The Arts Society Kington Langley Special Interest Day 27th February

Coming Soon!

This Special Interest Day will consist of three lectures and run from 10:00 – 3:00pm with refreshments and a light lunch with wine. Cost in the hall will be £40 and on zoom £15. 

Highlights of Japanese Art

The Art of the Japanese Garden

Japanese Art & the West.

This lecture provides an introduction to and an overview of the arts of Japan. It will chart the development of key aspects of the Japanese aesthetic in painting, sculpture and the applied arts through different periods of history. Contact with China and the West, contrasting aristocratic and military tastes and the growth of townsmen’s culture in the Edo period have all contributed to distinctive visual trends and techniques. An exploration of the impact of Zen Buddhism on Japanese culture, particularly in the areas of gardening and the tea ceremony, will convey further insights into the Japanese aesthetic as it has evolved through the ages. Following Japan’s reopening to trade with the West in the mid-19th century, modernisation and westernisation came to inform changes in the content, materials and stylistic vocabulary of the arts of Meiji Japan. 

How to book this event:

Day members are welcome to join us via zoom for £15 or in the hall for £40. Please go to our website https://taskl.org.uk/become-a-day-member/

We look forward to you joining us for an interesting set of lectures and a lovely Japanese themed lunch.

Kinkakuji, Temple of the Golden Pavilion, 1398’. Picture Credit:   Marie Conte-Helm

Professor Marie Conte-Helm

Professor Marie Conte-Helm is a long-established Arts Society Lecturer with a BA in History of Art and an MA in Asian Art and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was Director General of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation from 1999-2011 and has held senior academic posts at various UK universities. She has most recently served as Executive Director of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, and as a member of the Board of Governors of the University for the Creative Arts. She is widely published and has lectured throughout the UK and abroad. She is also an experienced cruise speaker and a Resident Historian with Viking Ocean Cruises, lecturing on many aspects of Asian Art and East-West Encounters. She was awarded an OBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to UK-Japan educational and cultural relations and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Government of Japan in 2019.