MAY 2024 ART/MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS IN NARA
Celadon, Genji, and More Shingon Esoterica
The Age of the Tale of Genji – The Prosperity of the Early Heian Court at Kasugataisha Museum will be compelling, given the ever-popular subject of that magnificent work of literature, Genji Monogatari, and the fascination with its cultural backdrop – the highly refined and exclusive world of the inner court and its intrigues. In Search of Beauty: China, Korea, and Japan, 2024 at Neiraku Museum of Art offers a careful selection from the family collection of ancient Chinese mirrors and bronze ritual vessels, celadon porcelain and other ceramics from Korea and China, and some fascinating old official seals. It would be nice to view, along with this, Art from South and North China – Ceramics, Lacquerware, Paintings (at Yamato Bunkakan) to find some similar pieces and to put the ceramics and lacquerware in broader and more detailed context.
Contemporary art is rather thin on the ground in the museums of Nara, so Ahn Jun: On Gravity: Directions and Coordinates (photography) at the Irie Taikichi is a welcome offering. Todaiji Museum’s special exhibitions are quite small and are often good accompaniments and additions to bigger shows – this time Kobo Daishi and Todaiji’s Shingon-in Cloister might be a partner to the Kukai show at Nara National Museum and is a chance to examine some rare materials (perhaps of most interest to the specialist) such as medieval copies of texts including sutras, as well as genealogical charts and maps related to Kukai’s affiliation with Todaiji temple. In the same area of interest (Kukai’s Buddhist communities) Nara University Museum is showing Cultural Assets of the Mountain Village as seen by Koboku Ota – Masks of Hosokawa Yasaka Shrine at the foot of Koyasan which situates the powerful Koyasan institution, where Kukai founded his own monastery, within its locale and the beliefs that prevailed there and sometimes merged with esoteric Buddhist ones.
Ahn Jun. On Gravity: Directions and Coordinates. At Irie Taikichi Memorial Nara City Museum of Photography
Mini Exhibition Takamatsu-zuka Tumulus Mural 50th Anniversary of its Designation as a National Treasure April 19th – May 19th
Irie Taikichi Memorial Nara City Museum of Photography 入江泰吉記念奈良市写真美術館
Ahn Jun: On Gravity: Directions and Coordinates April 6th – June 30th
Taikichi Irie: Scenery with Pagodas in the Nara-Yamatoji with a Tower April 6th – June 30th
Ominesanji Temple Main Hall 大峯山寺本堂
Unveiling of the Zao Gongen Statue, the principal image of the secret Buddhas of Ominesanji Temple. May 3rd – September 22nd
Kashihara Shrine Treasure Museum 橿原神宮宝物館
Special Exhibition: Kashihara Shrine Votive Swords November 3rd – May 12th
Kasugataisha Museum 春日大社国宝殿
Special Exhibition: The Age of the Tale of Genji – The Prosperity of the Early Heian Court April 6th – June 9th & [latter part] June 11th – August 4th
Kawaguchi Seiren and Sakamoto Tairen Two-person Exhibition March 8th – June 2nd
Kinpusenji Temple Zaodo 金峯山寺蔵王堂
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Yoshino Omine World Heritage registration: Promoting major repairs to the National Treasure Niomon Gate & Special unveiling of Japan’s largest treasured Buddha statue March 23rd to May 6th
Juhokan (Treasure Hall) Special Opening April 20th to May 10th
Special Exhibition: Diligence: Drawings, Sketches, and Main Paintings March 22nd – May 6th
Special Exhibition: Genealogy of Three Generations of the Order of Culture: Uemura Shoen, Shoko, and Junyuki Exhibition May 18th to July 15th
Tenri University Sankokan Museum 天理大学付属天理参考館
Special Exhibition: Andes World Reflected in Potteries Part II: Southern Peru April 17th – June 3rd
Todaiji Museum 東大寺ミュージアム
Special Exhibition: Kobo Daishi and Todaiji’s Shingon-in Cloister March 19th – May 15th
Spring Exhibition: Masterpieces of Modern Japanese Painting – From Meiji to Showa March 12th to April 14th [first half] & April 23rd to May 26th [second half]
Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Research Institute Museum 奈良県立橿原考古学研究所附属博物館
Special Exhibition: The World of Haniwa Houses April 20th – June 16th
Nara Prefectural Museum of Art 奈良県立美術館
Special Exhibition: Seiyo Ogawa and Asukaen: A 100 Year Journey April 20th – June 23rd
Nara Prefecture Complex of Manyo Culture 奈良県立万葉文化館
Special Exhibition: Jump Out! Yoshifumi Hasegawa March 16th – May 6th
1250th Anniversary Special Exhibition: Kukai – The Worlds of Mandalas and the Transcultural Origins of Esoteric Buddhism April 13th – June 9th
Nara University Museum 奈良大学博物館
Special exhibition Cultural Assets of the Mountain Village as seen by Koboku Ota – Masks of Hosokawa Yasaka Shrine at the foot of Koyasan – May 27th – July 27th See info here.
Nara Prefecture Historical and Artistic Culture Complex なら歴史芸術文化村
Special Exhibition: Commemorating the Completion of Repairs: The Nio-san Statue of Taimadera Temple April 6th – May 12th
Special exhibition: In Search of Beauty: China, Korea, and Japan, 2024 April 6th – December 24th
Yanagisawa Bunko 柳沢文庫
Special Exhibition: Koriyama, Yamato Province through Yanagisawa Bunko Historical Materials January 27th to May 12th
Special exhibition 100 years after his death Tomioka Tessai – Footsteps of a giant of knowledge April 12th – May 19th
Art from South and North China – Ceramics, Lacquerware, Paintings May 31st – June 30th
Yoshino Historical Museum吉野歴史資料館
Special Exhibition Hikari Tomishi: Yoshino as seen in Heian literature and Fujiwara no Michinaga March 16th – December 1st
Panel Exhibition: Unchanged Through Generations – Commemorating the 1300th anniversary of Emperor Shomu’s visit to Yoshino March 16th – December 1st
ART & RITUAL JAPAN 