a reflection on the horrors of the Great Kanto Earthquake and its lasting impact on Japan's history.

To view the exhibition, click here.

Fujinuma Noboru, Group of Sculptures, 2020-21, moso bamboo and lacquer, variable sizes

Fujinuma Noboru
August 18–September 30, 2023
Artist Opening Reception: Friday, August 18, 5–7pm
Artist Lecture: Saturday, August 19, 2–3pm

TAI Modern is pleased to welcome renowned bamboo artist Fujinuma Norboru, Living National Treasure of Japan, to Santa Fe for his second solo show with the gallery. It is already bound to be an exciting weekend in Santa Fe, with the opening reception this Friday, August 18 from 5-7pm, where the artist will be in attendance. Then on Saturday, they will host a talk given by Fujinuma-san from 2-3pm about his process, creative life, inspiration, along with much more..

This exhibition focuses on one of Fujinuma’s signature bodies of work, his mysterious and alluring lacquered bamboo cylinders. The process of making each piece a laborious one. Each carefully selected moso bamboo stalk is harvested, dried for two to three years, and carved into a form that accentuates the shape and individual qualities of that particular piece of bamboo. Then he begins to apply layers of multi-colored urushi lacquer, often upwards of 100 layers per piece. Each layer takes over eight hours to dry, so Fujinuma works on multiple cylinders simultaneously. Once he has finished applying lacquer, Fujinuma then sands through the layers, uncovering different geographies of color and composition. This results in beautifully rich and multihued pieces in a variety of sizes and complexity.

Fujinuma Noboru is an artist of immense talent and skill and has been recognized by the Japanese government as a Living National Treasure, or Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties. This honor is only bestowed upon the greatest traditional artists in their given medium in Japan and has only been given to five other bamboo artists. Fujinuma Noboru was named the sixth Living National Treasure of Bamboo Art in 2012.

Despite his many honors and accomplishments, Fujinuma says, “In terms of climbing the mountain, I have not yet reached the top… One by one, I would like to leave better pieces behind. I strongly hope to create even better works of art.”

For view the exhibition and online catalogue, click here.

Fujinuma Noboru, Group of Sculptures, 2020-21, moso bamboo and lacquer, variable sizes

Fujinuma Noboru
August 18–September 30, 2023
Artist Opening Reception: Friday, August 18, 5–7pm
Artist Lecture: Saturday, August 19, 2–3pm

TAI Modern is pleased to welcome renowned bamboo artist Fujinuma Norboru, Living National Treasure of Japan, to Santa Fe for his second solo show with the gallery. It is already bound to be an exciting weekend in Santa Fe, with the opening reception this Friday, August 18 from 5-7pm, where the artist will be in attendance. Then on Saturday, they will host a talk given by Fujinuma-san from 2-3pm about his process, creative life, inspiration, along with much more..

This exhibition focuses on one of Fujinuma’s signature bodies of work, his mysterious and alluring lacquered bamboo cylinders. The process of making each piece a laborious one. Each carefully selected moso bamboo stalk is harvested, dried for two to three years, and carved into a form that accentuates the shape and individual qualities of that particular piece of bamboo. Then he begins to apply layers of multi-colored urushi lacquer, often upwards of 100 layers per piece. Each layer takes over eight hours to dry, so Fujinuma works on multiple cylinders simultaneously. Once he has finished applying lacquer, Fujinuma then sands through the layers, uncovering different geographies of color and composition. This results in beautifully rich and multihued pieces in a variety of sizes and complexity.

Fujinuma Noboru is an artist of immense talent and skill and has been recognized by the Japanese government as a Living National Treasure, or Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties. This honor is only bestowed upon the greatest traditional artists in their given medium in Japan and has only been given to five other bamboo artists. Fujinuma Noboru was named the sixth Living National Treasure of Bamboo Art in 2012.

Despite his many honors and accomplishments, Fujinuma says, “In terms of climbing the mountain, I have not yet reached the top… One by one, I would like to leave better pieces behind. I strongly hope to create even better works of art.”

For view the exhibition and online catalogue, click here.

Tree and Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE Exhibition

Conversations with … An Expert on Tree and Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE
Thursday, August 17
3:00–3:30 PM
The Met Fifth Avenue – Gallery 999

Join John Guy, Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia, for an exploration of works in the recently opened exhibition Tree and Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE. Discover the origins of Buddhist art and newly discovered and never before publicly exhibited masterpieces.

Free with Museum admission. Note that space is limited; first come, first served.

Next talk will be on Tuesday, August 29, 3:00-3:30 PM with Kalyani Madhura Ramachandran, 2023–2024 Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow, The Met.

For more information, click here.