Internationales Symposium «Korean Art in the West: Tracing Objects from Creation to Collection»

The Section for East Asian Art (Institute of Art History, University of Zurich, Switzerland) cordially invites everyone interested in the art history of Korea to the international symposium "Korean Art in the West: Tracing Objects from Creation to Collection". The symposium will be held in the auditorium of the RAA building, University of Zurich, Raemistrasse 59, 8001 Zurich (RAA-G-01, Aula, second floor).

The symposium aims to represent various case studies of Korean art in the West to create an overview of the state of research and methodologies in the field. It seeks to explore the trajectories of movement of Korean art in the past centuries and its reception outside of Korea. Our focus lies on the collecting practices, museum displays and cultural mediation, appropriations and uses of Korean art in the West, and on the comparative perspectives on similar processes in Korea. As the first symposium of its kind in bringing together Korean art scholars to Switzerland, it attempts to give a deeper insight into the collections of Korean art in Switzerland and other countries as well as to open a new field of public and academic interest in the study of Korea.

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PROGRAM

Wednesday 26th June

9:30 – 10:00 Registration for speakers

10:00 – 10:15 Welcome from the University of Zurich (UZH) Organizers
Prof. Dr. Hans Bjarne Thomsen (Section for East Asian Art, UZH) with Natasha Fischer-Vaidya, PhD Candidate (Section for East Asian Art, UZH)

10:15 – 12:15 Panel 1: Collectors and Collections, I
Chair: Sabine Bradel, PhD Candidate, Section for East Asian Art (UZH)

10:15 – 10:55 Prof. Dr. Hans Bjarne Thomsen, University of Zurich
Travelling Bowls: Social Lives of Korean Ceramics

10:55 – 11:35 Prof. Dr. Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch, Free University of Berlin
A Semiotic Narrative Investigation on a Goryeo Illuminated Manuscript: The Dae Banggwangbul Hwaeomgyeong (Avatamsaka sūtra), Vol. 72, in the New York Public Library

11:35 – 12:15 Prof. Dr. Seinosuke Ide, Kyushu University
Korean Paintings Amidst "Chinese-Style Paintings": Japanese Reception and International Circulation of Paintings of Peninsular Origin

12:15 – 14:00 Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:20 Panel 2: Receptions of Korean Art in the Museum Context
Chair: Dr. Alban von Stockhausen, Curator, Bern Historical Museum

14:00 – 14:40 Dr. Ariane Perrin, The Centre for Studies on China, Korea and Japan, UMR 8173
Shamanic Paintings of Chosŏn Korea: Tracing History from Collections back to Sacred Ritual Objects

14:40 – 15:20 Dr. Patricia Frick, Curator, Museum of Lacquer Art, Muenster
Refined Craftsmanship and Exquisite Beauty – Goryeo Lacquer Artefacts in Western Collections

15:20 – 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 – 16:20 Welcoming Speeches
Prof. Dr. Michael Hengartner (President, University of Zurich)
His Excellency, Ambassador Kwon Haeryong (Embassy of the Republic of Korea)

16:20 – 17:20 Keynote Speech
Dr. Eleanor Hyun, Curator of Korean Art, British Museum
Contexts: Korean Art and the British Museum

17:20 Reception, Lichthof, Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zürich

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Thursday 27th June

10:00 – 12:00 Panel 3: Arts of the Goryeo and Joseon Periods
Chair: Rosa Jiyun Kim, PhD Candidate, Section for East Asian Art, UZH

10:00 – 10:40 Prof. Dr. Em. Sunpyo Hong, Director, Center for Art Studies, Korea
The Export of Korean Genre Paintings to the West in the Era of Port Openings: Representations of "Korean People" in the Collections of Western Powers.

10:40 – 11:20 Prof. Dr. Namwon Jang, Ewha Womans University
The Characteristics of Korean Ceramics Collected by the West in Modern Times (in Korean with English translation as a handout)

11:20 – 12:00 Prof. Dr. Woothak Chung, Dongguk University
Painting of Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva in the Museo d'Arte Orientale Edoardo Chiossone in Genova, Italy (in Korean with English translation as a handout)

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch Break

13:30 – 15:30 Panel 4: Korean Art in the Modern and Contemporary Period
Chair: Prof. Dr. Hans Bjarne Thomsen, University of Zurich

13:30 – 14:10 Prof. Dr. Sunglim Kim, Dartmouth University
The Evolution of "Landscape Painting (Sansuhwa)" in Contemporary Korean Art

14:10 – 14:50 Prof. Dr. Nancy Lin, Lawrence University
Exhibitions Abroad: Promoting a Master Narrative of Korean Art in the Postwar Period

14:50 – 15:30 Coffee Break

15:30 – 17:30 Panel 5: Collectors and Collections, II
Chair: Alina Martimyanova, PhD Candidate, Section for East Asian Art, UZH

15:30 – 16:10 Dr. Hyojin Lee, Heidelberg University
Arts, Diplomacy and History: Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Sweden

16:10 – 16:50 Isabelle Leemann, Museum Coordinator, Museum of World Cultures, Sweden and Michel Lee, Curator, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Sweden
Tangible Memories and Intertwined Histories: Sweden-Korea Relations as Seen through the Collection of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities

16:50 – 17:30 Rosa Jiyun Kim, PhD Candidate, Section for East Asian Art, University of Zurich
Collaborative Publications and Early Swiss Receptions of Korean Culture

17:30 – 18:10 Natasha Fischer-Vaidya, PhD Candidate, Section for East Asian Art, University of Zurich
Swiss Collectors of Korean Art: Dr. Paul Ritter and Dr. Heinrich von Niederhäusern

18:30 Dinner for speakers and staff

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Please find a detailed description of the symposium as well as the individual presentations’ abstracts on our symposium website: https://www.khist.uzh.ch/de/chairs/ostasien/Aktuelles/Korea.html

The symposium is free and open to the public. No prior registration is required.

Most presentations will be held in English. For presentations held in other languages English translations will be provided.

For questions, please contact the Section for East Asian Art: kgoakhist.uzh.ch

The symposium is organized by the Section for East Asian Art, University of Zurich and is supported by the Korea Foundation and the University of Zurich Foundation (Hochschulstiftung). The organizers also thank the Bern Historical Museums for their kind permission to use the image for the conference.