Japan-Exkursion 2010

The excursion examined Japan from the perspectives of East Asian and European art history. It was led by three professors (Prof. Thomsen, Prof. Gockel, Prof. Kersten) active in both disciplines and by their assistants (Christian Dunkel and Marie Kakinuma) and covered many of the major museums and sites of Japan during sixteen days of intensive travel and study.

One of the key topics of the course (and the preparatory Übung during the HS 2009) was the reception of Western art in Japan, from the 16th century onto the present. The participants examined various aspects of art, religion, and philosophy, and visited living artists as well as museum storages. They looked at specific histories of collections, of both Japanese and Western objects, and visited key architectural monuments, from Buddhist temples of the eighth century to post-modernist buildings designed in the twenty-first century.

During some parts of the excursion, students separated into groups according to subjects of expertise, and at other times they combined for cross-discipline topics. A key goal of the excursion was to cross as many historical periods and fields as possible for a full experience of Japan and its culture.