[Anthropgrad] FW: Anthropology seminar Wednesday 4 June

[Melinda Hinkson]

Anthropology seminar, Wednesday 4 June, 9.30 am Coombs Seminar Room A

Fuyubi Nakamura, Research School of Humanities, ANU

Is it Art or Not? The Ambiguous Status of Japanese Calligraphy
 
Since calligraphy lost its primacy as a medium of written communication, an
increasing distinction has evolved between calligraphy as a practical skill
and calligraphy as art in the 20th century. The search for the role of, and
place for, calligraphy continues to this day, as demonstrated by the
never-ending questioning by calligraphers themselves of what calligraphy is.
This paper reveals how tradition is maintained while also acknowledging the
impact of avant garde innovation on Japanese calligraphy. In addition, it
considers the agency of individual calligraphers and analyzes their
creativity in pursuing new forms of ?visualized words? in the present. Based
on ethnographic fieldwork on the ?calligraphy worlds? of Japan, known as
shod?kai, this paper provides a unique insight into the shifting status of
calligraphy from the perspective of those who define and practise it.

All welcome.

____________________________________
Melinda Hinkson
School of Archaeology & Anthropology
A.D. Hope Building
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200

T: +61 2 6125 8246
F: +61 2 6125 2711
W: http://arts.anu.edu.au/AandA/

Information about the Master of Visual Culture Research
is available at: http://rsh.anu.edu.au/vcr.php