Events

The Columbia Center for Japanese Religion presents
the 2010 John C. Weber Symposium on Japanese Religion and Culture: Images and Objects in Japanese Buddhist Practice.

Columbia University
116th street and Broadway
New York, NY, 10027

The Columbia Center for Japanese Religions announces the first annual John C. Weber International Symposium on Japanese Religion and Culture. The 2010 symposium, entitled Images and Objects in Japanese Buddhist Practice, will be held in Room 301 Philosophy Hall at Columbia University from October 7th to the 9th, 2010.

It will begin with a keynote address on the evening of Thursday October 7 and will be followed by two days of papers and discussion on Friday and Saturday, October 8th and 9th. The symposium will bring together scholars of Japanese Buddhist art from Japan, Europe, and North America to critically examine the historical use of objects of visual and material culture in Japanese Buddhist practice. Through the presentation and discussion of new scholarly work from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives, this symposium will explore the relations between images, objects, and ritual in the history of Japanese Buddhism.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

CCJR offers travel grants to help cover the expenses of any graduate student who wishes to attend.

THURSDAY, October 7 th
6:00 - 6:30pm Reception

6:30 - 8:00pm Mimi Yiengpruksawan, Yale University
Fire Starter: The Local and Global Implications of Fujiwara no Yukinari’s Devotion to Blue Acala


FRIDAY, October 8th
9:30 - 10:25am Helmut Brinker, University of Zurich
The Iconic Body as Insight into Japanese Buddhist Practice

10:50 - 11:45am Nedachi Kensuke, Kyoto University
Materiality and Meaning: Sacred Trees and the Construction of Buddhist Images

1:00 - 1:55pm Cynthea Bogel, University of Washington
Representation, Visual Efficacy, and the Impact of Mikkyo
2:30 - 3:25pm Nagaoka Ryusaku, Tohoku University
Landscape and Buddha Image: Place and Symbolic Function in Buddhist Practice

4:00 - 4:55pm Sherry Fowler, University of Kansas
Finding the Feminine in the Thirty-Three Kannon


SATURDAY, October 9th
9:30 - 10:25am Samuel Morse, Amherst College
Securing a Place: Chindangu in Early Japan

10:50 - 11:45am Yui Suzuki, University of Maryland
Possessions: Spirits, Objects, and Bodies in Heian Birthing Rituals

1:00 - 1:55pm Yonekura Michio, Sophia University
Format and Function: On Hanging Scrolls Depicting
the Lives of Eminent Monks

2:30 - 3:25pm Bernard Faure, Columbia University
The Benzaiten and Dakiniten Mandalas: A Problem or an Enigma?

4:00 - 4:55pm Abe Yasuro, Nagoya University
Performing the Prince: Shotoku Taishi in Medieval
Religious Text, Image, and Ritual Space

HELD AT THE CLOSING OF THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MANGGHA MUSEUM OF JAPANESE ART AND TECHNOLOGY, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN

LOCATION: The Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow
Organizers:
THE POLISH SOCIETY
OF ORIENTAL ART
ul. Warecka 4/6 – 10, 00-040 Warszawa
www.sztukaorientu.pl

THE MANGGHA MUSEUM
OF JAPANESE ART AND TECHNOLOGY
ul. Konopnickiej 26, 30-302 Kraków
www.manggha.krakow.pl
The third conference devoted to the art of Japan and Polish-Japanese art relations in Poland is designed as a general meeting of art historians, restorers of art works, theater and film researchers (interested in audio-visual culture) from Japan and Poland. The organizers also invite to participate researchers from all American, Asian and European centers. The conference is intended to delineate the present situation in this area of research in the world and to outline the most important directions of research development. It is also designed to be a forum for exchange and presentation of the results of the participants’ own research. The conference is expected to be a discussion and networking place for all interested academics, researchers and professionals.
In the research field of participants of Krakow Conference some important topics appear which are supposed to prevail in conference contributions:
-History of ancient Japanese art and architecture;
-Art and artistic taste in Japan;
-Japonerie and Japanisms – the European and American visions of Japan;
-Japanese music and theatre in relations to fine arts;
-Modern and contemporary art of Japan;
-Art relations between Poland and Japan;
-Collections of Japanese art in Europe and America with special regard to Feliks “Manggha” Jasienski’s collection in Krakow.
-Restoration of art works
The language of the conference will be English. Participation is subject to registration. Proposals for contributions have to be submitted. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes.
Conference fee: € 50. No conference fee for Ph.D. students. Participants will be assisted with booking accommodation in hotels or hostels.
Please submit your proposals with a short abstract (max. 150 words in English) before March 31st, 2010, to the Bureau of the Conference: krakow@sztukaorientu.pl.

Organizers:
Bogna Dziechciaruk-Maj – Director of the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow
Prof. Dr. Jerzy Malinowski – President of the Polish Society of Oriental Art, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun
Dr. Ewa Kaminska – Krakow Branch of the PSOA, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
Dr. Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik – Head of the Warsaw Branch of the PSOA, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun
Dr. Joanna Wasilewska – Vice-President of the PSOA, deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Museum, Warsaw
Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska – Treasurer of the PSOA, Nicolaus Copernicus University
Scientific secretary of the Conference:
Aleksandra Görlich - Museum of Japanese Art and Technology; Krakow Branch of the PSOA
Wioletta Laskowska - Museum of Japanese Art and Technology

The conference is prepared in cooperation with:
The Section of Oriental Art, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun
The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw