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the journal of the asian arts society

of australia

TAASA Review

earth

3 EDITORIAL: EARTH

Josefa Green

4 THE EVOLUTION OF IKEBANA: KAWANA TETSUNORI’S INSTALLATION AT THE NGV

Jo Maindonald

7 MOTHER INDIA: THE TRANSMUTING POWER OF EARTH

Jim Masselos

10 SKETCHING MOUNT NAMSAN

Peter Armstrong

13 BEIJING’S ALTAR OF EARTH AND ITS RITUAL CERAMICS

Iain Clarke

16 INSPIRATION AND INTERCHANGE: THE JAPANESE-AUSTRALIAN POTTERY CONNECTION

Janet Mansfield

18 TRANSFORMATION: THE WORK OF TAKAHIRO KONDO

Trevor Fleming

19 IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: AN IZNIK TILE IN THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM

Paul Donnelly

20 ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT: THE OZASIA ROCK MUSICAL

Alex Vickery-Howe

22 EXHIBITION REVIEW: FROM THE HANDS OF OUR ANCESTORS

Maryellen Hargreaves

23 BOOK REVIEW: THE ANCIENT TALE OF A JAVANESE BUDDHA-PRINCE

Pamela Gutman

23 EXHIBITION REVIEW: NAM BANG! AT THE CASULA POWERHOUSE

Ann Proctor

24 THE 2ND ASEAN TRADITIONAL TEXTILE SYMPOSIUM

Gill Green

25 RECENT TAASA ACTIVITIES

25 TAASA MEMBERS’ DIARY

26 WHAT’S ON: JUNE – AUGUST 2009

C O N T E N T S

Volume 18 No.2 June 2009

TAASA REVIEW

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC. Abn 64093697537 • Vol. 18 No. 2, June 2009 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 • Ann MacArthur Jim Masselos • Ann Proctor • Susan Scollay 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

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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

COVER

inSTAllATion wiTh ikebAnA (DETAIL) (2009) EVAN DEMAS. PHOTO: LUCY JOYCE. COURTESY OF

KAZARI COLLECTOR. SEE JO MAINDONALD'S ARTICLE 'THE EVOLUTION OF IKEBANA' ON PAGES 4 - 6

E D I T O R I A L : E A R T H

Josefa Green, Editor

Judith rutherford • PRESIDENTCollector and specialist in Chinese textiles

GiLL Green • VICE PRESIDENTArt historian specialising in Cambodian culture

Ann GuiLd • TREASURERFormer Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

KAte JohnSton • SECRETARYIntellectual property lawyer with an interest in Asian textiles

JOCELYN CHEYVisiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies, University of Sydney; former diplomat

MATT COX Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of new South Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of Southeast Asia

PHILIP COURTENAYFormer Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus, James Cook University, with a special interest in Southeast Asian ceramics

MELANIE EASTBURNCurator of Asian art, National Gallery of Australia

SANDRA FORBESEditorial consultant with long-standing interest in South and Southeast Asian art

JOSEFA GREENGeneral editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian art as student and traveller

GERALDINE HARDMANCollector of Chinese furniture and burmese lacquerware

ANN PROCTOR Lecturer in Asian Art, Sydney University and the national Art School, Sydney

ANN ROBERTSArt consultant specialising in Chinese ceramics and works of art

SABRINA SNOWHas a long association with the Art Gallery of new South Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China

CHRISTINA SUMNERPrincipal Curator, Design and Society,Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

SPECIALIST ADVISOR ON NE ASIAMin-Jung Kim

HON. AUDITORRosenfeld Kant and Co

S T A T E R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

ROBYN MAXWELLVisiting Fellow in Art History, ANU; Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

NORTHERN TERRITORY

JOANNA BARRKMAN Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture, Museum and Art Gallery of the northern Territory

QUEENSLAND

SUHANYA RAFFELHead of Asian and Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

JAMES BENNETTCurator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

VICTORIA

CAROL CAINSCurator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

TASMANIA

KATE BRITTLEBANKLecturer in Asian History, School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania

What a wonderful scope this topic offers, the second in our ‘elements’ series. As the range of articles in this issue testifies, we can think of ‘earth’ in many ways: as an all encompassing notion of the world we inhabit; as the soil which nourishes, and as the material from which works of utility, ritual and art are constructed such as ceramic vessels and sculpture. Earth has figured in most cultures as one of the basic elements that make up the material world, associated with origin myths, divine beings (often female) and honoured through ritual and festivals.

A deep seated regard for nature is at the core of Ikebana, a distinctly Japanese art form drawn from both Shinto and buddhist beliefs. Jo Maindonald’s article not only shows how this discipline evolved from a striving to bring out the full potential of objects in the natural world, but also how it manifests itself in the contemporary work of artists such as Rosalie Gasgoigne and Kawana Tetsunori, whose spectacular bamboo installation is currently on show at the nGV, Melbourne.

Jim Masselos’ thoughtful article explores the many manifestations of earth in the context of Indian religious and political thought. He discusses the way early Hindu formative myths depict earth as a potent goddess and how this transformed into more contemporary notions of Mother India, the sacred territory of India, as an important rallying symbol in the late 19th and early 20th century agitations against british rule.

In Asia, mountains serve as potent symbols for earth and are often sacred precincts, offering protection in both a physical and spiritual sense. This is the case with namsan, the southern of the four mountains that controlled access to the Silla kingdom capital, Kyongju (bCE57 – CE936), in SE Korea. Architect and Sydney University academic Peter Armstrong shares with us his delightful sketches made on his many walks through the pathways of Mt namsan. His images bring to life its dramatic terrain and the buddhist sculptures that are now the only evidence of the many structures that once dotted this sacred mountain. TAASA Review is delighted to have the opportunity to publish some of these original works of art.

Detailed instructions on the ritual worship of earth were codified in China as early as the Western Zhou dynasty (1027 – 771bCE).

Iain Clarke provides a fascinating account of the origins of and rituals associated with the Altar of Earth, established in beijing by the Ming Emperor Jiajing in 1530. His article offers the results of his research into the ceramic monochrome sacrificial vessels associated with the Altar of Earth, and other ritual altars in beijing, which were ordained in regulations set out during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

The influence of the Japanese ceramic tradition on Australian potters, its aesthetics and its philosophical foundations, is explored in Janet Mansfield’s article. In particular, the Mingei movement in Japan and the tea ceremony tradition found resonance in the 1960’s and 70’s craft movements and to the present day. Drawing from her own experiences as one of our outstanding ceramic artists, with strong Japanese and other international ceramic connections, Janet Mansfield is in a unique position to provide us with this overview of an interchange which still inspires Australian potters today.

Trevor Fleming explores the inspiration behind the work of contemporary Japanese ceramicist, Takahiro Kondo, which draws on the Zen buddhist notion of transience, and the tea ceremony notion that each encounter is unique and decisive. In Kondo’s recent work, monolithic objects inspired by the ancient standing stones of Orkney, Scotland, are encased with what appears to be frozen or dripping water particles, the result of an innovative overglaze that produces astounding effects.

Our regular “In the Public Domain” item allows us to dip into a different ceramic tradition, of wall tiles used extensively to decorate the palaces and mosques of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. From his research undertaken for this TAASA Review article on an Iznik tile of c.1575 in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum’s collection, Paul Donnelly has found some evidence that this particular tile may have been removed at some point from the Ayub Ansari mausoleum complex in Istanbul.

Together with an exploration of cross cultural collaboration in Adelaide’s OzAsia Festival rock musical “Once Upon a Midnight’, and a number of exhibition and book reviews, this ‘earth’ issue aims to offer an abundant feast to nourish its readers.

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T A A S A C O M M I T T E E

4 TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 8 N O . 2

rom ancient roots to contemporary art, the demands of the discipline of Ikebana

- the balancing of tensions and requirement to show organic material at its best - has assured its survival and place in the contemporary art context.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Ikebana International in Melbourne, renowned international guest artist Kawana Tetsunori, has created Five Elements-Water, a huge bam-boo sculpture, which will remain in the Grollo Equiset Garden at nGV International, St Kilda Rd, from May 15th – 26th July.

Kawana travels the world extensively to teach Ikebana, living in Hong Kong and now new York, creating huge works in new York, boston and most recently in Moscow. He has also worked successfully as an art director, including the winning nagano demonstration for the Olympic Games, Lillehammer, norway in 1994.

He is a Master of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, and yet this nGV installation work is described as a ‘sculpture not Ikebana’. Although clearly informed by his life work with the school and created with organic and natural materials shown to their highest potential, this huge work may not have the same elements that one would usually expect of an Ikebana work.

Fully versed in the aesthetics of Ikebana, Kawana can work with the fundamentals of the discipline to create something new that is beyond Ikebana but which still allows us to see the essential value of this art form.

The scale on which he works takes us far away from the generally accepted view of Ikebana as a flower show display where restrained arrangements, with their emphasis on plant material to express line, shape, form and space, compete with western displays of abundance.

Kawana worked with both Sofu Tesigahara (1900-1979), founder of the Sogestsu School, and later his son and successor Hiroshi (1927-2001) who was also an avant-garde filmmaker. They worked in a multiplicity of styles in forms that seem cutting edge today, using flowers and plant material, but often just large bamboo installations that echo line and particularly space.

branches of both the modern school of Sogetsu and the classical Ikenobu School of Ikebana were successfully established in Australia by Norman Sparnon (1913-95). During the period 1960-1990, Sparnon was possibly the Western world’s most qualified leading exponent and Master of Ikebana. In the post war period he studied in Japan for 12 years and achieved full credit and high rank in both Ikebana disciplines. After settling in

Sydney on his return to Australia, he became honorary advisor to the world headquarters of Ikebana International, which had branches in the major cities of Australia and new Zealand, running classes in Melbourne and Canberra. Today he is revered as father of Ikebana in Australia.

Sparnon wrote a number of books including Japanese Flower Arrangement, Classical and Modern and importantly, The Beauty of Australia’s Wildflowers: creative ideas for Japanese flower arrangement. Aware of Australia’s unique flora and landscape, he was quick to demonstrate how the scalene geometry and other rules employed in Ikebana strikingly show the natural beauty of flora such as banksias and waratahs and other strangely sculptural indigenous plants.

Another of Sparnons’ achievements was a translation into English of Rikka, The Soul of Japanese Flower Arrangement, by Fujiwara Yuchiku, known to be the most definitive work on the subject in Japan. This classical style, directly derived from early buddhist and Shinto offerings to deities, is now associated with the Ikenobo School.

Today, there are around 10 Ikebana schools represented in Australia. The Sogetsu School, due to norman Sparnon and the school’s creative modern approach, has gained the greatest popularity. In contrast, Ikenobo, the oldest known school, is more prescriptive with fewer opportunities for those with a more creative flair. Other schools including Ohara, Ichiyo, Misho, Shogetsudo-koryu, Koryu, Chiko and Adacahi have appeared as students and teachers have returned or moved to live here, from Japan.

beth Higgs was one of the first students to study Sogetsu SchooI Ikebana with norman Sparnon. A long-standing member of the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter since its inauguration in September 1959, she curated ’The Long River of Ikebana’, a stand out exhibition (Kazari 2003) tracing Ikebana through its history and development from its indigenous animist roots. She also wrote an accompanying text, illustrated with well-chosen poems, capturing the essence of Ikebana. In the introduction she wrote:

“To transform and idealise is the soul of Ikebana. It is a uniquely Japanese

F

T H E E V O L U T I O N O F I K E B A N A : K A W A N A T E T S U N O R I ’ S I N S TA L L AT I O N AT T H E N G V

Jo Maindonald

Five elemenTS – wATeR (2009), KAWANA TETSUNORI, NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA. PHOTO: TONY DELVES

5TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 8 N O . 2

combination of technique, tradition and intuition. This attitude towards art has a long history and its sources lie in the way the Japanese people regard nature. For the ancient Japanese co-existence with the elements of nature was inherent in their Shinto religion then, with the introduction of buddhism in the 6th Century, came temples and offertory flowers placed before the images of buddha.”

beth Higgs’ account shows how the triad style, a three stemmed asymmetric form, emerged as the basic structure of all Ikebana to this day. This triad, trinity or scalene geometry has spiritual roots shared across major religions such as buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity and other ancient codes. Influenced by China, yet reflecting Shinto reverence for nature, the arrangement of flowers, and various terms to describe this, continued to evolve during the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura period (1185-1333).

Significant developments occurred during the Muromachi period (1392-1573) with the third Ashikaga Shogun holding regular flower arrangement events in Kinkaku-ji, the famous Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Yoshimasa, the 8th Ashikaga Shogun, retired in 1467 to the Ginkaku-ji, the equally beautiful Silver Pavilion, to study meditation and foster cultural pursuits such as no drama, tea ceremony and flower arranging. He cultivated

the finest artists of the period including Zen priests from the Rokkaku-do temple, later known to be the place where the Rikka standing style and the Ikenobo school became established by the late 16th century.

What typified the relatively short but important Momoyama period (1573-1615) was the excesses of the militaristic Shogun, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (r.1582-98), especially in his preference for huge scale gold interior decoration and massive flower arrangements. Yet at the same time, this period saw the appearance of renowned tea and flower master, Sen no Rikyu, whose taste was the antithesis of this. Chabana, simple yet sensitive flower arrangements, were created in humble tea houses constructed in gardens, and became an intrinsic part of the evolving rituals of the tea ceremony.

From the mid 17th to mid 18th centuries, social change and the development of a new merchant class saw a corresponding shift from classical and formal Rikka - aimed at “ the recreation of the natural landscape using indigenous materials – combinations of pine, cedar, bamboo, mountain cherry, camellias and azaleas” - to a more informal and upright Nageire style emphasising “only one material aspect of nature, either alone or by the subtle use of a few contrasting materials”, says Higgs.

Through the 18th century, new schools and styles emerged and continued to evolve, with women encouraged to participate. by the early 19th century, a more relaxed approach stressing the natural beauty of the material used, has led to Ikebana as it is today.

Recently Dr Eiko Suzuki, visiting from Hiroshima, was guest speaker at an event at Kazari Collector in Melbourne, where she demonstrated how to identify and use the best qualities of plant material in simple traditional Ikebana arrangements As the only person to have gained a Post Graduate Doctorate on Ikebana, she shared something of her research into its deeper philosophy, prompted by being intrigued as to why so many Western people are drawn to study it. As there are more than 1,000 schools now in Japan, and the study of Ikebana has almost become a rite of passage for young women, she asks: “How can they all be Ikebana? What is the spirit of Ikebana that unites all these styles of arrangements?”

Answering these questions led to finding her teacher, Professor Yukihiro Kurasawa, a world authority on Art and Zen and a prominent philosopher of the Kyoto school, founded by Japanese philosophers such as Kitaro nishida

and Daisetsu Suzukito. The professor now teaches at Takarazuka University of Art & Design, the only university in Japan to offer post graduate study in Japanese Traditional Arts where Suzuki completed her doctorate.

Often said to have originated in the 15th century, her research found that the word Ikebana didn’t appear until 1764 in a book by Ryuboku Chiba, who established the first formal Ikebana school based on the head master system. Chiba spoke about the individual characteristics of plant species used, each needing to be shown to best advantage. Dr Suzuki’s research has shown that the word Ikebana itself came from the root IKASU meaning ‘to bring out the full potential of things’, whereas previously the word was assumed to originate from IKIRU which means ‘to live and give life’.

As Dr Suzuki says: “in order to show the original characteristics of the plant in an arrangement, the arranger will have to observe the plant carefully from all angles with a firm determination of bringing out the fullest beauty of the plant. In order to do that it is best to consult with the plant itself. In Ikebana, the arranger is required to have a dialogue with the materials and work together with them to make an arrangement.”

Rosalie Gasgoigne, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, representing Australia in the Venice biennale in 1982, was another early student of norman Sparnon. In the catalogue essay, ‘Making Poetry of the Commonplace’ for the recent exhibition at the nGV’s Ian Potter Centre, curator Kelly Gellatly wrote that Rosalie Gasgoigne was to “regard the real foundations of her sculptural practice as lying in her work with Ikebana.” It is clear that the discipline of Ikebana, which required her to manipulate and show the innate beauty of natural material, with an emphasis on line, form and space within three dimensions, informed her later work, yet she also felt the emphasis norman Sparnon placed on Japanese culture and aesthetics left “big pieces of the Australian ethos out”, which she then went on to explore on her own.

Another Australian artist, Evan Demas, who has assisted Kawana Tetsunori in the past, is a sculptor, ceramic artist and award winning Sogetsu School student. His work often shares materials in common with Gasgoigne, including industrial materials that might show signs of decay and disintegration His large scale installations with, and without, plant material, has been advantaged by the three dimensional and aesthetic training of Ikebana.

CLASSICAL PEONY BASKET AND NAGEIRE ARRANGEMENT OF

PEONIES, LOTUS FLOWERS AND LEAVES, JAPAN, EARLY 18TH CENTURY,

EDO PERIOD. COLOURS AND INK ON SILK, WITH KIRI HAKU

(SPRINKLED GOLD LEAF) AND GOFUN (POWDERED SHELL), HANGING

SCROLL. COURTESY OF KAZARI COLLECTOR


Writing on his installation exhibition planned for June 2009 at Kazari Collector, where both his own creativity and aesthetics gleaned from Ikebana and Japanese traditions will be experienced, Demas says:

“Folds, dints and bends are created to counter the inherent geometry of the materials including a tension between control and chance or conscious and unconscious activity. Architectural space is filled with chaotic and controlled line and mass that plays with flowing movement and static energy.”

He will work within the gallery space to explore line, mass and space using antique Japanese and other architectural elements, organic and plant materials. Demas also expresses his understanding and appreciation of Kawana’s work in this way:

“Kawana’s large bamboo installations are arranged in ways that express flow and movement reminiscent of wave like phenomenon such as created in water or in unseen frequencies. The energy that is perceived contrasts the static reality both with the work and the surrounding space. The bamboo’s slow disintegration allows us to ponder the notion of change and reintegration of the particular into the universal.”

There is purity about Ikebana. Moving outside the discipline can be successfully managed

but such experimentation can fall very short indeed if material, line, colour, mass and space are not considered or tensions balanced. Like any discipline, this can only come with an expert eye and extensive training: know it well and then you can break the rules. The human impulse to create in response to the beauty of nature, the impermanence of the materials, the constant tension in balancing opposites inherent in Japanese aesthetics and art, continues to keeps this art form alive.

Jo Maindonald is co-director of Kazari (est. 1979)

in Melbourne, dealing in Japanese and Chinese art

and antiques and recently, contemporary art. Kazari

is Principal Sponsor of Five Elements-Water, Kawana

Tetsunori at the Grollo Equiset Garden at NGV

International, St Kilda Rd. 15th May - 26th July.

REFERENCESGellatly, Kelly. 2008: Rosalie Gasgoigne, Catalogue of the National

Gallery Of Victoria.

Higgs, Elizabeth. 2003: The Long River of Ikebana, Ikebana

International, Melbourne Chapter.

Fujiwara, Yuchiku 1976: Rikka, The Soul of Japanese Flower

Arrangement, transl. Norman Sparnon, Shufunotomo Co Ltd.

Kudo Masanobu. 1986: The History of Ikebana, transl. Jay and

Sumi Gluck, Shufunotomo Co Ltd.

SOGETSU SCHOOL, IKEBANA ARRANGEMENT,

BETH HIGGS (2009). PHOTO: LUCY JOYCE

In India earth transmutes. It is never constant. It becomes something it was

not, and then returns to what it was. Clay becomes a pot, a plate, a cooking vessel or a foot scraper. It can become a figure, be given human shape and even turned into something that is literally divine when artist and priest work their diverse magic and sacral potency so that the deity enters into the clay image. The final step after the image is painted and dressed is to paint in the eyes. Then it has life, the image becomes literally the deity in whose shape it was fashioned and whose form it has mimicked. Installed in homes and in public places, the gods take their abode within the brilliant clay images. They are in place only a few days, usually ten or less, during popular festivals which take over the cities, towns or villages of eastern and western India. The gods stay installed in state until the end of the festival when they are carried to local beaches, rivers or ponds and immersed. As the icons dissolve, deity dissipates – Ganesh or Saraswati or Durga and their associates return to the clay from which they were formed.

Earth transmutes in other ways. nehru who became India’s first prime minister understood the severalty of earth, its multiplicity. When he was electioneering in villages in 1937 peasants greeted him with shouts of Bharat Mata ki jai – Victory to Mother India. He asked, in what became a virtual Socratic interchange, what they meant - who was this Mother India? They were surprised. Eventually one would answer:

‘…it was the dharti, the good earth of India, that they meant. What earth? Their particular village patch, or all the patches in the district or province, or in the whole of India? And so question and answer went on, till they would ask me impatiently to tell them ... I would … explain that India was all this they had thought, but it was much more. The mountains and the rivers of India, and the forests and the broad fields … but what counted ultimately were the people of India, people like them and me, who were spread out all over this vast land. Bharat Mata, Mother India, was essentially these millions of people, and victory to her meant victory to these people. You are parts of this Bharat Mata, I told them, you are in a manner yourselves Bharat Mata.’ (nehru 1988:60)

So nehru combined the idea of Mother India as motherland, with space and people. He was about inclusion, not exclusion. All of the land and all the people who worked and lived on it - all were collectively Mother India. Earth thus joined with place and personal identity to be transmuted into the idea of a composite and encompassing nation.

Here nehru built on what was already a powerful rallying symbol used in Bengal in late 19th and early 20th century agitations against british rule. Out of protest songs, marches and demonstrations emerged a notion of the territory of India as being sacred,

that Mother India was a goddess - everyone’s goddess - in the struggle against the foreigner. She was visualised as superimposed above the map of India and soon appeared on posters and calendars distributed throughout the nation in making. Hers was a potent and popular image before independence and, as her posters show, her popularity has continued into independent India. In recent depictions she is always represented as a young and beautiful woman, often standing alone on a map of India along with her lion vehicle. In other posters she is accompanied by national heroes superimposed around her – they can include pre-british warrior kings,


I

E A R T H T R A N S M U T E D : M A N I F E S T A T I O N S O F M O T H E R I N D I A

Jim Masselos

VARAHA RESCUING EARTH GODDESS BHU DEVI AT UDAYGIRI, MADHYA PRADESH. GUPTA PERIOD (C.5TH CENTURY CE).

PHOTO: JIM MASSELOS, 2008


¯

freedom fighters, nationalist martyrs, post-independence leaders and prime ministers and present-day soldiers defending the frontiers. She is impressively powerful, bedecked with weapons. There is no weakness in her despite her beauty. nor does her stance suggest non-violence; rather it implicitly urges battle and struggle, confrontation against the nation’s enemies.

bharat Mata is not the only goddess associated with earth and territory. There are others who go back much further. In early Hinduism, the earth was viewed as a potent goddess often associated with the sky to form the couple, Sky-Earth (Dyava-Prithivi). A basic formative myth explains how she acquired the name: because Prithu, the ‘first king’ and inventor of agriculture, forced the earth to yield crops and feed people she was called Prithivi, or ‘the domain of Prithu’. (Danielou 1964:87) Again, in the story is the idea of transmuting - of earth into food and plenitude.

Prithivi or bhu Devi (Earth Goddess) plays a different role in the Ramayana, because of her daughter, Sita, the name itself meaning a furrow dug in the earth during farming and suggestive of fertility. Sita is a central figure in the story through her marriage to Rama. They are forced into forest exile, she is abducted by the demon Ravana and is taken to Lanka, and is eventually rescued. The couple return to their kingdom but Rama is jealous since Sita has been in another man’s house. That Ravana had treated her impeccably while she was his prisoner is irrelevant. Eventually Sita throws herself on a pyre to assert her innocence. Her virtue is so profound the flames do not hurt her and Rama takes her back. There the story should end but in the final part, possibly an

addendum, Rama again becomes suspicious and Sita prepares to make a public statement. Instead the earth opens, her mother, the earth goddess, appears, and the two disappear underground. This time Sita does not return and Rama is left alone. The story has been used traditionally as a moral tale asserting chastity and conjugal faithfulness, while recently some feminists give it a contrary interpretation as an exemplar of the autonomy of action possible for women. As for artists, the Ramayana has inspired a multitude of paintings about the forest exile and the rescue battle, but there are surprisingly few portrayals of the final, less heroic episodes.

The earth goddess has a more central place in Hindu theogony than her deus ex machina role in the Ramayana suggests. As the wife or senior consort of God Vishnu she is important as the nourisher of life and in ensuring the stability of the universe. In South Indian temples honouring Vishnu, she is there beside him, standing on his right, with a junior wife (i.e. a younger consort) on his left. Such groupings are among the finest of the many superb bronze statues produced in the 11th or 12th centuries in Tanjore. They have a mannerist grace, are lithe and majestic, and restrained despite their message of omnipotence.

bhu Devi is also a passive actor in one of the defining episodes in the cornucopia of Hindu myths, those relating to Vishnu’s incarnations when he rescues the world from chaos and destruction. In his third incarnation he assumes the gigantic form of a boar (Varaha) at a time when the earth was submerged under the ocean. At the bottom is the goddess earth, made captive by the demon Hiranyaksa in his underwater palace. Varaha dives deep, rescues the goddess and brings her up to the surface on his tusk. She then floats on the ocean and it is her floating which becomes the earth as we know it. In another version, one without a demon, Vishnu sees a lotus leaf standing up out of the ocean and realises there may be something below. He assumes the boar form, dives to the bottom where he finds the earth, takes part of it to the surface on his tusk and spreads it on the lotus leaf. The earth was thus something that was spread or which became, hence her name, bhumi. (Danielou 1964:168)

Whichever version, the boar incarnation was particularly popular as a religious icon some 1500 years ago. Among the many depictions of the story in the Gupta period, is an outstanding one from Udaygiri in central India outside bhopal. Dated to the 5th century it is a large bas relief carved on the wall of a

shallow cave and depicts Varaha with a human body and a boar’s head. Hanging from his right tusk is bhu Devi, dwarfed by his size and momentum – he is still pushing up through the waters of the ocean, as suggested by the wavy lines on the wall behind him and equally by the contained breath held within his chest. The carving conforms to the iconographic precepts of the day but transcends them to create a singularly expressive icon. The modelling of Varaha’s torso and the contrast between the two figures capture Varaha’s unstoppable, unconquerable energy– and tells all that is needed about the victory over destructiveness, the masculinity of Varaha and the femininity of bhu Devi, and the achieving of new beginnings. It is after all about creation, earth, land, and ultimately all that lives.

Another masterly stone sculpture is a 6th to 8th century enormous image of Shiva, Mahadeva (‘the great god’), in a cave on Elephanta Island in Mumbai harbour. Its three heads portray different modes or aspects of Shiva. The one on the right shows the gentle, the feminine in Shiva; in the centre is Shiva as a transcendental encompassing deity; the third shows his ferocious, destructive side. not seen is the uncarved head on the fourth side in the rock nor an invisible fifth head atop all four, which unites them into a single encompassing icon. Together this is all that is Shiva. From a distance the outline of the three heads echoes the shape of a lingam, Shiva’s aniconic form, one of which is elsewhere in the cave in a shrine on its own.

On first viewing, the Mahadeva appears to be merely a very large bust, a torso composed of heads, shoulders, and top chest – even if impeccably carved. but there is something else: part of Shiva’s hands are carved as if emerging from the rock below. This suggests a different reading, making this monumentally sized sculpture monumental in a different sense: in the daring of its conception. The sculpture has been created to be understood as a complete figure whose body is still largely in the earth below and from which it is emerging. As is the case with Uluru we see only a part, not the whole. The artists who carved Mahadeva have created an extraordinary conceit, a kind of gigantic three-dimensional trompe d’oeil, to convey a sense of Shiva’s emerging presence.

The Mahadeva is a prime example of idea and form merging, blending into one affect. It is an image that entirely conveys an interpretation that has Shiva, as Stella Kramrisch puts it, as being immanent in the element earth and as such fully realised

moTheR indiA (BHARAT MATA). TAMIL POPULAR POSTER,

SOUTH INDIA, EARLY 2000S. PORTVALE COLLECTION

9TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 8 N O . 2 9

in his basic reality. (Kramrisch in Meister 1984:5) Putting metaphysics and the esoteric aside, the portrayal of Mahadeva manifesting from the earth is a feat of artistic imagination and a triumph for its creators. There were

no precedents to guide their work, the form of the depiction is not common, nor is it conventional. It is unique in Indian art. Its achievement comes from the interplay on the senses between what is there and what is not, between the seen and the not seen, and between that which is out of the earth and that which is in it and is to appear. The tension created by this interplay intensifies its overall impact.

Earth had a primary role in classical Hindu thinking in that it was considered one of the basic elements, one of the building blocks that make up the material world. It has also had, as the examples discussed here suggest, a place in many other kinds of speculation. There is the cosmological in terms of earth creation myths; the metaphysical; the religiously speculative and the devotional; the socio-economic in relation to farming and fertility; and the political in terms of nationalist symbolism.

As always, art and ideas are interlinked and no more so than in the way earth has been given meaning in Indian creativity over the centuries. That art used ideas now considered traditional but it also presented whatever new ideas and approaches were current at the

time. After all, the metaphysic of Elephanta was once a new concept to be explored and passed on. Presumably, as Indian artists continue to define and represent evolving traditions and new approaches, something as basic and as multiple as earth will find her place in their art. Jim Masselos is Honorary Reader, School of

Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of

Sydney. His most recent book is The City in Action.

Bombay Struggles for Power, 2007.

REFERENCESDanielou, A. 1964. Hindu Polytheism, Bolligen, New York

Kramrisch, S. ‘The great cave temple of Siva in Elephanta’ in

Meister, M.W. (ed) 1984. Discourses on Siva, Vakils, Feffer and

Simons, Bombay.

Nehru, J. 1988. The Discovery of India, Oxford University Press,

Delhi.

Phone 9979 7162 Email [email protected]

R & V Tregaskis Oriental Antiques Pty Ltd• 30 years experience• by appointment only• buying & selling quality objects• expert valuations

Exhibiting at the AAADA Fair, Wharf 8, Sussex Street, Sydney, August 19th - 23rd see website for updates www.tregaskis.com.au

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A FINE BAMBOO BRUSHPOT, KANGxI, 1662-1722,

SEAL MARK OF YUAN xUAN, HT 14.5CM.

GOD GANESH ON THE WAY TO IMMERSION AT CHOWPATTY

BEACH, MUMBAI. PHOTO: JIM MASSELOS 1961


hen the Mongols burnt the buildings of Hwangryongsa (Hwangryong temple)

(553-1238) in their sustained invasions from 1231, it was the greatest temple of the Silla capital, Kyongju (bC57-AD936) and one of the wonders of East Asia. nine centuries later, sitting among the foundation stones of its Geumdang (Golden Hall) looking across the platform of the nine storey pagoda, namsan fills the landscape with its misty blue bulk defining the southern extent of the city, its brooding presence changing with the seasons, the weather and the time of day. While neither large nor high in terms of the peaks of Korea, namsan has a majestic and pervasive presence in the urban landscape of Kyongju. Its foothills begin behind the palace fortress, extending 10km to the south and rising to a modest 468 metres, with its slopes cut by some 17 deeply folded granite valleys, richly vegetated above the deeply scoured water courses at the base.

namsan is the southern of the four mountains with fortresses located at the cardinal points of the compass, which controlled access to the Silla

capital, each overlooking one of the major roads leading to it. Of these fortified mountains, only namsan held more than a military function. While famous for its remaining buddhist statuary, Goindol (dolmen tombs) at its eastern base reveal an earlier history and an earlier religion, when shamans mediated between men and the gods and protected the city. Following the adoption by the Silla kingdom of buddhism as state religion in 535, the spiritual care of the city passed to the buddhist gods of the four quarters, the four devas who protect the faithful from evil. Close to the foot of the north end of the mountain lie the ruins of their temple, Sacheonwangwsa (Four Devas temple). Under excavation since 2007, the scale of the temple can be seen from the foundations that have emerged from the fields that have covered them for a thousand years.

namsan became a sacred precinct where the safety of the nation and the sovereign was invoked through the multiplicity of buddhist temples, monasteries and retreats that covered its slopes, valleys and ridges. From the finely figured and coloured granite of the mountain,

a library of buddhist art was carved or painted: from freestanding images to frescos and images growing from the forms of the rock itself. The images vary in scale from the colossal to the miniature, and locations vary from exposed ridges to hidden grottoes.

A millennium has passed since 918 when the Koryo Dynasty assumed power and moved the capital north, leaving Kyongju as a provincial capital. Through political upheaval and the changing fortunes of the buddhist faith, only the foundation stones of Namsan’s original structures remain, leaving the sculptures as evidence of past glory. These monuments still retain qualities that bring to mind the spiritual fervour of a lost buddhist community and the role of the mountain in the defence of the city from both earthly and spiritual forces.

The mountain is criss-crossed with routes which walkers use in combination depending on time, season and inclination. In spring the mountain azaleas cover the slopes with pink blossoms, and the mountain turns a

W

S K E T C H I N G M O U N T N A M S A N

Peter Armstrong

UPPER SOUTH SIDE OF BUCHEOBAWI (BUDDHA ROCK) IN TAPKOL


deep rust colour in autumn. There are ancient routes and paths along all the ridges and valleys connecting monuments known and yet undiscovered, and there is a bewildering range of possibilities for the walker. Every route reveals unexpected monuments and images, many still venerated by the local people who leave their offerings before the sculptures as their ancestors did.

Sitting on the foundation stones of Hwangryongsa, the central ridge of the mountain fills one’s view. To the south-west can be seen the entrances to the successive valleys rising from the rice fields which now cover the ancient city streets. Crossing the namcheon (nam river), the road follows it round the base of the mountain to a fork leading to the third of the eastern valleys, now known as Tapkol (Pagoda valley). Walking beside a modest creek through the village into the forested lower slopes of mountain, there is an unprepossessing approach to a small temple, Ongnyongam. As one follows the path up the valley past the temple buildings a large crag blocks the way forward. At closer view, the faces of the crag, bucheobawi (buddha Rock), are covered with incised reliefs, while at its summit a stone pagoda of the Silla style is partly visible. The rock faces portray the Pure Lands of the four buddhas, set at the cardinal points.

On the upper southern face of the rock is a sculpted buddhist triad facing a terrace on the ridge, with a stone pagoda characteristically standing guard at the highest point. It is the largest Korean carving of its type, portraying bodhisattvas set in idealised landscapes. From stylistic similarities of these images to those found in China in the Southern Dynasties period, it is thought that the original temple on this site, Shininsa, existed in the era of King Hyoso (692-702). The nine metre high north face has incised images of two timber pagodas over which floats an

image of Sakyamuni buddha seated on a lotus flower. While the archaeological and literary records have provided some data regarding the lost pagoda Hwangryongsa, it is thought that these images are the only record of its appearance, and will be used in current proposals for its reconstruction. In the forest above Tapkol are hidden the remains of the 8th century fortress, namsan Shinseong. Only small parts of the wall remain and the foundation of two large storehouses. The path to it begins at the memorial to a Silla

STONE PAGODA OF NEUMBIBONG


scholar who, after succeeding in the Imperial Examinations, became a member of the Tang bureaucracy in China. It rises steeply up the ridge, the remains of the namsan Shinseong barely visible in a forest of red pines. Emerging to a spectacular panorama of the main ridge of the mountain, the stone pagoda of neumbibong dominates the scene, part of the temple complex which once stood in the valley below. These monuments, miniature stupas, mark principal buddhist sites on the mountain, and form an integral component of the namsan landscape, uniting its natural and spiritual elements.

At the base of the eastern flank of the mountain is Sochulchi, a lotus pond over which is suspended an elegant scholar’s pavilion. Following the road past the site of the ruined temple namsansa, the route leaves the fields and, entering the Ponghwagol (Fire Alarm Beacon Valley), narrows to a track leading upward into a deep valley that becomes increasingly dark and overgrown. The track culminates in a steep set of 130 steps, rising to Chilbulam or the ‘retreat of the seven buddhas’. Once a great temple, it has the most complete ensemble of statuary remaining on the mountain. A buddhist triad is carved into a granite rock five metres high. The majestic central figure is flanked by two bodhisattva, with further figures sculpted into the flanks. Pieces of sculpted granite lie scattered about the site, indicating the scale of the buildings that once sheltered the Enlightened One from the elements as he gazed out over the eastern edges of the capital.

behind the group, the mountain rises symbolically to the clouds. Following the path and climbing higher using fixed ropes, some

40 metres above the group is perhaps the most photographed image on the mountain. A bodhisattva gazing east to the Tonghae (East Sea) symbolically floats on the clouds above the triad below. It is cut into the wall, with only a small platform and altar in front. Holes in the granite indicate that a rail once protected pilgrims from the cliff edge, but both rail and shelter have long disappeared. An ideal place for contemplation, only the most hardy of monks could have survived the rigours of both access and the Korean winter. On reaching the ridge above, and following south to the surviving foundations of the Joseon Period (1392 -1910) fire alarm beacon, there is fine a view looking down on Chilbulam in its splendid setting.

The summit of namsan is the peak named Kumho-bong, a golden ridge that defines the midpoint of the main ridge of the mountain. From this point there are many routes to both east and west, all of which are dotted with monuments from the Silla period. This multitude of riches takes many expeditions to visit, and each has its pleasures. Some routes are travelled by both local people and tourists, while others are neglected. Among the latter is the Yaksugol (Mineral Water Spring Valley) route. Overgrown and with fixed ropes, the route once contained three temples in the valley, overlooked by a great buddha figure. Headless, it stands some 17 metres high, finely engraved into a natural outcrop high on a ridge near the summit. Despite the passing of some 1200 years, the finely chiselled drapery still hangs elegantly, and the hands are raised, teaching the dharma to those who pass by. The separately sculpted head was originally fixed by an iron bar

to the neck, the empty hole for the bar still collecting water. Whether the bar rusted and the head fell through neglect, or whether it was deliberately severed by invading Mongols or Joseon Dynasty bureaucrats is unknown. A lost foot was recently discovered and replaced, completing the body of the buddha. There is still hope that the head may lie buried in the valley below, and that it may be ultimately be reunited with the torso.

With a faint sense of sacrilege one uses the rope to drop down beside the figure’s raised hand, to follow the narrow track past the remains of the temples. The path follows the watercourse down until it turns into a creek, finally entering the upper rice fields where it irrigates the fields according to season. Path turns into road and finally a bus stop, and after a short bus ride the distant world of Silla is washed away in the hot water of the public bath and the busyness of the modern city.

Peter Armstrong teaches in the Faculty of

Architecture, Design and Planning at the University

of Sydney. He was made an honorary research

fellow of the Korean Government’s National

Kyongju Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in

2005. All illustrations in this article are taken from

sketches made by Peter Armstrong on his many trips

to Namsan.

REFERENCESAdams, E.B. 1979. Kyongju Guide, Seoul International Tourist

Publishing, Seoul

Korean National Commission for UNESCO (ed.). 1998. Kyongju:

City of Millennial History, Hollym Seoul

Yun, Kyong Nol. 1994. Namsan, Buddha land Company, Seoul

SCHOLAR’S PAVILION OF SOCHULCHI


he Asian collections at the Art Gallery of new South Wales include several highly

distinctive Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912) imperial monochrome ceramic ritual vessels made in the 19th century for use at beijing’s Altar of Earth. This article outlines the historical context of beijing’s Altar of Earth and its unique ceramic ritual vessels.

China’s use of distinctive vessels in ceremonies of sacrifice was already well established in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1027 - 771 bCE) (Lau 1993: 83), where the rulers and members of the aristocracy knew the importance of ritual in maintaining authority and their place in society. The hierarchy of the ruling class on earth, with the king and his ministers, was imagined to be a reflection of that above, where heaven’s ‘Supreme Ruler on High’ held court with a number of subordinate gods (Ma 1986: 24). The heavenly court, together with imperial ancestors, were all due respect and homage in order to sustain spiritual and political order within the earthly realm. Difference in rank, both amongst the gods and their earth bound devotees was demonstrated not least by the number and size of ritual vessels, which at that time were cast bronze.

The ritual vessels were highly symbolic both in form and decoration, becoming media through which the rulers believed they might communicate with the gods and their ancestors to ensure the prosperity, harmony and general well-being of society (Ma 1986: 28).

The Rituals of Zhou and the book of Rites provide contemporary descriptions of state ceremonial occasions during the Zhou Dynasty and instructions on how the emperor, the Son of Heaven, should offer sacrifices on behalf of the state to Heaven, Earth, the Sun, the Moon, imperial ancestors, and guardian spirits of the State, Agriculture and Harvests (Lau 1992: 83).

beijing’s Altar of Earth was established in 1530 by the Ming Emperor Jiajing (r. 1522 -1566). When the Ming Emperor Yongle (r. 1403 - 1424) planned the city in the early 1400s, all state rituals involving heaven and earth were intended to be conducted at the Altar of Heaven (Chan 1992: 87) and only subsequently were the separate altars we see today constructed. Unlike the circular Altar of Heaven, the north facing two-tiered Altar of Earth is a square

platform surrounded by a moat and enclosed within a double wall, all conforming to a complex web of ritual, custom and regulation. This set of requirements determined everything related to the rituals, notably the colour, form, number and position of sacrificial utensils.

Tiles on the walls surrounding the Altar and on the roofs of ancillary buildings should, like the emperor’s robes and ritual ceramics, all be yellow, the colour of the soil. All the numbers used in the measurements and elements of the Altar are even, yin, numbers, just as at the Altar of Heaven, all the number used in measurements are uneven and yang (Chan 1992: 90).

Sacrifices at the Altar of Earth took place on the summer solstice, the 21st day of the 6th lunar month, when yin forces were in the ascendant with shortening days (Chan 1992: 90). They involved prayers written on yellow paper, specially slaughtered animals and yellow ritual silks, all of which were buried at the conclusion of the ceremony, unlike the Altar of Heaven where the offerings were burnt.

The character of the imperial worship at the Altar of Earth was substantially the same as the Altar of Heaven, except that the spirits worshipped were those of the mountains, rivers and seas. The ritual and worship performed at the Altar of Earth should not be confused with Daoist, buddhist or Confucian

practice. It was a ceremony of state, performed only in beijing, with the Emperor as the only priest (Simpson 1874: 175).

The first Ming Emperor, Hongwu (r. 1368 - 1398) decreed in 1369 that ceremonial vessels used in state sacrifices should be made of porcelain, rather than gold, silver and bronze which had, until that time, been the case from antiquity. It appears that this change coincided with an increase in the number of ritual utensils required and made the time and cost of producing vessels less onerous.

The Ming records, in particular the Da Ming Huidian compiled in the 16th century used the following names, generally drawn from archaic bronze vessel shape names (Lau 1992: 86):

Bian, Deng, Dou, Fu, Gui, Jue, Xing, Zhan, Zun.

Apart from the Jue and Zun, no examples of Ming Dynasty ceramics conforming to these shapes are known. Research based on diagrams in the Da Ming Huidian now proposes (Lau 1992: 92) that during the Ming dynasty, the Bian, Dou, Fu and Gui archaic shapes were replaced by plates or dishes and the Deng and Xing with bowls, whilst the traditional shape names were retained.

Ming Dynasty records also confirm that there were strict regulations regarding the choice of colour for these ceramics (Lau 1992: 83). Colours were assigned to the different

T

B E I J I N G ’ S A L T A R O F E A R T H A N D I T S R I T U A L C E R A M I C S

Iain Clark

13

PART OF A SIDE ALTAR SETTING USING REPLICA BRONZE VESSELS AND AN ARRANGEMENT SIMILAR TO THOSE

USED AT THE ALTAR OF EARTH. CONFUCIAN TEMPLE, BEIJING, 2008. PHOTO: IAIN CLARK


principal altars as follows: deep blue for the Altar of Heaven, yellow for the Altar of Earth, white for the Altar of the Moon and red for the Altar of the Sun.

The unique monochrome ritual vessel forms we see today first appeared during the high Qing, when Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-1796) was in the midst of a campaign to rebuild and refurbish beijing, the like of which has not been seen since, until the 2008 beijing Olympic Games.

Qianlong supervised over many years a review of the state ritual system, regulating important aspects including the ritual utensils. This work culminated in the Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Qing Dynasty, printed first in 1766. The Regulations set out in great detail not only the sacrificial vessels, but also the costume and jewelry, musical and astronomical instruments, flags and banners and even weapons involved in state rituals at many altars, temples and palaces, including the Altar of Earth.

The Regulations also describe the ceramic utensils to be used at the Altar of Earth, including the number of each type in the 10 separate settings on the Altar (see p15).

The Bian covered stem bowl is not included here since, in the Illustrated Regulations, it is a vessel made from bamboo rather than ceramic material.

It appears that the diagrams in the Illustrated Regulations were heavily influenced by a Song Dynasty catalogue, the Xuanhe Illustrated Guide to Antiquity (Medley 1959: 11), which listed 839 bronzes collected by Emperor Song Huizong (r. 1100-1125 CE) (Yu 2007:5), the greatest of all Chinese collectors before Emperor Qianlong. Further, the design of ritual vessels is part of a wider movement during the 18th century to adopt archaic themes in decorative arts, reflecting the Emperor’s view of his place in history.

According to the Illustrated Regulations, yellow coloured ritual ceramic vessels were not used exclusively at the Altar of Earth. This helps explain why today, the yellow coloured vessels are by far the most often seen. On the other hand, red coloured vessels of identical form and decoration made for the Altar of the Sun are extremely rare.

During the succeeding reigns of the Qing Dynasty, it appears from surviving examples that the court in beijing ordered new vessels only to replace those lost or broken over the

AlTAR veSSel ‘Fu’, MARK AND PERIOD OF TONGZHI (R. 1862 – 1874). PORCELAIN WITH YELLOW GLAZE, 27.4 x 30.0 x 23.0CM.

COLLECTION: ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, PURCHASED 1987

AlTAR veSSel ‘dou’, MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAQING (R. 1796 – 1820). PORCELAIN WITH YELLOW GLAZE, 29.0 x 16.5CM.

COLLECTION: ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, PURCHASED 1967


years, rather than to mark the enthronement of a new emperor. (Records of the orders themselves and the extent to which they survive remain to be investigated.) Consequently, while many examples of monochrome ritual ceramics are marked Qianlong and examples of all shapes can be found today with Qianlong marks, complete sets of vessels from the succeeding reigns are unknown.

This family of highly distinctive monochrome

yellow, ritual ceramic vessels made for ceremonial use at the Altar of the Earth in beijing helps draw us into a web of Chinese history and culture stretching back into antiquity, with links and connections, references and allusions beyond imagining.

And the Altar of Earth, the setting for imperial rituals for nearly 500 years may still be visited in beijing today. Ditan Park covers 40 hectares just outside the Second Ring Road to the north of beijing City. The Altar and

ancillary buildings in the park have been extensively rebuilt since the 1980s, and the ritual ceramic vessels on display are modern replicas, but many ancient trees, witness to so many magical ceremonies, survive.

Iain Clark is a collector and independent researcher

with special interest in Qing Dynasty imperial

monochrome ritual ceramics.

REFERENCESChan, Charis. 1992: Imperial China, Penguin Books

Huangchao liqi tushi, Illustrated Compendium of Qing Rituals. 1766:

Guang Ling Press, Yangzhou, 2004.

Lau, Christine. 1993: ‘Ming Ceremonial Monochrome Wares’,

Colloquies on Art & Archeology in Asia No. 16, Percival David

Foundation of Chinese Art

Ma, Chengyuan. 1986: Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Oxford University

Press

Medley, Margaret. 1959: Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial

Paraphernalia of the Qing Dynasty, Oriental Ceramic Society

Simpson, William. 1874: Meeting the Sun: A Journey All Round The

World, Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer

Wang, Guangyao. 2003: ‘A Brief Discussion of Porcelain Ritual

Vessels in the Qing Dynasty’, Beijing Palace Museum Journal, 2003

No 2, Volume 106

Yu, Huichun. 2007: The Intersection of Past and Present, The

Qianlong Emperor and His Ancient Bronzes, Dissertation to

Princeton University

deng

A COVERED

STEM BOWL FOR

OFFERING MEAT.

THE COVER HAS A

SOLID, SPHERICAL

KNOB.

QTY: 10

Fu

A COVERED

RECTANGULAR

AND ANGULAR,

STRAIGHT

SIDED VESSEL

FOR CEREAL

OFFERINGS.

THE COVER CAN

STAND ON ITS

WAVY FLANGE.

QTY: 20

Jue

A THREE LEGGED

DRINKING

VESSEL FOR

WINE OFFERINGS,

CLOSELY

FOLLOWING

A BRONZE

PRECURSOR.

QTY: 30

ZhAn

A PLAIN

WINE CUP.

QTY: 120

dou

A COVERED

STEM BOWL FOR

OFFERING MEATS,

THE COVER

WITH AN OPEN

TWISTED ROPE

HANDLE.

QTY: 112

gui

LIKE THE FU, THIS

IS A COVERED

VESSEL, BUT

ROUNDED AND

THE LID WITH

FOUR WINGED

FEET. IT TOO

WOULD CONTAIN

CEREAL, POSSIBLY

RICE.

QTY: 20

Xing

A COVERED

THREE LEGGED,

DEEP BOWL WITH

TWO DRAGON

HEAD HANDLES

FOR SOUP. THE

DOMED COVER

HAS THREE LEAF

LIKE FLANGES

MATCHING

THE FEET.

QTY: 8

Zun

THE ZUN WINE

STORAGE JAR

HAS NO SURFACE

DECORATION. IT

HAS TWO ANIMAL

HEAD HANDLES.

QTY: 10


he teachings of bernard Leach, Soetsu Yanagi and others of the Mingei

movement in Japan found resonance with potters during the 1960s and ’70s in Australia, and around the world. Statements such as “Losing oneself in one’s art in order to find oneself”, whether directly through tradition and hard repetitive work as a journeyman potter, or by the intense search and self-discipline of ‘satori’ or self reintegration, inspired many a hopeful potter.

The principle of becoming ‘a complete person’ with the correct training through a master potter, the ‘acceptance of one’s own character’, and ‘to earn one’s living through one’s work’ were attractive philosophies in the burgeoning craft movement of the day. The pilgrimage to Japan began and aspiring potters took the opportunity to travel there, staying either months, like myself or, in some cases, years, often overcoming hardships but believing fully in the proposition that this was the right way for them. We had read bernard Leach’s A Potters Book (1940, Faber & Faber) and his A Potter in Japan (as quoted above, 1960, Faber), and then came Yanagi’s The Unknown Craftsman (1972, Tokyo).

These books and others that came out subsequently served to reinforce our purpose. Returning potters gave lectures, wrote articles and took on their own apprentices in the Japanese style, further encouraging the desire to experience such training. Les blakebrough, Milton Moon, Peter Rushforth and others were both articulate and persuasive in their attitude to Japan.

Les blakebrough became a student of Kanjiro Kawei in Kyoto, and has continued to explore the beauties and subtlety of porcelain. Milton Moon spent a year in Japan in 1974 and returned many times to study with Zen masters. His Zen meditation practice is reflected in the way he brings a sense of serendipity to his pottery, and the way his pots have an ability to make his audience seek to understand the ideas behind them. Peter Rushforth’s ceramics, with their distinctive Jun-glazed surfaces on platters and blossom jars, explore the calmness and naturalness that is the hallmark of the Japanese Mingei school philosophy.

My own work has been inspired by East Asia, where the forms used for flowers or scholars’

rocks, popular in Japan and China, are made with use, containership or contemplation in mind. As with so much successful Japanese ceramics, they seek to be in harmony with nature.

While many Australian potters obtained their inspiration directly from training in Japan, Japanese potters and Mingei proponents such as Shoji Hamada and Soetsu Yanagi were invited to Australia to lecture and teach and their philosophy was given an enthusiastic reception. When Shiga Shigeo, then Hiroe Sven settled in Australia, the connection was confirmed. Shiga returned to Japan after 13 years’ residency but continues to act as a bridge between the two countries through exhibitions and visits. Hiroe Sven, with her precise Kyoto style and flawless craftsmanship, set an example for women to be recognised in the field of ceramics in both countries. Later, Mitsuo Shoji settled in Australia, working and teaching at the Sydney College of the Arts, exhibiting his work and generously inviting colleagues from Japan to spend time lecturing in Australia. Heja Chong was another admired and respected female potter who had trained in bizen ceramics in Okayama, Japan.

Collections of Japanese art in major Australian state museums and galleries as well as those in private homes were also influential, some collectors even building Japanese style tea houses and gardens. The practice of the tea ceremony, with its emphasis on tea bowls and the attendant forms of water containers, vases for ikebana, incense burners and tea caddies, has persisted prominently in the range of wares produced by potters. These are forms that can date back to the simple styles of the tea master Sen no Rikyu or the more decorated and relaxed, even deliberately deformed, pots promoted by Furuta Oribe.

both styles, established in the second half of the 16th century, are still in favour. So too are the styles of Shino, Tenmoku and Seto, all familiar to practising potters today. The tea masters set the taste for the day, and they possibly still do. And vessels for the tea ceremony perhaps set the style for the making of functional wares.

Pilgrimages to Japan by Australian potters usually include visits to the six old kiln sites of Shigaraki, Tokoname, bizen, Seto, Tamba and Eichizen. Here one can be immersed in the history of ceramics and see a range of contemporary domestic wares: different styles and shapes to match the variety of foods presented, a wealth of ideas for future practice.

but the inspiration for Australians has not only been focused on the domestic. Yasuo Hayashi, Japanese ceramic artist who visited Australia in 1991 to conduct workshops at the Canberra School of Art, spoke about his involvement as one of the founders, in 1948, of the Shitokai school of contemporary ceramics, a breakaway group which took an experimental approach to working with clay. The Sodeisha movement followed seven years later, under the leadership of Kasuo Yagi and the Kyoto school. These breaks with traditional ceramics represented a new attitude towards visual art and altered the expected use of ceramic materials, while still taking advantage of the centuries old techniques of making and firing. Avant-garde works remain tied to clay and its valued processes and offer a new framework in which the traditional and the experimental in Japanese ceramics provide inspiration to potters worldwide.

Since 1986, the municipality of Mino, Gifu Prefecture, centred around the town of Tajimi, has offered substantial prizes for ceramics,

INSPIRATION AND INTERCHANGE: THE JAPANESE - AUSTRALIAN POTTERY CONNECTION

Janet Mansfield

T

miTSuo ShoJi, PLATTER. 2008. STONEWARE. 45 CM/WIDE. CUDGEGONG GALLERY, GULGONG. PHOTO COURTESY OF CUDGEGONG GALLERY


in categories both of design and art. Held every three years, and attracting thousands of entries, a number of Australian ceramists have submitted their work to this international festival and competition. In 1996, on the panel of judges, I noted five Australian finalists among the 180 selected from more than 3000 works. Again, three years later, and on the judging panel again, there was similar success for Australian ceramic artists. This festival, held in an area of historical ceramic significance and home to many potters, Japanese and international including Australian, celebrates the birth of Shino and Oribe ware in the 16th century, but also recognises the ground-breaking new styles that inject vitality into works made today, individual and industrial. This history of ceramics is heady stuff for Australian potters in a country whose history is so recent.

Visits to Australia by Japanese ceramic artists continue as well as reciprocal visits to Japan. My first visit to Japan was in 1970 and since that time I have held two solo exhibitions in Tokyo and one in Kyoto, as well as a number of group exhibitions. During these visits many connections have been made, followed by visits to Australia by Japanese ceramists. One memorable visitor was Ryoji Koie, invited to Gulgong for a project on my property in Gulgong, NSW, in 1995. One of the most avant-garde of Japanese ceramists, he is a consummate artist interested in current events, influenced by everything from the bombing of Hiroshima to functional work using local materials however rough and natural they may be.

Another visitor was Rokubei Kiyomizu, an 8th generation Kyoto potter, and a prizewinner

at the Sidney Myer Ceramic Awards in Shepparton, Victoria. Kiyomizu works as a sculptor using clay to make fine slab forms with sharp refined edges; he calls upon science and art to bring yet another direction to Japanese tradition. Takeshi Yasuda, trained in Mashiko, Japan, and now resident in China at the Pottery Workshop, in Jingdezhen, is always a welcome visitor to Australia. As a master demonstrator in 1993 at the national Ceramic Conference in Adelaide, he will again be an honoured guest at the 2009 Triennial Ceramics Conference to be held in Sydney in July. Yasuda’s work combines the traditional and the experimental, it gives functional work a new vitality, is bold and sensual, made with passion and spirit. There is an intellectual

quality to Yasuda’s work, an element all good pottery should contain. It draws upon all the qualities that inspired Australian potters to study Japanese ceramics and which influenced our work in the first place.

I would estimate that the connections between Japan and Australia in relation to ceramic art involve hundreds of exchanges: visits, workshops, conferences, events and further study. Long may this connection continue.

Janet Mansfield is a ceramic artist and author.

She is President of the International Academy of

Ceramics based at the Ariana Museum, Geneva,

Switzerland. She lives in Gulgong, NSW.

ShigA Shigeo, GROUP OF THREE POCELAIN JARS. 2006. BOUTWELL DRAPER GALLERY.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOUTWELL DRAPER GALLERY SURRY HILLS NSW

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 8 N O . 218

he work of Takahiro Kondo draws one into the otherworldly sphere of

Zen buddhist transience. ‘One time, One meeting’- ‘ichi-go ichi-e’ - from the philosophy of tea practice, holds that all encounters are unique and decisive. As a chawan (tea bowl) presents as a physical metaphor for a pathway to enlightenment, so do Kondo’s works magically capture spiritual life energy and evanescence deriving from the transformation of clay.

“One has a sense of a perpendicular axis, vertical rather than horizontal. A monolithic object connecting the skies and the firmament, heaven and earth”, says Kondo explaining the inspiration behind his ‘Monolith’ series. (Kondo 2008) During his stay in Scotland he viewed the ancient standing stones and the ‘Ring of brodgar’ in Orkney. On the mist covered primeval structures, he observed the connection of earth, sky and, of course water. Kondo’s work is concerned with the transformation of earthly elements. Porcelain is derived from clay, and glass from sand, with fire the transforming catalyst.

Takahiro Kondo (b.1958) is the third generation of a renowned family of ceramicists. His grandfather, Yuzo Kondo (1902-1985) was named a Living National Treasure in 1977 for his work in sometsuke, or underglaze cobalt blue decoration. Despite being surrounded by a pottery tradition from a young age Kondo did not come to ceramics until 1986. While his early ceramics followed the more traditional techniques favored by his grandfather, he quickly established his own artistic voice with the ‘Time & Space’ series’ before developing the gintekisai ‘silver mist’ technique and experimenting with new media, particularly metal and cast glass.

‘Silver mist’ is able to capture the concept of water in a state of flux, much like the ever-changing passage of time. He does this by dealing with two things that are normally antithetical: fire and water. Gintekisai is an overglaze technique that comprises silver, gold, platinum and glass. After the piece is formed and the underglaze colour is applied, gintekisai is painted on and the piece re-fired, crystallising the surface. Kondo remarks, “this is the sense in which I am using fire to create water”. (Kondo 2008) The versatile manifestations of ‘silver mist’ are astonishing: some pieces stand with apparent dense

condensation or ice; others with long dripping effects redolent of a rain soaked window.

The use of glass in many of Kondo’s pieces expresses his preoccupation with water in all its forms. While undertaking a Master of Design at Edinburgh College of Art, he studied cast glass techniques. He has since used glass not as an addition, more a significant feature. His smaller works reflect the tension between opposing colours and geometrical planes. They are drawn together by cast glass and pate de verre variations that extend the exploration of the water theme. Importantly, Kondo’s use of glass does not dominate the porcelain but instead augments the work - a beacon of light atop an earthen bound object.

Australian audiences had their first opportunity to view Kondo’s works at two exhibitions hosted by Lesley Kehoe Galleries in the magnificent foyer of 101 Collins St and in the showrooms of Deutscher and Hackett in Sydney, as well as at Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria. In total, 16 pieces were created for the Australian exhibitions including six works from the Orkney monolith series. The monoliths in the Melbourne show were placed in 101 Collins’ water ponds casting majestic reflections and like the stones of Orkney, inspiring a meditative response.

The highly successful ‘Transformation’ exhibition was viewed by an estimated 5000 people. Hamilton Art Gallery has added to their impressive collection of contemporary Japanese ceramics, now owning three Kondo

works; the national Gallery of Victoria is to acquire two spectacular monolith works from the show, and a smaller vertical piece is to be donated to the national Gallery of Australia. Kondo’s works are also represented in many private and public collections.

Despite his pedigree, Kondo thinks of himself as a contemporary artist using sculpture as context for sharing sensibilities. He challenges the notion that using porcelain compels one to be bound by rules of functionality. This artistic philosophy has similarities with the contemplations of the avant-garde Sodeisha or ‘Society of Running Mud’, founded in 1948 by Yagi Kazuo, and advocating form over function in ceramic art. Similarly, Kondo seeks to transcend the ‘ceramic as functional art’ paradigm. In particular, his monolith series are purely sculptural works that lean towards the notion of concept art and autonomous artistic expression and away from the world of functional wares. Importantly however, Kondo remains true to the medium, to that of clay and that of earth.

Trevor joined Lesley Kehoe Galleries in 2001and

has had extensive work experience in Japan.

He holds a BA (Asian studies) with a Japanese

language major, and is currently undertaking a

Masters Degree in Arts Administration.

REFERENCESWilkinson, J: Takahiro Kondo, Time & Change. Ceramics Art &

Perception, Issue 65, 2006

Aoyama, W: Japanese Ceramics Now #2, www.yakimono.net 2004

Kondo, T: Mist. DVD Presentation 2008

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T R A N S F O R M A T I O N : T H E W O R K O F T A K A H I R O K O N D O

Trevor FlemingoRkney monoliTh SeRieS, 2008, KONDO TAKAHIRO. SLAB FORMED PORCELAIN WITH ‘GINTEKISAI’ (SILVER MIST GLAZE).

‘TRANSFORMATION’ ExHIBITION AT 101 COLLINS ST, MELBOURNE. PHOTO: WILLIAM HUNG. COURTESY OF LESLEY KEHOE GALLERIES.


e should be grateful that high points in world history frequently remain

represented long after their demise by splendid survivors of art, literature and music. The height or classic phase of the imperial style of the Ottoman Empire’s long rule can be seen in an Iznik tile of c.1575 in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum’s collection It was purchased in 1983 along with 35 others from the region using funds from the ‘Patrons of the Powerhouse Museum’.

Within a century of Ottoman control of byzantine Constantinople, the rebuilding into Istanbul began apace. It was the construction of the Süleymanye Mosque (beginning 1550) that prompted a dramatic demand for tiles, met for the next half century by the Iznik workshops situated 100 kilometres to the south west of the capital. Iznik already had a history of ceramic production as ancient nicaea but it found renewed fame through experiments in crafting a stark white body of quartz (silica and frit) in imitation of Chinese porcelain, and decorating it with a startling but controlled palette of black-outlined designs in ‘sealing wax red’, turquoise, blue, purple, and green. The designs were dominated by the celebrated red, which stands out proudly on the tile’s surface. Its first dateable occurrence is on a mosque lamp of 1557 (Atasoy et al. 1989: 224).

The Powerhouse tile fits stylistically with this height of Iznik production in the last half of the 16th century. between 1550 and 1620 some of the most celebrated monuments were completed under Süleyman II (the Magnificent, 1520-1566) and his immediate successors, including the Süleymanye Mosque, sections of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and the mosque of Rüstem Pasha. The crucial link in this period was Sinan (1489-1588), the justly famous and prolific chief Ottoman architect.

The Powerhouse tile’s crisply applied and fired motifs are in the hatyayî style, dominated by a combined turquoise serated saz (reed) leaf and tulip with quarter palmettes at opposite corners in purple and ‘sealing wax’ red respectively. Tying the design together are Chinese-inspired sprigs of blue and red prunus flowers on brown stems – with one idiosyncratically ‘snapped’ at an angle to fit the field. Gratifyingly while researching this article a perfect match was found with

examples drawn in situ at the Ayub Ansari (Eyüp Sultan) mausoleum complex in Istanbul (Saunders 1987: 11, pl. 3). Comparison of the Museum’s tile with the illustration showed for the first time that the Powerhouse tile is a rectangular portion cut on two sides leaving approximately 55% of the original square tile. Closer scrutiny of the tile itself shows the glaze of the uncut sides gathering along the edge whereas the glaze of the cut sides end abruptly. Interestingly only one of the cut sides is angled at 90 degrees, whereas the other cut side mirrors the manufactured sides in being undercut at 75 degrees.

It is safe to guess the Powerhouse tile was trimmed either through necessity at the time it was originally used, or because it was damaged during removal and the edges straightened later for sale. The mosque, mausoleum and bathhouse architecture upon which tiles were affixed is typically complex and tiles frequently required cutting to fit around pillars, and within panels, mihrabs etc. The difference in finish of the cut sides of the Powerhouse tile might be significant in suggesting different times for the trimming: possibly a combination of pre and post use.

Tile designs were usually commissioned for specific projects and while it is not impossible that the same tiles were used on another building it is exciting to speculate that the Powerhouse tile had been removed during renovations of the Ayub Ansari at some stage in its renovations over the centuries. In the

Topkapi Palace for example it is known a number of rooms had been ‘improved’ during the 18th century by replacing Iznik tiles with Dutch Delft. Such are the vagaries of novelty, but it is just such activities that have released tiles to the market and institutions. When we remember that constructions such as the blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet contained approximately 20,000 tiles, it is easy to imagine opportunities when maintenance and change have released tiles such as this gem now in the Powerhouse Museum collection.

Dr Paul Donnelly is a Curator of Design and Society

at the Powerhouse Museum. His doctorate focussed

on Bronze Age earthenware vessels of the Levant.

REFERENCESAtasoy, Nurhan, and Julian Raby, 1989. Iznik: The pottery of

Ottoman Turkey, Alexandria Press with Thames & Hudson, London

Denny, Walter B. 1977. The ceramics of Rustem Pasha and the

Environment of change, New York, 1977

Denny, Walter B. 2004. Iznik: the artistry of the Ottomans, London

Saunders, Gill, 1987. Tile Paintings. Victoria & Albert colour books,

Webb and Bower, London

Petsopoulos, Y., 1982. Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans: decorative

arts from the Ottoman Empire, Alexandria Press, London

I N T H E P U B L I C D O M A I N : A N I Z N I K T I L E I N T H E P O W E R H O U S E M U S E U M

Paul Donnelly

W

PLATE FROM SAUNDERS 1987, PL. 3, MANIPULATED TO SHOW EQUIVALENT SECTION TO POWERHOUSE TILE REMOVED.

COURTESY OF VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM AND WITH THANKS TO JEAN-FRANCOIS LANZERONE FOR MANIPULATION


n 2007, Adelaide’s OzAsia Festival gave focus to Australian artists’ relationship

with Asian cultures. The work in the inaugural festival ranged across retrospective reflections of Asian migrants, such as Anna Yen’s poignant Chinese Take-Away and Hung Le’s tongue-in-cheek I Still Call Australia By Phone, the experience of Australians with diverse cultural backgrounds, such as Australian-Chinese artist William Yang exploring his cultural roots in China, right through to direct encounters between different cultures, most notably Julie Janson’s Eyes of Marege, a collaboration between artists from Sulawesi’s Teater Kita Makassar and Australian Indigenous performers.

but what of the next generation of artists? The strong presence of young people at the Moon Lantern opening of the festival demonstrated their enthusiasm for cross-cultural engagement. How does the emerging generation of Australian artists engage with their Asian peers in a globalized age with Internet file sharing, a viral pop culture and a transnational flow of references in film and television?

In 2008, Once Upon a Midnight set out to address that question. The third collaboration between the Flinders University Drama Centre in South Australia, and the Kijimuna Festival in Okinawa, Japan, Once Upon a Midnight, a bilingual rock musical with a fantasy setting, tells the story of the world’s most frightened child, cardigan-clad teenager Kelsey Clarke.

Kelsey, played by Lauren Henderson, is afraid of everything around her, including her own relatives and household appliances. Her older brother, Ryan (Matthew Crook) tries to cure her phobias by giving her nozomi (Mai Kakimoto), a fierce Japanese warrior-doll, as a 14th birthday present. When the lights go out, nozomi springs to life and lures Kelsey into an underground world of magic and monsters. The Underground is threatened by the well-meaning blue Fairy, Angelica (Michelle Pastor) and only by teaching the world’s most frightened child to conquer her fear can nozomi and her friends prevail. Through nozomi, Kelsey learns to overcome not only her fear, but her small-mindedness, prejudice and self-doubt.

It was in early 2006 that the project’s producer, my teacher and friend Julie Holledge, approached me with the unexpected question: “How do you feel about Japanese monsters?” Holledge had previously collaborated with Japanese artists on Masterkey (1998 Adelaide Festival, 1998 Perth Festival) and with butoh performer Tomiko Takai on Exile (2000). In partnership with Hisashi Shimoyama, the producer of the Kijimuna Festival, students of the Drama Centre had performed in bicultural productions Culture Shock (1994) and Red Sun, Red Earth (1996). Once Upon a Midnight was a new kind of challenge. The production not only had a specific focus on youth culture but the cast itself was comprised of 7 Australian and 7 Japanese performers, the majority of whom are in their twenties. We set out to create a nightmare world on stage

- a subversive space where “werewolves, vampires, vultures, tengu and ningyo make suitable travelling companions, but fairies show no mercy!” (Once Upon a Midnight publicity 2008)

Heavily influenced by anime and punk rock, musical director Tim Lucas, translator Ken Yamamura and myself as writer combined our skills to develop a narrative and a style that would appeal to a contemporary youth audience, whilst at the same time travel across cultural and linguistic barriers. Ken Yamamura explains our rationale:

“People will see Kelsey finding her courage, and see her friendships, and understand that no matter what culture you come from it doesn’t mean that others are ‘evil’. This is what I think the play is about. That should be very clear for all of us.”

Under the direction of Australian Catherine Fitzgerald, with choreography by Japanese-born performance artist Yumi Umiumare, the production played to sold-out houses in both Okinawa, as flagship production of the 2008 Kijimuna Festival, and Adelaide, as “runaway hit” of the 2008 OzAsia Festival (Adelaide News, 29 September 2008).

The narrative was born from a desire to explore the cultural other, to acknowledge difference and awkwardness and precipitate a frank cross-cultural engagement. At first, this journey appeared to be similar for the artists involved.

I

O N C E U P O N A M I D N I G H T: T H E O Z A S I A R O C K M U S I C A L

Alex Vickery-Howe L TO R: COMPOSER/MUSICIAN TIM LUCAS; KANGO, THE KAPPA (SHIMABUKURO HIROYUKI); YOSHIKI THE TENGU (TENCHOU) A

ND SCRATCH, THE WEREWOLF (CHRIS ASIMOS) IN OPENING NUMBER BRING ON THE NIGHT. MUSIC TOWN, OKINAWA CITY, JULY 2008.

PHOTO: TOMOAKI KUDAKA. COURTESY OF KIJIMUNA FESTIVAL OFFICE

NOZOMI, THE NINGYO (MAI KAKIMOTO) VS YOSHIKI, THE TENGU

(TENCHOU). MUSIC TOWN, OKINAWA CITY, JULY 2008. PHOTO:

TOMOAKI KUDAKA. COURTESY OF KIJIMUNA FESTIVAL OFFICE


For Mai Kakimoto, who performed as the sword-swinging nozomi, the production was a first encounter with westerners. Mai had travelled from her home in Tokyo to naha city in Okinawa to take part in the show. While her English language skills developed dramatically over the rehearsal period, she was initially perplexed.

“On the first night, I was invited out to dinner with the cast. I stepped outside and there was this bunch of foreigners. I had never really seen westerners outside of TV. I didn’t know what to say, or how to behave… I didn’t know who was who, or what to call everybody. but I was very happy and excited.”

Early interactions were tentative in this way. Those who spoke both languages were in high demand as artists from two cultures tiptoed around each other. It was only when our translation crutch was removed that communication became more fluid.

“(The production is) not really cross-cultural if I translate it all. It’s just literal, you get the meaning but there’s no communication. I was tired so I thought, why don’t I just let it go? Let them communicate… it actually worked and it was much better. “ (Ken Yamamura)

At this point, early in the rehearsal process, the core strength of Once Upon a Midnight proved to be its youthful and adaptive cast. Actor, Melissa Matheson, observes:

“It only took a day or two to break the ice with each other. I was very surprised (because) all of us were very nervous about the language barrier…We seemed to mingle quite easily without using words so much as drinking games or television, or quirky sign language. Actually, I found the generation gap became more dominant while working.”

Whilst the character of Kelsey floundered in the dark, the young performers swiftly bonded and found common ground. A shared, nostalgic interest in the Back to the Future trilogy, watched together after rehearsals, and Disney songs sung at karaoke became easy icebreakers. There were collective childhood references, from Astroboy to Miyazaki, and the Australians quickly developed a taste for popular Japanese music, fashion, slang and Match, the drink of champions.

Close relationships based on connections between individual personalities blurred the Japanese/Australia dichotomy, the divide upon which the production and festival were based. Fear of the other, that most visceral yet childish of emotions, reflected in the

news media, retained by older generations (for whom the Second World War is still fresh) and subtly reinforced by social norms, evaporated in the summer heat.

Within the rehearsal room, performers shared physical and vocal warm-up techniques. The Japanese demonstrated their skill in crafting dynamic, physical characterizations; the Australians demonstrated a textual approach, working analytically through a dissection of the text, creating their characters from the inside out. Pop culture references and humour not only continued to be the shorthand of our day-to-day interactions but a sense of the fun, the reflexive and the shared was imbedded in the text. I was pleased when members of the audience chuckled at, for example, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Mister Miyagi from The Karate Kid, a character who lived in Okinawa.

Whereas Kelsey’s story had been intended to bridge the gap between East and West, sharing ideas outside the rehearsal space led the young Japanese and Australian artists to take their connection beyond this simple journey and question the relevance of the East/West divide altogether.

Similarly, the young audiences, largely High School groups, voiced a much stronger interest in the production’s portrayal of contemporary youth culture than in the cross-national aspects. In Adelaide, they requested the adventure be presented ‘darker’ and ‘harder’ in subsequent productions, revelling in nozomi’s relationship with blood-crazed vampire Damon (David Hirst) and Kelsey’s flirtation with the dark side, but disregarding the ‘cheesy’ aspects of the staging. Their gripes

centred on much of the slapstick and physical humour which was, ironically, inserted during rehearsals to aid cross-cultural understanding and to ‘lighten’ the tone for youth. In Japan young audiences expressed appreciation for the Australian actors attempting Japanese and found the results amusing, but it was still the dark and dangerous characters of nozomi and Damon who were singled out and asked for autographs. Such feedback is important as the question of how theatre can capture “youth” as a unique and valuable culture, vital to the future of the art form, is ongoing.

What young Japanese and Australians demonstrated effectively in this instance, both as artists and as audience members, was a remarkable ease when crossing linguistic and ethnic boundaries. The common other were previous generations.

An emerging generation of artists, and the audiences they draw, interact in a different style, with a different set of guiding principles, from those that have come before. Where the exploration of ethnic difference lies at the heart of much past cross-cultural collaboration, and many theories have been drawn around the dichotomy of East/West, the future of theatrical partnership may deconstruct those binary opposites.

Likewise, Oz/Asia is a dichotomy that puzzles second and third generation teenagers of Asian descent who wonder which camp they should join. The question of how the emerging generation of Australian artists engages with their Asian peers, the question that spawned Kelsey’s adventure, led to further, more complex questions about youth identity in a globalised world. There are new stories to be told on that front.

The encounters between the participants in Once Upon a Midnight opened the doors for candid, honest communication. Theatre, in this way, functions not only as an on-stage cultural exchange, or as spectacle, but as a means to bring groups together and facilitate forthright dialogue. Youth and youth culture have a unique voice to lend, chaired by a new generation of exciting artists.

Alex Vickery-Howe is a South Australian author and

playwright currently completing his PhD in Drama at

Flinders University, Adelaide.

REFERENCESOnce Upon a Midnight publicity 2008.

http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/

Adelaide News, 29 September 2008.

http://www.adelaidenews.com.au/oz-asia/

NOZOMI (MAI KAKIMOTO) AND KELSEY CLARKE (LAUREN

HENDERSON) TRAVEL TO THE UNDERGROUND. MUSIC TOWN,

OKINAWA CITY, JULY 2008. PHOTO: TOMOAKI KUDAKA.

COURTESY OF KIJIMUNA FESTIVAL OFFICE


his comprehensive exhibition features objects from the newly formed national

Collection of Timor-Leste together with holdings from the Museum and Art Gallery northern Territory. Exquisite carved ancestral figurines and ceremonial house doors, crafted jewellery, hand-woven textiles and earthenware vessels are presented along with contemporary two-dimensional art, videos and interactive multimedia.

At the heart of this exhibition is the preservation of the ‘material marks of [the island’s ancient] cultures’ as stated by His Excellency Xanana Gusmão in the exhibition’s stunning, tri-lingual catalogue. The exhibition recognises Timor-Leste’s rich artistic inheritance through celebrating the survival of its cultures following decades of destruction and conflict. Also illuminated by the exhibition are the ingenious skills of Timor’s artisans.

The curatorial strategy, employed by Joanna barrkman the exhibition’s curator, uses complementary opposites as a visual distinction, delineated by colour and space. The concept of duality, which underpins Timorese culture ushers the visitor between the esoteric and mundane worlds presented in From the Hands of Our Ancestors, providing an insight into the nuanced cultures of Timor. In a study of Timorese society, anthropologist David Hicks observes it is the inter-relatedness of opposites, such as earth and sky, sacred and profane, sun and moon, feminine and masculine, that give them their true meaning. (Hicks 1976:107).

Upon entering the gallery, vibrant orange walls sweep the visitor into the expansive, worldly realm of light, life and masculinity. Here a series of ancestral figurines, customarily used as grave markers intended to honour clan ancestors stoically appear. Alongside these figurines, hand-woven ikat and supplementary weave textiles are displayed, reflecting Timor’s regionally diverse textile virtuosity.

In contrast to this dynamic, expansive space is an inner blue walled chamber that resonates as the sacred realm of darkness, death and femininity. Emulating a Timorese ceremonial house, entrance into this chamber necessitates passing a series of ornately carved doors of totemic crocodiles, mermaids and rulers that traditionally ‘guarded’ the doorways of

ceremonial houses within which rituals were performed to pay homage to the ancestors.

A set of beautifully carved roof finials feature prominently inside this chamber. The finials, originating from the Lospalos region, are ‘an iconic emblem of the distinguished culture of the Timorese people’ (barrkman 2008:92). Each finial features a carved bird, symbolic of the clan’s ancestral spirits. When in situ these extended from the house roof and soared up into the sky. ‘Annual purification ceremonies occurred in [these] houses whereby rainwater was poured down from the roof, between the finials, into the ceremonial house and onto the clan members gathered inside. The act of pouring the water between the bird-adorned finials symbolised the blessing and purification by the clan’s ancestors of the water and their descendants’ (Pers comm. Simith V, 22 nov. 2008).

Also housed in the exhibition’s inner chamber is a selection of Timorese body adornment. Traditionally worn for ceremonies, gold and silver jewellery articulates the cosmic world of complementary opposites. The kai bauk headdress represents the feminine waning moon whilst the belak breastplate denotes the masculine sun. A side chamber presents aspects of enmity protection, including an array of wooden face masks and a female warrior. Upon exiting the blue chamber, the visitor returns to the mundane sphere to view ‘vessels of sustenance’, consisting of earthenware pots and woven fibre containers. A selection of contemporary art illustrates the emergence of a distinctive visual art movement by Timor’s youth. They provide a personal insight into the mayhem of Timor’s recent past with titles such as Santa Cruz Massacre; Leaving Dili;

Returning Home and Independence Day that remind the viewer of the nation’s volatile history.

A DVD entitled Living Cultures provides a nation-wide overview to intangible cultural practices and a musical sound-scape that permeates From the Hands of Our Ancestors. Together with interactive media featuring other collections of Timor-Leste material culture in Europe, these remind the viewer that the marks of Timor’s cultures, although scattered, endure as a lasting reminder of a distinguished Timorese past.

From the Hands of Our Ancestors: Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman continues until 12 July 2009 at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Conacher St, Bullocky Point, Darwin.

Maryellen Hargreaves is a post graduate student,

undertaking an Honours degree in Creative

Arts and Industries at Charles Darwin University,

Northern Territory.

REFERENCESBarrkman, J. 2008. Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman – From

the Hands of Our Ancestors, Museum and Art Gallery Northern

Territory, Darwin, p. 92.

Gusmão, x. 2008. Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman – From

the Hands of Our Ancestors, Museum and Art Gallery Northern

Territory, Darwin. p.11.

Hicks, D. 1976. Tetum Ghosts and Kin, Waveland Press Inc. Illinois,

p.107.

Rothwell, N. 2008. Our neighbour’s heirlooms, The Australian, 21

November 2008.

Personal communication with V. Simith, 22 November 2008,

Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, Darwin.

Traube, E. 1986. Cosmology and Social Life, Ritual Exchange among

the Mambai of East Timor, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

and London.

E X H I B I T I O N R E V I E W: F R O M T H E H A N D S O F O U R A N C E S TO R S

Maryellen Hargreaves

T

heAddReSS, EARLY–MID 20TH CENTURY, ATARA ERMERA, SILVER ALLOY, 1.5 x 15 x 17CM, MAGNT COLLECTION (SEA 03541).

IMAGE COURTESY OF MUSEUM & ART GALLERY NORTHERN TERRITORY


B O O K R E V I E W: T H E A N C I E N T TA L E O F A J A V A N E S E B U D D H A - P R I N C E

Pamela Gutman

E X H I B I T I O N R E V I E W: N A M B A N G !

Ann Proctor

There is still a chance to catch Nam Bang!, an intelligent and visually engaging look at the post- Vietnam war era. The exhibition continues at Casula Powerhouse until June 21.

Nam Bang! includes 25 artists from Vietnam, Australia, north America, Europe and other Pacific and Asian nations. In the words of the curator, Dr boitran beattie-Huynh, the exhibition sets out to explore the aftermath of the Vietnam War from global and generational perspectives. Using a wide variety of media, the artists address a range of issues from traumatic stories, a critique of the post-Vietnam War policies, to the positive aspects of a more tolerant, multicultural world. The exhibition, and two-day conference held at the Casula Powerhouse on April 17-18, investigate the complex representation of the aftermath of the

Vietnam War and ultimately create a space for reconciliation and healing. The key note speaker at the conference was Lucy Lippard, the renowned USA writer, activist and curator.

Works in the exhibition include a documentary project, ‘Memories of the American War’ by William Short b. 1940, who served in Vietnam in 1969 and who now lives in Los Angeles. This collaborative work presents a heart-broken review of the war. Another outstanding work is the installation by the French based Vietnamese artist Tran Trong Vu (b. 1964) who uses layers of suspended plastic sheets painted with vibrant images to cleverly expose the absurdity of all wars.

Ann Proctor is a Lecturer in Asian Art at the National

Art School, Sydney.

Sutasoma – The

Ancient Tale of A

buddha-Prince From

14th Century Java

by Kate O’Brien

Orchid Press, Bangkok

2008.

Available from The Asia

Bookroom, Canberra.

rrp A$64.95

Kate O’brien is well-known for her scholarly yet accessible elucidation of Tantric themes in the literature, art and architecture of Java and Tibet. Many will recall her lectures on Candi Jago as an illustration of the theory of the union of means and wisdom in the attainment of enlightenment. Her latest work relates the story of Sutasoma as told in Mpu Tantular’s epic Old Javanese buddhist kakawin or poem, written in the 14th century at the height of the Majapahit empire, and discovers, again, the underlying theme of means and wisdom.

The poem follows Prince Sutasoma, born an incarnation of the Jina-buddha Wairocana, on both his spiritual journey to enlightenment and his temporal journey through marriage, kingship and eventual victory over the mighty, world-threatening demon Porusada. Sutasoma’s subduing of the demon is well-known throughout buddhist Asia and over

time many variations have evolved. In this epic version the poet has elaborated on the original story and added new characters and episodes, setting the tale in a Javanese milieu and imbuing it with a uniquely Javanese world-view.

Apart from being a journey to enlightenment, this is also a love story and a moral story telling of the fight of righteous kingship against evil. A series of minor wars leads to an eventual showdown, a world-threatening conflict and conflagration that would do justice to many a movie epic. O’Brien presents an updated and complete translation which presents the reader with a highly approachable and lively rendition of this epic, comparable in complexity and scale to that of the Ramayana, yet significantly less known or understood.

O’Brien’s accompanying analysis reveals a fascinating aspect of the poem, until now not fully explored. Aside from its function to elucidate the compatibility of buddhahood and kingship, it also reveals what amounts to a literary mandala, as complex and as philosophically rich as the beautiful mandala images of Tibetan buddhism, yet firmly rooted in the Javanese milieu of the Majapahit polity which gave rise to this version of the ancient tale. It is this literary mandala that is the path to Sutasoma’s enlightenment, in turn

the key to his success as a World Protector and Universal Monarch.

Today the Sutasoma is still studied by “masaban” groups as it has been for many generations. It continues to be a popular subject in the art of bali. O’brien has selected her profuse illustrations from those adorning the ceiling of the bale Kambang of the Taman Gili, the water garden of the palace at Klungkung in bali, as well as from the modern repertoire of balinese painting. The Tantric aspects of the text are explained through diagrams and illustrations of mandalas in Tibet and Ladakh. Sutasoma is recommended reading not only for specialists but for those who wish to better understand the literary and religious background to bali’s incomparable culture.

Pamela Gutman is an Honorary Associate, School of

Letters, Art & Media, University of Sydney.


T H E 2 N D A S E A N T R A D I T I O N A L T E X T I L E S Y M P O S I U M

Gill Green

1-3 February 2009, Manila, Philippines.

The national Museum of the Philippines was the venue for this symposium, co-hosted with the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. The ASEAn Foundation/Japan ASEAn Solidarity Fund provided primary funding supported by Himpunan Wastraprema (Indonesia), the symposium’s founding organization and host of the first symposium in Djakarta in 2005.

The theme, Habi: Sustaining Traditional Textiles of the ASEAN, discussed ways of promoting, preserving and maintaining sustainability of plant fibre production, weaving and dyeing methods deeply rooted in the cultures of ASEAN communities. Invited speakers from the 10 ASEAn nations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar

and Vietnam (Cham and highlands) - shared their knowledge and possibly frustrations in keeping traditional fibre production and use alive. Speakers from Iran, Guam and Australia also participated.

The variety of plant fibres used in these traditions - cotton, abaca (banana leaf fibre), pina (pineapple leaf fibre), and even fibres stripped from hibiscus plants and rattan canes are a testament to the ingenuity of traditional peoples in the ASEAn community in utilising materials to hand. Lengths of cloth woven from these fibres were offered for sale in the ‘Marketplace’ held over the three days of the event. A group of bagoba women from south central Mindanao wearing their traditional wrap round skirts of woven abaca fibre patterned in warp ikat were welcomed and performed traditional dance providing a context for appreciating their costume and traditions. A number of demonstrations of traditional handweaving were arranged. A backstrap loom weaver from Myanmar and a Cham weaver demonstrating the unusual Cham frameloom - operated from the side rather than from one end - exhibited their skills.

A fashion show of modern designs using only pina cloth rounded off the symposium. Invited modern designers demonstrated that this exquisite, fine cloth, painstakingly made by hand could be transformed into supermodel clothing for the modern day.

Their skill emphasized continuity with their predecessors who, using pina, created Spanish-style gowns in past centuries as well as the long sleeved shirt barong tagalog which remains the formal garment for Philippino men today.

The concluding activity was the signing of an “Agreement on the Establishment, Organization and Management of the ASEAn Traditional Textile Art Community”. This agreement commits the signatories to “recognise that the continuity of traditional Southeast Asian textiles lies in the reintegration of textiles back into the life and culture of the people”. Integral with these aims is recognition of ‘Living National Treasures’ in weaving; monitoring ethical practice in entrepreneurial schemes and identifying textile areas in danger of extinction.

The next symposium is planned for 2011 with Malaysia the host nation. The organisers plan to publish the papers from the 2009 symposium on the HAbI website in the near future. http://aseantextiles09.museumfoundationph.org/

Gill Green was an invited speaker at the

Symposium. She is Vice President of TAASA and

convenor of TAASA’s Textile Study Group.

PARTICIPANTS TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE STEPS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES. PHOTO GILL GREEN


R E C E N T T A A S A A C T I V I T I E S

TAASA NSW

Textile Study Group

At our April meeting we had the opportunity to view the antique Uzbeki silk embroidered wedding bed cover purchased by Textile Study Group members in memory of Dee Court. This textile has been donated to the Powerhouse Museum collection. Nicky Court, Dee and Peter Court’s eldest daughter told of her trip to India with her husband and son, and spoke movingly of their journey to scatter Dee’s ashes in the Ganges.

TAASA book launch - 26 February

Around 50 people gathered in barbara Rogers’ Gurner St Paddington gallery for the launch of Gill Green’s latest book ‘Pictorial Cambodian Textiles’. Gill, introduced by TAASA President Judith Rutherford, gave an interesting overview of her research for this book, and described her visit to Phnom Penh, where the national Museum of Cambodia presented the first exhibition of its textile collection, and provided the venue for the Cambodian launch of her book, hosted by the Australian Embassy.

TAASA QUEENSLAND

On 9 May, TAASA Committee member Philip Courtenay organised a half day Seminar at the Queensland Art Gallery in

conjunction with ACAPA (Australian Centre for Asian and Pacific Art). Dr Baoping Li , bob Maher (collector) and Ruth McDougall (ACAPA) participated in the program. A report follows in the next TAASA Review.

TAASA VICTORIA

TAASA members’ walkthrough: Dressed

to Rule: Imperial Robes of China,

National Gallery of Victoria International,

26 April 2009

Ruth Clemens, collector of Chinese Imperial costume and textiles, took TAASA members through the nGV’s current Asian art exhibition Dressed to Rule: Imperial Robes of China. Ruth revealed the layers of meaning encoded in the robes on display, through symbols embroidered and woven into the sumptuous fabrics, the structure of the garments, and the use of colour and composition in the robes’ decoration. She explained how costume and accessories, including rank badges, shoes and hats, designated the status and cultural identity of the wearer, and how this differentiation blurred at the end of the Qing dynasty. It was a fascinating discussion that enhanced members’ enjoyment and understanding of the exhibition, curated by Dr Mae Anna Pang, Senior Curator of Asian Art. The exhibition runs to 6 September.

TAASA VICTORIA EVENTS

Other worlds: Tai textiles - 13 June 2009Speaker: Russell HowardVenue: behruz Studio, 1509 Malvern Road, Glen Iris, Phone: 95102282Russell Howard, collector of Tai textiles from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and burma, will discuss the textiles he has collected from his most recent trip to the region. The textiles will be on display in the exhibition Other Worlds, at behruz Studio 11 – 27 June. Traditional arts of Uzbekistan: Cities and museums of the Silk Road - 7 July Speaker: Laura JocicVenue: To be confirmedLaura Jocic is Curator, Australian Fashion and Textiles, at the national Gallery of Victoria. She is also a collector of and specialist in Central Asian textiles and costumes. She takes annual tours to Uzbekistan and in this talk will discuss the museums, markets and textiles she has encountered on her journeys. Enquiries: Carol Cains 03 8620 2288

TAASA NSW EVENTS

TAASA NSW Textile Study GroupAll meetings 6-8 pm, Briefing Room, Powerhouse Museum. Forthcoming program:10 June: Show and Tell – bring a piece of Asian jewellery with a story.29 July: Liz Williamson – The Significance of Shawls and Scarves.No meeting in August.All enquiries contact: Gill Green 9331 1810.

TAASA Symposium on Jewellery and Adornment of Asia - 25 July, Art Gallery of NSWThis full day seminar will explore a range of tantalising topics: ritual SE Asian ornaments, Central Asian nomadic adornment, sumptuous Indian jewellery, Kingfisher feather ornaments in the Chinese Imperial court and more. Includes free entry to the AGnSW Silk Ikats of Central Asia exhibition. brochure is included in this issue.

Cities of the Silk Road - 5 September, Powerhouse MuseumThis one day event is the next in TAASA’s series ‘Great Cities of Asia’. Five speakers will present views of Central Asian cities, long celebrated for their role as trading centres along the Silk Road.

TAASA MEMBERS ’ D IARY

J U N E – A U G U S T 2 0 0 9

ExAMINING THE TExTILE DONATED TO THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM. L-R: MELANIE PITKIN, ASSISTANT CURATOR, SOCIETY

AND DESIGN, POWERHOUSE MUSEUM, CILLA WARRE, PETER AND NICKY COURT, ROZ CHENEY. PHOTO: GILL GREEN.


W H A T ’ S O N I N A U S T R A L I A A N D O V E R S E A S : J U N E – A U G U S T 2 0 0 9

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

AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES

Littoral DriftUniversity Technology Sydney Gallery, Sydney2 June – 3 July 2009

brings together artists based in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia who use photography and video to explore how coastal areas, shores and rivers have been the settings for human exchange for centuries. Curated by Matt Cox, artists featured include nadiah bamadhaj, Tejal Shah, Krisna Murti, Yee I-Lann, Ricky Maynard and Simryn Gill.

For more details go to: www.utsgallery.uts.edu.au/gallery

Silk Ikats of Central Asia. From the collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Kuala Lumpur Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney2 July - 11 October 2009

Robes, tunics and textile panels from the late 19th century display the remarkable artistic achievement and technical virtuosity of Ikat silk designers, dyers and weavers of Central Asia. For more details go to: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Arts of Asia - Decoding Dress Art Gallery of New South Wales, SydneyTuesdays 1-2pm, Term 2 from 28 July 2009

The second term of the Arts of Asia 2009 series focuses on modern Asian dress and begins on 28 July with Antonia Finnane’s lecture, ‘barbarian and Chinese: dress as difference in Chinese art’. For a full listing go to www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/events/courses where course bookings can also be made.

Japan Studies of Australia forum - Japan, China, Elsewhere: Literary and Cultural Interplay in Pre-modern and Early Modern Japan 13 July 2009 from 1 - 5pmArt Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

In this Japan Studies of Australia Association pre-conference event, six scholars in the fields of art history, literature, intellectual history and theatre, explore the ways in which the Japanese imported, appreciated, and interpreted an imagined ‘Other’ over the course of a millennium. See: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/events/

SANAA: Kazuya Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa - an architectural interventionSherman Contemporary Art Foundation3 July – 26 September 2009

The contemporary Japanese architects Kazuya Sejima and Ryue nishizawa will give Sydneysiders a first-hand glimpse of their architectural aesthetic at the Foundation’s gallery in July. For further information go to: www.sherman-scaf.org.au

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman – From the Hands of our AncestorsThe Traditional and Contemporary Art and Craft of Timor-LesteMuseum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, Darwin22 November 2008 - 12 July 2009

Features 138 works from the national Collection of Timor-Leste, presented internationally for the first time since the nation’s independence in 2002, complemented by the Timor-Leste collection of the Museum and Art Gallery northern Territory and loans from other public and private collections.For further information go to: www.nt.gov.au/nreta/museums

QUEENSLAND

Frame by Frame: Asia Pacific Artists on TourA travelling exhibition from the Queensland Art GalleryGold Coast City Art Gallery from 16 May – 28 June 2009Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery from 15 July – 23 August 2009

Showcases 50 photographic and moving image art works by leading contemporary Asian and Pacific artists from the Queensland Art Gallery’s Asia Pacific Collection. See: www.gcac.com.au and www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au.

Small acts Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art25 July – 15 November 2009

Features artists’ videos, including early works by Nam June Paik and Yoko Ono as well as contemporary works by artists including Tsui Kuang-yu, Ghazel, Kimsooja and Song Dong. For further information go to: www.qag.qld.gov.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Tibetan Buddhist ArtArt Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

This ongoing exhibition features paintings, sculpture and decorative arts dating from around the 12th century to the modern era, made possible through the loan of 15 rare works from the private Tibetan art collection of Alan Myren and Lee Grafton. The highlight of the display is eight buddhist religious paintings (tangka). For further information go to: www.artgallery.sa.gov.au

VICTORIA

Dressed to Rule: Imperial Robes of ChinaNational Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne17 April – 6 September 2009

Exhibits imperial robes of China from the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Mostly drawn from the nGV Asian Art Collection, the exhibition features robes as well as accessories worn by the Qing Emperors and members of the imperial court, combining Chinese elegance with the nomadic barbaric splendour of the Manchu.

A series of lectures to complement the exhibition include:

21 June at 2.30pm, Ruth Clemens: ‘beauty, Pain and Pleasure – The History of Foot binding In China’.

3 July at 12.30pm, Leslie Uren: ‘Silk and Metal Thread in Traditional Chinese Embroidery’.

31 July at 12.30pm, Alan black: ‘Silk -Trade & Emperors’.

21 August at 12.30pm, Mae Anna Pang: ‘Cosmic Symbols and the Emperor’s Robes’. For more information about programs associated with the exhibition, go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvinternational.

Five Elements – WaterNational Gallery of Victoria, International15 May – 26 July 2009

Master Tetsunori Kawana is an internationally renowned practitioner of contemporary Japanese bamboo sculpture, whose bamboo installations are of a spectacular scale unseen in the related traditional practice of Ikebana. He will transform the Grollo - Equiset Garden with his creation ‘Five Elements – Water’. For further information go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvinternational.


Ancient Hampi: A Hindu Kingdom brought to lifeImmigration Museum, Melbourne13 November 2008 - January 2010

This interactive exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the stunning World Heritage site of Hampi in southern India. Using state of the art digital technologies the visitor can travel back to 14th century Hampi and visit the seat of the Vijayanagara Empire. For more information go to www.museumvictoria.com.au Go to http://place-hampi.museum for more information about the international digital project.

INTERNATIONAL

GERMANY

Cultural Exchange on the Northern Silk Road Kulturaustausch auf der nördlichen Seidenstraße Museen Dahlem, Berlin1 April - 1 September 2009

The newly opened Chinese Cultural Centre, in berlin’s Tiergarten district, focuses on the art of the world-renowned Mogao Caves in Dunhuang at the eastern hub of the Silk Road. Copies of two of the rock-cut temples have been recreated to original size and are

now on view. For further information go to: www.smb.museum/smb

KOREA

Fascination of Europe: Western-style Paintings in Modern JapanNational Museum of Korea, Seoul13 November 2008 – 11 October 2009

Highlights a group of western-style paintings by modern Japanese artists collected and displayed in the Yi Royal Museum from 1933 to 1943. For further information go to: www.museum.go.kr

UNITED KINGDOM

Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of JodhpurBritish Museum, London28 May – 23 August 2009

A rare chance to see 56 paintings from the 17th to 19th centuries, from miniatures to monumental artworks, loaned from the royal collection of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur (modern day Rajasthan). For further information go to: www.britishmuseum.org

USA

Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art MuseumJune 26–September 27, 2009Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

This exhibition, shown at both museums, includes 32 screens dating from the 16th century to contemporary. Go to: www.artic.edu/aic

Brilliant Warriors. Artistic Masters12 June – 20 September 2009Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Features more than 160 works from the Hosokawa family collection housed in the Eisei-bunko Museum in Tokyo, the Kumamoto Castle, and the Kumamoto Municipal Museum in Kyushu. These include suits of armor, armaments (including swords and guns), formal attire, calligraphy, paintings, teaware, lacquerware, masks, and musical instruments. For further information go to: www.asianart.org/Samurai

H E R I T A G E D E S T I N A T 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

Suite 102, 379 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia, PO Box K1042 Haymarket NSW 1240 AustraliaPhone: +61 2 9267 0129 Fax: +61 2 9267 2899ABN 93 086 748 834 LIC NO 2TA004916

For a brochure or further information phone Ray Boniface at Heritage Destinations on (02) 9267 0129 or email [email protected]

BURMA: THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT AND BEYOND

BACKROADS OF BURMA

LAOS: LAND OF THE LOTUS-EATERS

30 October – 18 November 2009

TAASA contributor Dr Bob Hudson guides our annual program which

contains extended stays in medieval Mrauk U, capital of the lost ancient kingdom of Arakan (now Rakhine State) and Bagan, rivalling Angkor

Wat as Southeast Asia’s richest archaeological precinct. Experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and

a private cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady are also included.

Land Only cost per person ex Yangon from $4450

08 November – 25 November 2009

Angkor’s grandeur is unmissable. But Cambodia offers a host of other

travel experiences: outstanding ancient, vernacular and French colonial

architecture; spectacular riverine environments; a revitalizing urban

capital; and beautiful countryside. Join Gill Green, art historian, author and

Vice President of TAASA and Australian expatriate university and museum

lecturer Darryl Collins on a repeat of our successful 2008 program.

Land Only cost per person ex Phnom Penh from $4500

17 November – 03 December 2009

One trip to Burma is simply never enough. Backroads of Burma is ideal

for the second-time visitor or travellers who enjoy remote and bucolic locations.

Starting and finishing in Yangon, our schedule wends south into Mon State, visiting Kyaiktiyo and Moulmein before heading north to Sri Ksetra, the ancient

Pyu capital. Mystical Mount Popa, Bagan, Monywa and the spectacular

cave temples of Po Win Taung, Sagaing and Mandalay follow. Dr Bob Hudson is

program leader.

Land Only cost per person ex Yangon from $3900

28 January – 10 February 2010

Enigmatic and relatively undeveloped, landlocked Laos offers travellers

an intimate glimpse of traditional Southeast Asian life. Gradually

emerging from its tumultuous recent history, Laos is a gem of Indochina with interesting art, architecture,

French and Lao cuisine, intricate river systems, and rugged highlands. Darryl

Collins, long term Southeast Asian resident, has designed and will guide a comprehensive tour of Laos which includes wonderful Luang Prabang, the historic royal city and Wat Phu

Champasak.

Land Only cost per person ex Vientiane from $4100

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