This study day will start by charting 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 will convey further insights into the Japanese aesthetic as it has evolved through the ages.
Japan's most famous gardens provide a context for understanding the principles of Japanese garden design as it has evolved through the ages. The Japanese love of nature and the changing seasons has manifested itself in the subject matter of paintings and in the intimate and grand-scale gardens surrounding aristocratic palaces and Buddhist temples as well as Zen-inspired dry landscape gardens.
The final lecture introduces us to the kimono, a traditional garment worn by both men and women in Japan. Rich in symbolism and encapsulating the best in textile and techniques through the ages, the kimono has a fascinating history that reflects wider aspects of Japanese life and culture.
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.