News & Events
Information on the beginning of winter semester 2024/25
Dear students, welcome to the Institute of East Asian Art History (IKO)! We look forward to welcoming you again in the winter semester 2024/25. At the semester introduction on October 16, 2024, you were able to get to know the IKO team and find out more about our courses, special lectures, other events and scholarships. To read some more information, you can find the presentation here:
09/12/2024 | Evening Lecture by Jens Bartel
Dr. Jens Bartel (Research Associate, Heidelberg University, Institute of East Asian Art History)
Conversations with Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795): Banshi, a Late-Eighteenth Century Diary
09/12/2024 | 18:15 | CATS R.010.01.05 | [Poster]
Situated somewhat between the various texts collectively known as garon, “treatises about painting,” and a zuihitsu-style personal diary, Banshi (Journal of Ten-Thousand Things) was written between 1765 and 1773 by Prince Abbot Yūjō on the shores of Lake Biwa. It stands as one of the most important contemporary documents on the painter Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795). This presentation aims to provide an overview of its contents beyond the brief quotations commonly found in art historical texts and to discuss selected entries that shed light on Maruyama Ōkyo’s attitudes, methods and aesthetic outlook, as well as some of the technical aspects of an 18th-century professional studio painting that Banshi records in astonishing detail—from painting techniques and the preparation of pigments and painting grounds such as paper and silk to the construction of folding screens and fusuma sliding doors, as well as the proper storage of materials.
Although only a small number of specific, identifiable paintings by Ōkyo are mentioned in Banshi, a recently rediscovered pair of folding screens—Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup—may correspond to a work described in an entry dated late 1769. The second part of this presentation will discuss this folding screen and outline some characteristics of Ōkyo’s figure painting. Given the large number of forgeries and questionable attributions to Ōkyo, this work serves as a curious case study of the numerous problems of authenticity that often remain unaddressed or unresolved.
11/12/2024 | Workshop: The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection
Karolin Randhahn and Cora Würmell (SKD Dresden)
Porcelain meets History
11/12/2024 | 14:45 | CATS R.010.00.06 | [Poster]
The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection of the Porzellansammlung Dresden has been online since January 2024. This innovative digital platform shows the results of a ten-year international research project on East Asian porcelain of Augustus the Strong (1670–1733). The globally unique collection of around 8,200 surviving objects is now freely accessible, together with inventory books from the 18th century. The project was recently awarded the prestigious Apollo Award for „Digital Innovation of the Year“ and is receiving international attention. The open access platform is also aimed particularly at students: well-founded object entries and introductory texts provide a comprehensive introduction to the history of East Asian porcelain. Users can specifically research the style and iconography of objects in order to gain deeper insights into cultural and historical contexts. We are thrilled that Karolin Randhahn and Cora Würmell will give an introduction to this important research tool and demonstrate its functions using case studies.
[The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection]
Heinz Götze Visiting Professor: Julia Andrews
We are excited to have Prof. Dr. Julia Andrews join us as the 15th Heinz Götze Visiting Professor for the winter semester. Julia Andrews is Distinguished University Professor Emerita and Academy Professor at Ohio State University. Together with Shuyu Kong and Shengtian Zheng, she edited the 2024 published volume ‘Art and Modernism in Socialist China. Unexplored International Encounters, 1949–1979.’ Students can anticipate her classes on ‘Art and Politics in Modern China’ and ‘Curating A Century in Crisis.’ Be sure to mark your calendars for her evening lecture on November 7, 2024, titled ‘Women Artists in Twentieth-Century China: A Prehistory of the Contemporary.’ [Events]
Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professor: Frank Feltens
We are delighted to welcome Frank Feltens, PhD, as the 32nd Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professor this winter semester. Frank Feltens is Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. Feltens has curated a number of exhibitions, including ‘Japan Modern: Prints in the Age of Photography’ (2018), ‘Hokusai: Mad About Painting’ (2019/2020), ‘Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan’ (with Yukio Lippit; 2022) and ‘Imagined Neighbors: Japanese Visions of China, 1680-1980’ (2024). His most recent book ‘Imagined Neighbors: Visions of China in Japanese Art, Circa 1680–1980’ (Hirmer, 2024) was published this summer. Students can look forward to his seminars on ‘Painting as Counterculture in Edo Period Japan’ and ‘The Art of Rinpa’, as well as an excursion to Paris. Mark your calendars on 12 November 2024 for his evening lecture on ‘Ghost on the Stage: Specters and the Noh Theater in Modern Japanese Prints’. [Events]
Is East Asian Art History something for you?
Come to the Study Information Day on November 20, 2024
Are you about to graduate from school and thinking about starting a degree course? The study information day at Heidelberg University gives you the opportunity to find the right field for you among a wide range of programs and to talk to students and lecturers. Do you love art and East Asian culture and are you interested in how it appears in historical and social discourse? Then you have come to the right place. On November 20, 2024, the Institute for East Asian Art History (IKO) is offering an elevator pitch and information stands, as well as a lecture and a tour of the CATS campus. Come along – we look forward to seeing you!
The new LSF: heiCO
All student administration will run via heiCO from the summer term onwards. Students can log in and access their profile with their Uni-ID. Please be aware that all coursework and grades will only be migrated in May 2024. heiCO
To guide you through the new processes, the university has prepared manuals, which can be accessed here:
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/de/heico-downloads