Digital Replicas of Traditional Art in Japan; Curators’ Perspectives
NAJAS was pleased in 2023 to introduce a new program made possible by funding from the United States-Japan Foundation which avails of high-resolution digital reproduction technologies to offer unprecedented access to important Japanese artworks to general audiences. In cooperation with the Kyoto Culture Association and Canon Inc., over the last two years NAJAS has offered eight talks by curators and conservators hosted by member societies. The artworks have been selected by area experts from the image archive of Canon's "Tsuzuri" Cultural Heritage Inheritance Project. This series represents a novel means to open a discussion about preservation, the role of technology and issues related to the return of artworks to original locations.
2024-2025 Art History - Art Future: Digital Replicas of Japanese Traditional Art Program
The “Tsuzuri Project” from which this series draws combines age-old artistic disciplines with innovative digital technologies to bring fragile treasures out of museum archives and, thereby, stories of the interweaving of business and art, origins and destinations, and western and eastern techniques and aesthetics. Experience Art History - Art Future: Watch program talks below.
2024-2025 Art History - Art Future Talks:
Japan-America Society of Georgia
| Date: | March 12, 2025 |
| Title: | Celebrating Japanese Art: Tradition, Craft & Conservation | Watch on YouTube |
| Art: | Kano Sansetsu’s "The Old Plum" |
| Curator: |
Sarah Ribbans, Conservator of Asian Paintings, The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Venue: | The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA |
Japan Society of Northern California
| Date: | November 18, 2024 |
| Title: | Art History – Art Future: Digital Replicas of Traditional Japanese Art | Watch on YouTube |
| Art: | Soga Shohaku’s "Dragon and Clouds" |
| Curator: |
Dr. Janice Katz, Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Art Institute of Chicago |
| Venue: | University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA |
The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania
| Date: | September 12, 2024 |
| Title: | From Cleveland to Japan: A Replica Returns to the Scene of the Original | Watch on YouTube |
| Art: | Sesson Shukei’s "Dragon and Tiger" |
| Curator: |
Dr. Sinéad Vilbar, Curator of Japanese Art, Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Venue: | Carnegie Museum of Art Theater, Pittsburgh, PA |
Japan-America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario
| Date: | June 11, 2024 |
| Title: | Between Originals, Replicas, and Cultural Preservation: A Brief History | Watch on YouTube |
| Art: | Tawaraya Sosetsu’s "Autumn Grasses" |
| Curator: |
Dr. Frank Feltens, Curator of Japanese Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art |
| Venue: | Minoru Yamasaki designed McGregor Memorial Conference Center at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan |
2023 Art History - Art Future Talks:
The Japan-America Society of Georgia
| Date: | September 7, 2023 |
| Title: | Celebrating Japanese Art - A Curator's Perspective |
| Art: | Kano Sanraku’s “Morning Glories” and “Tigers in a Bamboo Grove” |
| Curator: | Dr. Aaron Rio, Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
| Venue: | High Museum of Art |
Heart of America Japan America Society
| Date: | September 30, 2023 |
| Title: | Shōsō-in Imperial Treasures and their Replicas |
| Art: | Hasegawa Tōhaku’s “Pine Forest” and “Landscapes" |
| Curator: | Dr. Yukio Lippit, Jeffrey T. Chambers and Andrea Okamura Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University |
| Venue: | Spencer Museum of Art |
Japan America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario
| Date: | November 19, 2023 |
| Title: | Sotatsu's 'Waves at Matsushima' and Charles Lang Freer | Watch on YouTube |
| Art: | Tawaraya Sotatsu’s “Waves at Matsushima” |
| Curator: | Dr. Frank Feltens, Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art |
| Venue: | Detroit Institute of Arts and The Charles Lang Freer House |
Japan-America Society of Houston
| Date: | December 8, 2023 |
| Title: | Curators' Perspectives: Preserving the Heritage of Hokusai from Meiji Japan and Beyond |
| Art: | Katsushika Hokusai’s “Country Scenes and Mount Fuji” |
| Curator: | Dr. Sarah Thompson, Curator of Japanese Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston |
| Venue: | The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
NAJAS and our members are deeply grateful to the United States-Japan Foundation.