Symposium "Narrating Japanese Art Histories: Past, Present, and Future".

Dear Students and Colleagues,

With great pleasure, we can now offer the program folder and poster for the international Symposium: Narrating Japanese Art Histories: Past, Present, and Future Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Collaboration between Ishibashi Foundation and Heidelberg University
Heidelberg, June 28-30, 2024.

Program: https://heibox.uni-heidelberg.de/f/948b2f0180df46478363/?dl=1
Poster: https://heibox.uni-heidelberg.de/f/8523a5e760b04dd0a589/

Please notice that the start of the program with Friday’s events is on the second page of the PDF file.

Some of you may be able to join us in person, others cannot travel, but you are welcome to join us online.
You can either use the QR-Code on the folder, or this link to register via Zoom:
https://eu02web.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/u5Yrdu6ppzgvE9eCj4cTQ_-2sinFfWXKfYIQ

- Abstract -
Japanese art and visual cultures are rich with narratives: stories that captivate readers and viewers, weaving intricate self-allusions and circling back in reflection; stories that educate, entertain, or undergo retelling and reproduction as acts of karmic redemption. The symposium "Narrating Japanese Art Histories: Past, Present, and Future" explores the engagement of Japanese arts with storytelling in visual terms across different times and media. This symposium also marks a dual academic celebration at the Institute of East Asian Art History (IKO) at Heidelberg University.
In 2024, we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professorship program at Heidelberg University, generously supporting leading scholars of Japanese arts worldwide to spend a semester at Heidelberg. This initiative facilitates engagement with researchers, collections, and students, enriching and invigorating the field of Japanese art history. The program has fostered significant networking, research ideas, and transformative student experiences over the years.
Simultaneously, we honor the career and profound academic contributions of Professor Melanie Trede, former Chair of Japanese Art at the Institute of East Asian Art History. Professor Trede, a prominent scholar in Japanese narrative art, initiated the collaboration with the Ishibashi Foundation. The symposium's theme aligns with Professor Trede's lifelong academic pursuit in narrative painting, synergizing with the scholarly endeavors of speakers and scholars of Japanese art, many of whom have contributed within the visiting professorship program at Heidelberg. This symposium serves as a cornerstone in solidifying the scholarly impact of the Institute of East Asian Art History over the past two decades, in collaboration with the Ishibashi Foundation.

The keynote lectures will be delivered by Professors Melissa McCormick and Takagishi Akira. Confirmed speakers include Prof. Matthew McKelway, Prof. Julie Nelson Davis, Prof. Nakamachi Keiko, Prof. Yukio Lippit, Prof. Sarai Mai, Prof. Jaqueline Berndt, and others. The event will be open to the public and primarily conducted on-site, with a hybrid option available via Zoom.

--- Program ---

Venue:
Heidelberg University
Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS)
Voßstr. 2, Bldg. 4010
Room: CATS Auditorium, HS 010.01.05, second floor

Additional rooms for preparations, relaxation, and meetings:
R.010.01.02, next to the left of the CATS auditorium, second floor
R.010.00.02, first floor, to the right

Conference Schedule (preliminary)

Day 1 – June 28, 2024

15:00-17:30 – Registration

17.00-17.30 Welcome Address and Information

Melanie Trede

Video message by Mr. Ishibashi Takashi

Katharina Rode-Kaya (Heidelberg University )
Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer (Sainsbury Institute)
Anton Schweizer (Kyushu University)
Lianming Wang (City University of Hongkong)

17:30-19:00 Keynote Lecture
Melissa McCormick (Harvard University)
Rethinking Japanese Narrative Art

Discussant: Katharina Rode-Kaya (Heidelberg University)

19.00 Conference Dinner
Restaurant:
Urban Kitchen
Poststraße 36/5
69115 Heidelberg

Day 2 – June 29, 2024

09.30-11.00 – Painting Stories
Matthew McKelway (Columbia University)
Looking in all the Wrong Places? The Architecture of Narrative in Late Medieval Japan

Keiko Nakamachi (em. Jissen Women's University)
俵屋宗達《源氏物語　関屋・澪標図屏風》の物語表現の特色について
[Characteristics in the Narrative Expression of Tawaraya Sotatsu's Folding Screens Depicting Scenes from the The Tale of Genji:"Channel Markers" and "The Barrier Gate"]

Chair and Discussant: Frank Feltens (Smithsonian Institution)

11.00-11.30
Coffee Break

11.30-12.30 – Stories Told Differently
Jaqueline Berndt (Stockholm University)
Story-Manga as Graphic Narrative: On Art-historical Approaches to Comics Studies

Burglind Jungmann (em. University of California, Los Angeles)
Alternative Histories of Korean Painting: Three Collectors of Minhwa

Discussant: Karolin Randhahn (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden)

12.30-14.00
Lunch Break

14.00-15.00 – Visual Storytelling in Japanese Buddhism
Yukio Lippit (Harvard University)
Eka Danpi: Narrative and Icon in Zen Painting

Halle O’Neal (University of Edinburgh), online
Reused and Recycled: Telling Stories Through Letters’ Materiality

Chair and Discussant: Wang Fengyu (Heidelberg University)

15.00-15.30
Coffee Break

15.30-16.30 – Roundtable: Revisiting/Reframing? Stories of the Past
Yamamoto Satomi (Waseda University)
Namiki Seishi (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
Emura Tomoko (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties)
Gennifer Weisenfeld (Duke University)

Discussant: Anton Schweizer (Kyushu University)

16.30-18.30 – Walk to the IWH – Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg

Group A) 18:00 Walk to IWH
Group B) 17:00 Japan Festival, later IWH

18.30-20:30 – Ishibashi Foundation Reception

Welcome by the Chair for Chinese Art History, Sarah E. Fraser
Address by the Dean of the Department of Philosophy, Hans-Martin Krämer
Address by the former Director of the Institute of East Asian Art History, Lothar Ledderose

Music by Jesse Flowers

Day 3 – June 30, 2024

10.00-11.30 – Keynote Lecture
Takagishi Akira (University of Tokyo)
高階隆兼―日本美術史再考
[Takashina no Takakane - Japanese Art History Reconsidered]

Discussant: Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer (SISJAC)

11.30-12:00
Coffee Break

12.00-13.30 – Stories from Museums
Sarai Mai (Gakushuin University)
A New Journey of the Kongo Rikishi (Benevolent Kings) Statues at Tokyo National Museum

Rosina Buckland (British Museum)
The Splendour of Modernity: Towards a History of Meiji Arts

Chair and Discussant: Margó Krewinkel (Uni Heidelberg)

13.30-14.30
Lunch Break

14.30-15.30 – Stories of Women and by Women
Julie Nelson Davis (University of Pennsylvania)
Reconsidering Katsushika Ōi and the Hokusai Legacy

Estelle Bauer (INALCO)
Images as part of the paratext. The 226 scenes of the Illustrated Tale of Genji (E-iri Genji monogatari, 1650-1654) by Yamamoto Shunshō

Chair and Discussant: Lianming Wang (Hong Kong City University)

15.30-16.00
Coffee Break

16.00-16.30 – Reflecting on the Narratives
Respondent: Michael Radich (Heidelberg University)

16:30-17:30 Roundtable: Stories for the Future
Rachel Saunders (Harvard Art Museums)
Henry Keazor (Heidelberg University)
Maki Fukuoka (University of Leeds)
Alexander Hofmann (Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Discussant: Cora Würmell (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden)

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We will record the whole event, and the recording will not be available online for legal reasons. However, it can be made available upon request.

We are looking forward to meeting you here or on screen at the end of June!

With kind regards,
The Organizing Team
Anton Schweizer (Kyushu University)
Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer (Salisbury Institute)
Katharina Rode-Kaya (Heidelberg University)
Lianming Wang (City University of Hong Kong)
and everyone here at IKO

Supporting Team
Fengyu Wang (Communication)
Shupin Lang (Administration)
Annelie Elbing (Administration)
Susann Henker (Designer)
Wang Tianyi (Communication)
Kexin Wang (Catering)
Helin Fedorenko (Catering)
Linda Krisp (Social Media)
Yu-Chuan Cheng (Technical Support)

With generous support from the
Ishibashi Foundation
Japan Foundation

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Katharina S. Rode-Kaya (she/her)
Assistant Professor for Japanese Art History

Institut für Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens
CATS, Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Voßstraße 2, Gebäude 4120, 1. OG, Raum 02
69115 Heidelberg
E-mail: katharina.rodezo.uni-heidelberg.de