Cover: Jingdezhen Enters World Heritage List. Profile: the artis Aki Sasamoto. The Forbidden City and the World, In Hong Kong. Buddhist paintings of Nara. Seeing Red, Chinese lacquerware, in Zurich. Two Islands One Threat, textiles from Bali and Lombok, in Australia. Byzantium and Islam. The ancient Buddhist pilgrimage site of Sarnath, India, joins World Heritage List. Treasure from Thailand, on show in Seoul. The history of chaekgeori, Korean trompe l’oeil screens, in Paris. Exhibitions: Chinese imperial textiles in Shanghai; Afghan textiles in London; and Japanese prints, in Chicago. NYC exhibitions: China Institute at 60; Rockefeller bequests, at Asia Society; and Gen’ichiro Inokuma’s paintings, at Japan Society. Gallery shows in New York. Auction previews in Hong Kong, London, and New York. Islamic Arts Diary.
Buddhist paintings from Nara, known in Japanese as Nanto butsuga, represent a foundational tradition of sacred Japanese art. Rooted in the cosmopolitan Tenpyo style of the Nara period (710-794), these works feature rich iconography, detailed mandalas, and classical Buddhist imagery… Continue reading
In Australia, the remarkable story of the artistic exchange that occurred between two very different Indonesian societies, Hindu Bali and Muslim Lombok, is being told at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The exhibition highlights the diversity of art, including… Continue reading
Built and used as the official imperial residence for China’s emperors during both the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Imperial Palace, or the Forbidden City, was strictly off-limits to all but the emperor, his family, and thousands of… Continue reading
During the World Heritage Committee Session over the summer, meeting in Busan, South Korea, the ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath was one of the group of 25 new sites inscribed on the list. The complex contains the architectural and archaeological… Continue reading