[S1E38] 🏛️ Exhibiting Japan with Professor Nicole Rousmaniere

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Oliver is joined by Professor Nicole Rousmaniere, Research Director at the Sainsbury Institute and Professor of Japanese Arts at UEA, to discuss ‘Exhibiting Japan’. Nicole has curated multiple exhibits at the British Museum including their permanent Mitsubishi Gallery as well as temporary exhibits such as the Manga Exhibit and Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan exhibit. As we gear up to a summer of Japan-related exhibits at the Sainsbury Centre, this episode explores the challenges of presenting another nation’s culture, both ethical and practical.

See the British Museum’s digital collection here

For more details on Nicole’s Accidental Translator lecture

Japanese time periods mentioned:

Jōmon period: 14,000 – 300 BCE

Kofun period: 300 – 538 AD

Edo period: 1603 – 1867 AD

Meiji period: 1868 – 1912 AD

Glossary (in order of appearance):

Kōgei (工芸): Traditional Japanese crafts.

Netsuke (根付): Miniature sculptures originally used as button fasteners dating back to the Edo period.

Orientalism: A term coined by Edward Said in 1978 which refers to the patronising attitude of the West towards Middle Eastern, Asian and North African communities.

Japonisme: A period of popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century at the start of the Meiji period.

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Image credits

Samurai Armour by ~SMugridge~ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Manga Exhibition at the British Museum. by p_a_h is licensed under CC BY 2.0