Cultural Preservation for the Next GenerationWednesday, November 15, 2006
6:30 pm~8:00 pm: Lecture
8:00 pm~9:00 pm: Reception
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.japansociety.org / 212-832-1155
Tickets: $10/$8 members, $5 seniors & students
Order tickets online www.japansociety.org
or call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258
Exhibition
November 16 – December 6, 2006
Onishi Gallery, 515 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001
www.onishigallery.com / 212-695-8035
Free
Preserving our cultural history – the art, architecture and aesthetics of our cities – is one of the most important tasks any generation attends to, especially in an era in which many things feel disposable. The ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, with a history dating back over 1400 years, has a tremendous wealth of artistic masterpieces that were created originally for temples and shrines. These pieces were once widely viewed and enjoyed, but can no longer be shown publicly, due to deterioration over time. In order to preserve this aesthetic legacy and extend it to the next generation, Kyoto International Culture Foundation has digitally reproduced brilliant sets of fusuma-e (sliding door art) masterpieces. In this program, internationally-acclaimed contemporary nihon-ga artist Hiroshi Senju and Heather Hurst, 2004 MacArthur Fellow for her reconstruction work with the Mayan murals of Bonampak, will discuss the importance of cultural preservation, and what it means for our future. Moderated by Lauren Cornell, Executive Director, Rhizome.org.
This program is co-sponsored by Japan Society and the Kyoto International Culture Foundation with cooperation from the City of Kyoto and the Consulate General of Japan. Additional support is provided by Onishi Gallery, Lotus Web Studios, Inc., and Nakai International Co., Ltd. In-kind support is provided by Hori Metal Leaf & Powder, Co., Ltd., Ooiri Co.,Ltd., and Yamaji Inc. Reception in-kind support is provided by Sushiden New York, Saito Shuzo Co., Ltd., ITO EN, Inc., CHOYA UMESHU Co., Ltd., and Global Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1907, The Japan Society is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that brings the people of Japan and the United States closer together through understanding, appreciation and cooperation. Society programs in the arts, business, education and public policy offer opportunities to experience Japanese culture; to foster sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan and East Asia; and to improve access to information on Japan.
© Ken Levinson
Onishi Gallery is located at the heart of the gallery town, Chelsea, NYC, which is one of the centers of the world’s art and culture. The gallery was founded by the director and artist, Nana Onishi. She has introduced many arts based on Japanese traditional industrial arts, mainly from Kyoto and Kanazawa, and has promoted profitable international cultural exchange between Japan and America. The gallery provides unique and original exhibitions and events by introducing varieties of significant Japanese culture and traditional industrial arts.
Onishi Gallery
Hiroshi Senju is an internationally-acclaimed contemporary nihon-ga artist. He was born in Tokyo, Japan. He completed a Ph.D Program in Fine Arts at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1987. Senju has had a number of solo shows and participated in group exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Some of his more recent exhibitions include Beauty Project at the Museum of Contemporary Art in London in 1996, and a tour of fourteen Japanese cities of his acclaimed waterfall paintings. In 1995 he became the first Asian artist to receive an individual fine arts award at the Venice Biennale. Hiroshi Senju lives and works in Japan and New York.
Heather Hurst is an archaeological artist and illustrator who, through reconstruction, revives ancient paintings and drawings of the pre-Columbian Americas. For her palette, she draws from many different kinds of primary materials collected by archeologist collaborators ‚ crushed, fallen building stones, field drawings, photographs, topographic maps, and functional interpretations of structures based on lab analyses of ceramics, soils, and artifacts. She is a 2004 MacArthur Foundation receipient.
Lauren Cornell
Before starting with Rhizome in May 2005, Lauren worked as curator, writer and arts administrator in New York. In 2004, she worked in the Andy Warhol Film Project at the Whitney Museum. Before that, she served as Executive Director of Ocularis, a non-profit media arts organization based in Brooklyn. Lauren also worked as a youth media educator and organizer, at Global Action Project and T.R.U.C.E. Her writing on contemporary art, experimental film and new media has been published in Time Out New York, Nylon, Synoptique, on-line arts resources such as Rhizome.org and exhibition catalogues. And, she has curated screenings, exhibitions or performances at venues including The Contemporary Center for Art Warsaw, The Liverpool Biennial, The Kitchen, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Foxy Production, Participant, Inc and The Institute of Contemporary Art London.
Heather Hurst is an archaeological artist and illustrator who, through reconstruction, revives ancient paintings and drawings of the pre-Columbian Americas. For her palette, she draws from many different kinds of primary materials collected by archeologist collaborators ‚ crushed, fallen building stones, field drawings, photographs, topographic maps, and functional interpretations of structures based on lab analyses of ceramics, soils, and artifacts. She is a 2004 MacArthur Foundation receipient.
Lauren Cornell
Before starting with Rhizome in May 2005, Lauren worked as curator, writer and arts administrator in New York. In 2004, she worked in the Andy Warhol Film Project at the Whitney Museum. Before that, she served as Executive Director of Ocularis, a non-profit media arts organization based in Brooklyn. Lauren also worked as a youth media educator and organizer, at Global Action Project and T.R.U.C.E. Her writing on contemporary art, experimental film and new media has been published in Time Out New York, Nylon, Synoptique, on-line arts resources such as Rhizome.org and exhibition catalogues. And, she has curated screenings, exhibitions or performances at venues including The Contemporary Center for Art Warsaw, The Liverpool Biennial, The Kitchen, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Foxy Production, Participant, Inc and The Institute of Contemporary Art London.
521 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001,U.S.A. © 2006 All rights reserved.