Exhibitions

The cries of battle, the neighing horses on the battlefield, and the clanging of swords striking against each other have long faded away. But the sword is one of the three most sacred symbols of the Shinto belief, which is why it holds a special place in Japanese culture.

Mako Idemitsu (b.1940) is a pioneering video artist, one of the most outstanding in this field in Japan today.

In 1959, Sam and Betty Dubiner visited Japan for the first time. During that visit they became enchanted by the art and culture that they saw in museums and galleries, and they were chiefly attracted to the works of the artist-poet Yosa no Buson (1716-1784).

Since the dawn of history, Japanese craftsmen and artists have been creating items in a variety of techniques such as ceramic, lacquer, woodcarving, painting, textile dyeing and metalwork, skillfully embellished with their preferred decorative motifs (soshoku no shudai).

This year, Japan celebrates four hundred years since the beginning of the Edo era.

This exhibition deals with the boundary between realistic and abstract art in modern Japanese prints.

In the year 1600 a Dutch boat was swept onto the coast at Kyushu, with a British navigator named William Adams (d. 1620) on board. Adams remained in Japan as adviser to the Shogun in regard to trade with the West.

he term "manga" - "occasional paintings" - was first used in the 19th century. Since the manga, drawn freely and directly onto the page, are sketches full of humour, the term has been applied to comic works.

Hashira-e ("pillar pictures") are woodblock prints with specific measurements - 70 cm. long and 12 cm. wide - and were widespread in Japan from the mid-18th to mid-19th centuries.

Georges Weil was born in Vienna in 1938. His family moved to England one year later. Weil studied at the Central School of Art & Craft, and at St. Martin's School of Art in London. In 1956 he set up a studio for jewellery design and manufacture, while continuing his sculpture and painting.