Display as Ensemble: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Display in Premodern Japan

This international symposium brings together scholars in the field of Japanese history, art history, architectural history, and religious studies to explore new directions for the critical examination of spatial and interior display from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective. The presentations explore a variety of settings and contexts in medieval and early-modern Japan—from large urban spaces to religious sites of ritual performance, residential interiors, and social gatherings—by focusing on the use of space through paintings and other objects. An integrated yet deliberately diverse set of presentations and discussions will highlight the significance of varied methodological frameworks in approaching display as an ensemble.

The symposium is free and open to interested students and scholars. Registration is required as seats are limited. Please contact the Sainsbury Institute to book your place: sisjacsainsbury-institute.org.

Program:

10:30
Registration and Coffee

10:50
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Simon Kaner (Sainsbury Institute and University of East Anglia)

11:00-12:00
I. Religion and Ritual Display

Matthew Stavros (University of Sydney)
The Mandalisation of Urban Space in Medieval Japan

Nishitani Isao (Museum of Sennyūji Temple)
Buddhist Patriarch Portrait Rituals and their Adorned Spaces: The Sennyūji Temple as One Example

Chair and Discussant: Lucia Dolce (SOAS, University of London)

12:00-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00
II. The Ashikaga Shoguns and Kaisho Display

Shimao Arata (Gakushuin University)
Kazari as a Value System

Jungeun Lee (Sainsbury Institute)
Displaying Authority: 1437 Imperial Visit to Ashikaga Yoshinori

Yukio Lippit (Harvard University)
The Ashikaga Treasury: Display, Value, and Kingship in the Karamono Collections of Japan's Medieval Shoguns

Chair and Discussant: Timon Screech (SOAS, University of London)

15:00-15:20 Coffee and Tea Break

15:20-16:50
III. Objects and Display

Ido Misato (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
Depicting Nature: Screen Paintings for Meeting Halls

Jang Namwon (Ewha Womans University)
Celadon Wares and the Sinan Shipwreck

Fukunaga Ai (SOAS, University of London)
Materialise Scholar’s Utopia: Rethinking the Display for Sencha in Late Edo Period

Chair and Discussant: Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere (British Museum and Sainsbury Institute)

16:50-17:50
Roundtable Discussion
Chair: Timon Screech (SOAS, University of London)

17:50-18:00
Closing Remarks: Jungeun Lee (Sainsbury Institute)