Every year in late July, just after the rainy season ends, the Kurashiki Community Center hosts the “Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture.”
This year (2024), the speaker is Miura Atsushi, director of the Ohara Museum of Art.
The lecture explored the Ohara Museum of Art’s special exhibition currently on view, “Can Different Cultures Resonate? Opening the Door to Modernity through the Ohara Collection,” in a deep dive that was a little niche and sure to pique intellectual curiosity.
Here is a report on the approximately hour-and-a-half lecture.
The information presented here is current as of the article’s publication in September 2024. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the 68th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture
The 68th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture was held at the Kurashiki Community Center’s Main Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on July 26, 2024.
The speaker was Miura Atsushi, director of the Ohara Museum of Art, and his lecture was titled “Art History and Intercultural Exchange: From ‘Art in Transit’ to the Ohara Special Exhibition.”
A lecture infused with the ideals of father and son Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro
The roots of the Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture go back to the Meiji era, when Ohara Magosaburo invited leading figures from various fields to speak at the Kurashiki Sunday Lectures, a series of talks open to the general public.
The lecture series was later carried on by his eldest son, Ohara Soichiro, and apparently took on something closer to its present-day form at that time.
The speakers over the years have been an impressive lineup. For example, in 2023, Noyori Ryoji, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001, took the stage.
Despite its long history, the lecture is free to attend, with no reservation required, which makes it surprisingly easy to join. Starting at 6:30 p.m. makes it convenient to attend after work or school, and the audience included people of all ages and genders.
Miura Atsushi is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and some of the high school students who attended said they were excited to “hear a talk by a University of Tokyo professor.”
About Miura Atsushi, Director of the Ohara Museum of Art
Before joining the Ohara Museum of Art, this lecture’s speaker, Miura Atsushi, spent many years researching art history at the University of Tokyo.
His specialties are modern Western art history and the history of Japanese-French art exchange, and he conducted research such as the following:
- “Japonisme,” the trend in which Western artists, including Van Gogh, embraced Japanese influences such as ukiyo-e prints
- Conversely, research into modern Japanese painting from the French perspective (how techniques from Western painting, such as Impressionism, were incorporated into modern Japanese painting)
For the Ohara Museum of Art special exhibition “Can Different Cultures Resonate? Opening the Door to Modernity through the Ohara Collection,” which opened in April 2024, he also planned the exhibition layout himself as curator.
Research on the history of Japanese-French art exchange: Japan through French eyes
Have you ever heard the word “Japonisme”?
It refers to Western paintings influenced by Japanese culture, including ukiyo-e prints.
Monet, famous for his Water Lilies series, also created works influenced by ukiyo-e, such as The Water-Lily Pond and the Japanese Bridge, featuring a Japanese drum bridge as its subject.
The lecture explained the topic clearly, with examples.
He also introduced stories of Japanese painters Yamamoto Hosui and Kuroda Seiki, who studied abroad in France around the same time to learn Western painting firsthand and, influenced by French art, went on to establish modern Japanese Western-style painting.
The Ohara special exhibition: Can different cultures resonate?
The second half of the lecture focused on the Ohara Museum of Art’s special exhibition currently on view, with explanations illustrated by the artworks.
Kojima Torajiro’s A Belgian Girl in a Kimono is famous for being displayed at the entrance to the main building of the Ohara Museum of Art, but in the special exhibition, it is displayed alongside other works for comparison.
The Belgian girl in a furisode, with a Japanese doll in the background, is a work born from the resonance of different cultures.
The special exhibition runs through September 23, 2024.
If you’re interested, be sure to visit the Ohara Museum of Art and see it in a new light.
From the Writer
This was my first time learning about the Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture, and I was deeply impressed that, in a regional city like Kurashiki, the lecture series has continued for decades and remains open to the general public.
The Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurinkai, which organizes the lectures, is said to work to give back to society the legacy the Ohara family left in Kurashiki, including Ohara House Katalyzer.
In an era before terms such as CSR (corporate social responsibility) and corporate patronage of the arts existed, the Ohara family’s foresight in using the wealth generated by their business to give back to society and foster grassroots growth in local culture was exceptional for its time.
I can’t help but think that if the Ohara family had not existed, today’s Kurashiki, including the Bikan Historical Area, might not exist either.
Thank you so much for holding a lecture that truly piqued our intellectual curiosity.
68th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture, “Art History and Intercultural Exchange: From ‘Art in Transit’ to the Ohara Special Exhibition” Information
| Name | 68th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture, “Art History and Intercultural Exchange: From ‘Art in Transit’ to the Ohara Special Exhibition” |
|---|---|
| Date | Friday, July 26, 2024, 6:30–8:00 p.m. |
| Location | Kurashiki Community Center, Main Hall |
| Admission (tax included) | Free |
| Website | Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurinkai |
What would you like to know about Kurashiki?
Enter a search term to find articles on this site
