13 February 2014
Carl Randall talked about his latest solo exhibition at Daiwa Foundation Japan House, exploring the themes of overpopulation, community and the individual and the group, as depicted in his Tokyo Portraits. The artist was joined by Andrew Stahl, Head of Undergraduate Painting and Director of Undergraduate Studies at The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.
21 November 2013
This talk will explore the themes surrounding Hideyuki Sobue’s exhibition The Way I See at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House Gallery, where he will discuss his artistic approach to the human cognitive process and latest attempt to push the boundaries of contemporary portraiture. Hideyuki Sobue is a Japanese artist living and working in the Lake District, where this project is based. The exhibition, supported by Arts Council England, embodies a series of portraits of people he has come to know personally.
15 October 2013
For this artist talk, the Director of APT Institute, Justin R. Merino described in detail the work of his organisation. The artist Kanako Sasaki, who is featured in the exhibition Acting Out of Nothingness, introduced her photography and explained the thoughts and processes that inform her work. London-based Japanese photographer Tomoko Yoneda, whose work addresses similar themes, lead a discussion on journalism, history and contemporary photography. The speakers also debated on the topic of Japanese photography today.
25 June 2013
This talk was given by the late Chris Wainwright and Yusaku Imamura, Director, Tokyo Wonder Site. It explored some existing models of cultural co-operation primarily between the UK and Japan and also explored the need to find new models and approaches to some of the pressing issues of our time such as the increasingly urgent need for a creative response to climate change and environmental issues. Within this context, the talk investigated the role of artists and how they can make a positive contribution individually and collectively to our rapidly changing global environment.
2 May 2013
Hiraku Suzuki discussed he recent works and the pieces that he is displaying at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House Gallery. The discussant was Dr Simon Kaner, Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.
7 March 2013
Peter McDonald depicts colourful scenes inhabited by people engaged in everyday activities. Images of teachers, artists, hairdressers or carpet sellers are constructed with an elementary graphic language. By making use of archetypes, symbolism and our incorrigible tendency to make the strange seem more familiar, McDonald’s alternative world reads like a parallel universe.
13 November 2012
This talk will be given by the artist of My Primal Memory, Nao Matsunaga, and Abraham Thomas, Curator of Designs and Lead Curator for Architecture at the V&A Museum.In the exhibition My Primal Memory, Nao Matsunaga responds to his ideas and experiences of dual cultural and national identity and although this is a deeply personal investigation, his work references ancient universal themes concerning the human condition.
27 September 2012
By the artist of ‘The Sea by Night and Day’, Toru Kuwakubo, and Professor Adrian Favell, Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, Paris.
1 May 2012
The talk was by the artist of Trees, Small Fires and Japanese Joints, Professor Edward Allington, Head of Graduate Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art.
20 March 2012
By Professor Monty Adkins, Professor of Experimental Electronic Music at the University of Huddersfield and the artist of ‘Patterns of Shadows’, Pip Dickens.
