Following are some highlights from past programs with links to relevant resources.

Korean Buddhist Art

December 27, 2007 – January 13, 2008,

Inspired by our hugely successful 2003 series on traditional Korean Buddhist arts (see below), the museum presented Korean sacred artists: Seol Min-seunim (the nun and master painter formerly called Jae-U-seunim), Myung Chun-seunim (also a renowned monk-artist), and Sung Ryun-seunim (a monk-artist). This program culminated in a sacred eye-opening ceremony of two hanging scrolls the artists donated to the museum.

To see images of the program, please click here.

To see images of the eye opening ceremony, please click here.

This program generously sponsored by the Koret Foundation.

The Japanese Art of Miniature Contemplative Stones (Suiseki)

November 9–25, 2007

The California Suiseki Society with invited Japanese artists presented an informal display of their suiseki (the Japanese art of collecting and displaying miniature landscape stones).

The Sound of Ecstasy and Nectar of Enlightenment

Buddhist Ritual Song and Dance from Korea

Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Young San Preservation Group performed Young San, a Buddhist ritual that included offerings of flowers, fragrances, music, and sacred dance in honor of the Buddha. In the distant past, the ceremony was performed across Korea to celebrate good fortune and mitigate disaster. The sounds and dances of the Young San ceremony are unique to Korea and were nominated by the Korean government in 1973 for preservation as an Intangible Cultural Asset. The group’s leader is Dong Hee, the first woman to be associated with the ceremony and a pupil of Song-am Park, the scholar who helped preserve it.

Learn more about this program in the program notes: PROGRAM NOTES (Adobe Acrobat PDF file)

To see images from the event, click here.

This program is part of a national tour organized by The Korea Society. The Korea Society is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea.

Support also provided by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco and the Korean Art and Culture Committee of the Asian Art Museum.

Lectures in conjunction with History of History and Stylized Sculpture exhibitions

A Historical Continuum: A Conversation on Japanese Art & Fashion with Hiroshi Sugimoto, Akiko Fukai, & Melissa Rinne
Thursday, October 11, 2007

Asian Art Museum Assistant Curator of Japanese Art Melissa Rinne led a discussion with artist Hiroshi Sugimoto and Akiko Fukai, Chief Curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute.

PODCAST

A podcast of this conversation is available, please click here to listen.

Talk by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sugimoto discussed his current projects and some of the the ideas and processes that went into organizing the two special exhibitions History of History and Stylized Sculpture.

Bunraku (Japanese puppetry) featuring Japan’s National Bunraku Theater (Bunraku Kyokai)

Friday, October 12, 2007

With a 300-year history, Japanese puppet theater known as Bunraku, incorporates live music and narration in the telling of classic and contemporary tales using detailed puppets measuring about half the size of a human being. In this educational program, the audience, which included 100 school children, experienced an exciting and informative demonstration of the art of the narrator (tayu), the shamisen musicians, and the puppeteers. The program was introduced and interpreted by Peter Grilli of the Japan Society of Boston.

To see images from the event at the Asian Art Museum, click here.

To learn more about the program presented at Cal Performances, click here.

This program was co-sponsored with the San Francisco – Osaka Sister City Association in celebration of their 50th anniversary and the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco.

Manga in the Making
July through September 2007

In conjunction with the exhibition Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga, a selection of six Bay Area manga artists--Hellen Jo, Anthony Wu, Jason Shiga, Derek Yu, Gene Yang, and Lark Pien--demonstrated their unique approaches to creating comics.

Indian Picture Storytelling
April 2007

Storytellers Mohan Bhopa and his wife Patashi, who were featured in William Dalrymple's essay titled "Homer in India" in the New Yorker (11/20/06), performed traditional storytelling art of Rajasthan, northwestern India at the museum in conjunction with Princes, Palaces and Passion: The Art of India's Mewar Kingdom. A bhopa (storyteller, priest, dancer, and musician) and his wife, a bhopi, travel from village to village to perform epic stories that not only entertain but are also thought by some to have curative powers for people as well as for their valued livestock. Artist Kalyan Joshi—who specializes in painting "storycloths" (phad)—also demonstrated his work.

Click here to see photos from this program.

South Asian Miniature Painting
March 2007

Anita Chowdry demonstrated traditional miniature painting of South Asia, and discussed historical techniques and materials that were used by artisans in the royal ateliers of the Mughal and regional Indian schools of painting. Chowdry is a painter and illustrator who has devoted a lifetime to researching and teaching this art form and its history. For details about her May 2007 painting workshop at the British Museum click here.

Offered in conjunction with the special exhibition, Princes, Palaces, and Passion: The Art of India's Mewar Kingdom.

Bamboo Art of Japan
February 2007

Japanese basket artist Kibe Seiho—visiting from Kyushu Island's Oita Prefecture—demonstrated bamboo weaving techniques typical of Kyushu bamboo artists, including the so called “plover plaiting” or chidori-ami. Kibe actively exhibits in the Japan Craft Arts Association, and has won numerous awards for his work. Kibe also led a 2-day workshop in which participants completed their own bamboo flower container.

Offered in conjunction with the special exhibition Masters of Bamboo: Japanese Baskets and Sculpture from the Cotsen Collection. This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation. Support for ongoing programs on Japanese bamboo arts is provided by the Lloyd E. Cotsen Endowment.

Spiral of Blessings: A Board Game Exploring Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art

By surrounding themselves with auspicious symbols, many Chinese believe that their wishes will come true. Test your knowledge of some of these symbols in this board game based on a traditional Chinese New Year game. Download the game board for play at home. Use unique rocks or buttons for your game pieces.

Spiral of Blessings Game Board (PDF file)
Spiral of Blessing Rules of Play (PDF file)

Spiral of Blessings Knowledge Cards (PDF file)

Chinese Jade Carving with Yun Sang Leung

November 2006

In conjunction with the exhibition Hidden Meanings: Symbolism in Chinese Art, Yun Sang Leung demonstrated the painstaking art of working raw jade into sculpture.

Persian American Art with Ala Ebtekar

July 2006

Contemporary Persian American artist Ala Ebtekar blends old world Persian and urban hip hop aesthetics in his installation art. Ebtekar is featured in the exhibition organized by the Asia Society entitled One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, on view at the Berkeley Art Museum through December 23, 2007.

Japanese Bamboo Arts with Motoshi Abe
June 2006

Renowned Japanese basket artist Motoshi Abe demonstrated his bamboo weaving techniques.

This program was generously supported by the Lloyd E. Cotsen Endowment for the study of Japanese bamboo arts.

Noh Mask Carving with Bidou Yamaguchi

June 2006

Master artist Bidou Yamaguchi from Japan demonstrated the carving techniques used in making his superbly crafted masks for Noh theater, a poetic and stylized Japanese dance-drama. Yamaguchi showed his contemporary Noh-style masks drawn from iconic images from the entire history of art at a Santa Fe gallery in June 2007.

Lao Textile Arts with Prince Nithakhong Somsanith

April 2006

Prince Nithakhong Somsanith demonstrated four forms of art stenciling for architectural decoration and embroidery, gold thread embroidery, making banana leaf and flower offerings, and decorating lacquer. For more information about Lao arts and culture, click here.

Japanese Painting with Shozo Sato

Thursday–Sunday, February 2–26, 2006

Shozo Sato demonstrated Japanese painting and introduced traditional formats and materials as seen in the exhibition Traditions Unbound: Groundbreaking Painters from Eighteenth-Century Kyoto.

Sashiko Embroidery with Lucy Arai

Wednesday–Friday, December 28–30, 2005

Thursday–Sunday, January 5-29, 2006

Lucy Arai demonstrated her creative combination of ink painting (sumi-e) on handmade papers with running-stitch embroidery (sashiko).

Check out the SPARK feature on Lucy online at www.kqed.org.

Traditions Unbound: A Symposium on 18th Century Kyoto Painters

Sunday, January 8, 2006

Japanese art scholars discussed the artists featured in the exhibition with a focus on how the unique environment in Kyoto during this time fostered individualistic creativity. For a copy of the program inclunding abstracts distributed at the event click here.

We are grateful to the Japanese Art Dealers Association and the Society for Asian Art for their support of this program.

Click here to view the program (pdf).

Japanese Tea Ceramics

Featuring Artist Richard Milgrim

December 1–11, 2005

Richard Milgrim demonstrated working on a wheel and trimming works to create tea bowls, caddies, water jars, and flower containers. To learn more about this artist and the Japanese tea ceremony, click here.

The Monkey Character in Javanese Dance and Art

A Gallery Talk and Performance by Achmad Farmis

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Achmad Farmis enacted aspects of the monkey characters in the Shadows, Masks, and Music exhibition and performed two solo dances in North Court. Click here for more information about Indonesian dance and culture.

Traditional Japanese Woodblock Printing
Lecture/Demonstration
Sunday, September 25, 2005

Click here for more information about Japanese woodblock prints. The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints demonstrated the printing of a replica of Hokusai's masterpiece, “"The Great Wave off Kanagawa," using the same techniques employed for more than 700 years in Japan.

Co-sponsored by the Consul General of Japan and the Japan Foundation.

Chinese Muslim Calligraphy
September 9–18, 2005

Master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang demonstrated Arabic calligraphy from China. Haji Noor Deen's demonstrations often interweave Islamic characters and writing style with Chinese style brushwork.

Filipino Textile Weaving

September 9–18, 2005

Traditional Filipino weaving demonstrations by master artists Ganay Delikan and Nelia C. Rogano visiting from the Philippines.

Cosponsored by the Philippine Consulate General, Philippine Department of Tourism, Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine Airlines, and Pacific Ethnographic Research Society.

Korean Buddhist Painting
December 2003

Three Korean monks--Jae-u Seunim (now known as Seol-Min Seunim), Myung Chun Seunim, and Sung Bum Seunim--demonstrated Korean Buddhist painting, sutra printing from wood blocks and the making of rubbings from ceramic tiles. Jae-u Seunim completed a new painting of the Guardian King of the West, which she then donated to the Asian Art Museum. For details about this painting, please visit the museum's online collection database. To see photographs of this program, please click here.

Two of these same monks returned to the museum for another residency from December 27, 2007 through January 20, 2008. For details about this program, please see above .

This program was supported by the Korea Foundation, the Koret Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Generously sponsored by Samsung and United Airlines.

Major support for AsiaAlive has been provided by The Wallace Foundation, Wells Fargo, and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund. Artist travel provided by by United Airlines, the Official Airline of the Asian Art Museum.

Lead funding for the Asian Art Museum's education programs and activities is provided by the Bank of America Foundation.

Major support for education programs and activities is provided by the Freeman Foundation and the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation.

Additional support provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Louise Rosenberg & Claude Rosenberg Jr. Family Foundation, HSBC Foundation, Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Mary Tanenbaum Fund, the United States-Japan Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, the Joseph R. McMicking Foundation, the Robert and Helen Odell Fund, Dodge & Cox, the Stanley S. Langendorf Foundation, and the Joel E. Ferris Foundation.