Willa Tanabe,
Professor Emerita, Dept of Art and Art History,
University of Hawai'i; George Tanabe,
Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Religion,
University of Hawai'i
Two noted scholars will examine significant pieces of Japanese Buddhist art featured in the exhibition through the lens of both religious studies and art history. Engaging each other in discussion about diverse worksincluding painted and sculptural images of the bodhisattva Jizo, a humorous Zen monk in a tree, and an exquisite Nyoirin KannonGeorge and Willa Tanabe plan a complementary, occasionally contentious, disquisition on the backgrounds, styles, and meanings of Japanese religious art.
George Tanabe is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religion at the University of Hawaii. He has written widely on Japanese religion, including co-authoring, with Ian Reader, Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan. He also edits several important series on Japanese tradition and Buddhism.
Willa Tanabe, former Dean of the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, is Professor Emerita in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaii. She has published extensively on images connected to the Lotus Sutra and has also curated exhibitions of woodblock prints, Japanese embroidery, and the sacred art of Mt. Kōya. The Tanabes are currently working on a guidebook to all of the Japanese Buddhist temples in Hawaii.
Free UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff; BAM/PFA members; Children (12 & under), $10 Adults (18-64), $7 Non-UC Berkeley students, senior citizens (65 & over), disabled persons, young adults (13-17)
Conversation included with museum admission. Purchase tickets at the museum's front desk same-day.