18 June – 3 October 2021
As museums across Japan commemorate the 1,400th anniversary of the death of Prince Shōtoku Taishi, the Sainsbury Centre presents its fascinating collection of rare Buddhist and Shinto artefacts to celebrate the UK-Japan season of culture and invites you to step in to this time of monumental change in East Asia, centred around the exceptional Kamakura period (1185-1333) statue, the Female Shinto Deity. We will also replicate the Illustrated Biography of Shōtoku Taishi through a high-resolution video annotation courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum. The display can be found in the East End bay gallery of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
The display joins a series of events in Norwich which seek to deepen the curiosity in Japan generated in the UK by the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Our online display aims to contextualise the range of Japanese artefacts on display in the Sainsbury Centre through the life of Shōtoku Taishi.
Image credits
[L] Jizo Bosatsu Buddha (Kamakura Period) [Sainsbury Centre Collection, UEA 1255]
[C] Female Shinto Deity (Kamakura Period) [Sainsbury Centre Collection, UEA 1146]
[R] Wooden statue of Shōtoku Taishi [British Museum 35963001, reg. no. 1944,1019.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum]