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London

THE BRITISH MUSEUMwww-link

 

Jade has always been the material of the highest value to the Chinese. From very ancient times, this extremely tough translucent stone has been worked into ornaments, ceremonial weapons and ritual objects. Recent exciting archaeological finds in many parts of China have revealed not only the antiquity of the skill of jade carving, but also the extraordinary levels of development it achieved at a very early date. This exhibition illustrates the history of jade use in China from c. 5000 BC to the modern day. Over two hundred superb jades, the majority from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, display the subtle variety of colours and textures of this exotic stone, while demonstrating the many different types of carving, ranging from long, smooth Neolithic blades to later plaques, ornaments, dragons, animal and human sculpture and intricate 18th century pendants.
Jade, beautiful and indestructible, has acquired a mysterious presence through its many different uses over the centuries. Most highly prized by the elite of ancient China, it was worn by kings and nobles in both life and death and linked with their powers supposed and imaginary. As jade was powerful in life, it came to be regarded as powerful in death, protecting the body from decay. In later times these magical properties were perhaps less explicitly recognised, jade being valued more for its use in exquisite ornaments and vessels, and for its links with antiquity. Ancient jade shapes and decorative patterns were often copied in the Ming and Qing periods, thereby bringing the association of the distant past to the Chinese peoples of later times.
(from the website of the museum)
Catalogue: £50

 

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Norwich

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Artswww-link

 

unearthed, a major new exhibition of over 100 ancient figurines from Japan, Albania, Macedonia, Romania and the UK, opens at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, on Tuesday 22 June and runs until Sunday 29 August. The exhibition includes Jōmon figurines (known as dogū) from the important historical collections at the University Museum, the University of Tokyo, and Sannai Maruyama in Aomori Prefecture, which are the focus of a bid to have a series of Jōmon sites in northern Japan inscribed as a World Heritage Site - Fujioka (Gumma Prefecture) and Nagaoka (Niigata Prefecture). Also on display will be 6 ornate Jōmon figurines from the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, which is permanently housed at the Sainsbury Centre.
unearthed has been developed by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures and is supported by The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), The Henry Moore Foundation, the Japan Foundation, the British Academy and the Duke of Omnium Fund. The exhibition complements The Power of Dogu: ceramic figures from ancient Japan at the British Museum in 2009 which was subsequently shown at the Tokyo National Museum.
Small clay figures are one of the earliest ways that human beings represented the human form, and many of the oldest and most remarkable examples were made in the Japanese archipelago during the Jτmon period, between 16,000 and 2500 years ago. They are a critical development in the prehistory of Japan, the history of art, and the formation of modern human identity.
The exhibition brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from the Japan and the Balkans for the first time, displaying them alongside contemporary artworks. This exciting fresh approach will reveal new ideas about some of the most remarkable survivals from prehistory, enable us to think about figurines in new ways and reflect on what makes us human.

The exhibition is accompanied by an exciting programme of academic and public events including artist-led workshops, family events and talks. A study day organised by Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures and the Sainsbury Centre and will be held at Norwich University College of the Arts on Saturday 19 June. (from the press release)
For more information see: flyer

 

 

 

Last modified: 17.06.2010