Zoom Online Symposium
https://www.an4aa.org/events

For over six-hundred years the samurai class held political and cultural dominance over the Japanese archipelago. Their acts of valour and ruthlessness as warriors became the foundations for new literary traditions and reinvented architectural styles. Their tastes as patrons and practitioners revolutionized the visual arts, both plastic and performing. While the ‘way of the samurai’ would not be codified until the 19th century, the distinctive culture of this social class stands out as a remarkably long-lasting force that would shape Japanese aesthetics, values, and identity.

Today, samurai are a globally recognized and evocative symbol of Japan. Writers, artists and filmmakers continue to imbue the members of this dissolved class with old and new meanings. The figures champion a nostalgia for a lost, imagined past as well as serve as radical heroes whose sense of honour will right wrongs.

Organized by the Australasian Network for Asian Art (an4aa) in conjunction with ongoing Art Gallery of South Australia exhibition Samurai (ends March 28, 2021) and the University of Melbourne, this conference will explore the plural images evoked, cultivated, and inspired by the samurai.

To register to attend, please click here. For more information on the exhibition or online publication, please click here.