WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Tuesday, April 2 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute's Research and Academic Program presents a lecture by Cynthea J. Bogel (Kyushu University / Clark Fellow). 

 

Bogel explores motifs on the pedestal of a key eighth-century sculpture: a colossal gilt-bronze Buddha (Nara period, 710–784) and the main icon of the temple Yakushiji. The talk takes place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

 

According to a press release:

 

Scholars interpret the pedestal motifs as a pastiche of Sinitic symbols inconsistent with Buddhist representation. Bogel understands the pedestals of important seventh and early-eighth century icons as presenting motif programs, which she names "cosmoscapes" and demonstrates that the pedestals in tandem with the icons represent complex belief systems and cosmologies experienced as concomitant with Buddhist praxis. The Yakushiji pedestal, like the contemporaneous 720 Nihon shoki (a "national history"), reifies and perpetuates the imaginaire of a Sino-style imperial realm using symbols of a Sinic imperium juxtaposed with its antithetic barbarian subjects. Through fresh interpretations, Bogel situates these icons as unedited and overlooked evidence for beliefs and ideologies during a decisive period of Japanese history.

 

Cynthea J. Bogel was professor of Japanese art and Buddhist visual culture in East Asia at Kyushu University (Japan) from 2012–2023 and associate professor at the University of Washington from 1999–2012. She was director of the International Research Center for the Humanities at Kyushu University and founded the peer-reviewed Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University, serving as its chief editor until 2023. At the Clark, she will continue writing a book on cosmologies and Buddhist icons in ancient Japan.

 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A reception at 5 pm in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.