Chinese cuisine is an important part of Chinese culture. When we are homesick, we always say that we are missing the homeland taste of food where we grew up. If we cook, we can make anywhere our home. Also, if we cook, we can have a travel experience through cuisines from different cultures. There is…
Request ProgramEast Asian
Self-Expression through Chinese Calligraphy Art
Chinese calligraphy as an art form is life fully experienced through the energy and motion of marks on paper, with time and rhythm in shifting space. The speed, acceleration and deceleration of the writer’s moves and turns give “spirit” to the characters by greatly influencing their final result. It requires the writer to have perfect…
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This program explores imperial rituals, court painting, family life, and religion in the Forbidden City, home to 24 of China’s emperors from the Ming (1368-1644) through the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Utilizing selected objects from the Palace Museum, Beijing, in addition to works from VMFA’s permanent collection, this talk explores the visual and cultural landscape established…
Request ProgramJapanese Aesthetics
Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s seminal text, In Praise of Shadows (1933), discusses Eastern, specifically Japanese, ideals of beauty. Contrary to the Western framework of thinking, Japanese aesthetics favors the in-between, typically discarded or overlooked places of beauty: the grey shadows, the tea ceremony, and even a toilet seat. By looking at examples of Japanese fine and decorative arts, we will discuss Tanizaki’s major ideas concerning Eastern Aesthetics and then apply his understanding to the works in the VMFA permanent collection.
Request ProgramThe Sacred Architecture of Japan
This lecture explores Shinto and Buddhism, two of the major religions of Japan. The overview includes a discussion of how they developed, their places of worship, their sources, aesthetic principles, and how they are applied to life and art in Japan.
Request ProgramJapanese Culture during the Edo Period
The Edo Period was the time of shoguns, samurai, Kabuki, and the famous ukiyo-e prints. This lecture provides the context for these elements and discusses the subjects, techniques, and aesthetic principles of the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Japan.
Request ProgramBuilding the Korean Collection at the VMFA
Trace the development of the Korean collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from the first Korean artwork of a 8th-century gilt bronze Buddha that entered the collection in 1969 to the recent purchase of a 19th-century lacquer box. Explore how the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Korean art collection has grown through public donations and museum purchases. The speaker will also introduce the Museum’s first Korean gallery built through the generous support of the Korea Foundation in Seoul.
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