CIEE Kyoto Seminar Series - Friday, June 26, Daniel Borengasser

[Conor Aherne]

Dear colleagues,

I’m delighted to announce the second talk in our CIEE Kyoto Seminar Series this summer, on Friday, June 26 by Daniel Borengasser (International Research Center for Japanese Studies): 

Same Difference: The Thousand Kannon and the Sculptural History of Sanjūsangendō

Abstract:

The thirteenth-century Buddhist temple Sanjūsangendō, in Kyoto, enshrines one of the world’s most remarkable ensembles of religious statuary. Consisting largely of one thousand life-sized, multi-armed statues of the bodhisattva Senju Kannon, these images were all hand-carved from blocks of Japanese cypress by teams of sculptors who represented the dominant sculptural lineages of early medieval Japan. Following the destruction of the original building in 1249, the temple was immediately reconstructed and today houses a combination of statues from both the twelfth- and thirteenth-century projects. This lecture addresses the complex material history of these statues to ask how wooden sculpture in Japan came to be produced on such an unprecedented scale. Considering such issues as changes in the ecology of Buddhist statuary, the rise of professional sculpture workshops, and shifting ontologies of Buddhist icons in the Heian period, it argues that sculptural practice during this time came to be increasingly aligned with architectural practice. This proposed reading of Buddhist sculpture as a form of architecture offers new insights not only into the programming of Sanjūsangendō but into Buddhist image-making more broadly.

Please note this talk begins at 18:00 and will be run in hybrid format from CIEE Kyoto (6th Floor, Gion Classroom) with Zoom access available.

Format & Venue

• Time: 18:00–19:30 (JST), unless stated differently
• Location: CIEE Kyoto, 6th Floor, Gion Classroom and Zoom (hybrid)

Registration

Please register in advance for either in-person or online participation:

In-person (CIEE Kyoto): [On-Site Registration] CIEE Kyoto Seminar Series - Daniel Borengasser – Fill in form

Zoom (online): https://ciee.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4hKvqjinQ7C4LVhozkJMow

Best wishes,

Conor

CIEE Kyoto, Center Director