The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art presents “Ay-Ō’s Happy Rainbow Hell,” the first museum exhibition in the United States dedicated to pioneering Japanese artist Ay-Ō, a member of Fluxus and celebrated figure of the Pop Art movement whose ideas of exploration, sensory immersion and humor have had a lasting impact on global contemporary art.
The University of Melbourne
Jonathan Glade is a Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Melbourne. His research interests include modern Japanese and Korean literature, the post-Second World War occupation of Japan and southern Korea, and the globalisation of Japanese food.
The last samurai, Saigo Takamori (1828-1877), a tale of adulation and fabrication
by Jennifer Harris
University of Adelaide
Dr Jennifer Harris’s doctorate in art history examined the formation of the Japanese art collection at the Art Gallery of South Australia within national and international contexts. She was formerly a teacher of Japanese language, and lecturer/ tutor in Japanese art history at the University of Adelaide, where she is a visiting research fellow. Her MA thesis examined the nineteenth-century calligrapher Ichikawa Beian. She is the author and curator of Netsuke and other miniatures from the Japanese Collection (2014) and The power of pattern: the Ayako Mitsui Collection (2015
$2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. supports nexus of Asian arts and religions
Largest foundation grant ever received by the Smithsonian s National Museum of Asian Art will deepen public understanding of Asian religions.
WASHINGTON, DC
.- The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian s National Museum of Asian Art, received a grant of $2.5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The grant will support The Arts of Devotion, a portfolio of projects consisting of an online educational resource, community engagement efforts and four exhibitions that will highlight the intersection of Asian arts and religious diversity and change. The museum will use its renowned collections of Buddhist, Islamic and Hindu art to enhance understanding of these Asian religions and to foster empathy and respect among the public.
Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., appointed as Asian Art Curator of Portland Art Museum
Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D. Photo: Courtesy of Portland Art Museum.
PORTLAND, ORE
.-The Portland Art Museum announced that Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., has been appointed as the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art.
Dr. Kenmotsu, who joined the Museums curatorial staff in 2017 as Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art and was promoted to Associate Curator in 2019, has also been serving as Interim Head of Asian Art since the retirement of Dr. Maribeth Graybill in October 2019.
I am thrilled about Dr. Kenmotsus appointment to this position, said Director and Chief Curator Brian Ferriso. Having already worked with Jeannie for a number of years, I am incredibly impressed with her exceptional art historical knowledge that she combines with her passion for the art of today. It is a wonderful and rare combination that will serve our Museum and community in many meaningful and ex