The Art of Zen: From Mind to Form
Kyoto National Museum
This event has ended.
Zen is one of the words most commonly associated with Japan, but in reality it is a tradition that originated in India with the First Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma, thought to have lived in the late 400s and early 500s. Two branches of Zen in Japan, Rinzai and Obaku, trace their lineages back to the Chinese Chan priest Linji Yixuan). The year 2016 marks the 1150th anniversary of Linji’s death; it is also a year of grand rituals honoring the 250th memorial of the death of Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1769), the Japanese Rinzai Zen priest who revived the sect in the mid-Edo period. This exhibition The Art of Zen: From Mind to Form, commemorates these two milestones.
Zen places special emphasis on the transmission of Buddhist wisdom through experience and intuition, on understanding gained outside of words and text—transmission from heart to heart, teacher to disciple. One of the most cogent lines in the fundamental Buddhist scripture the Heart Sutra is the phrase “form is nothing but emptiness, emptiness is nothing but form.” What kind of artistic forms could possibly express the emptiness grasped by an enlightened mind? This exhibition examines the profound meanings of artworks produced in association with this sect over the centuries. It touches upon Chan’s rise in China, investigates how it was transmitted to Japan, and attempts to give a comprehensive understanding of Zen’s development and influence within this country.
This exhibition will feature a selection unprecedented in quantity and quality of portraits, calligraphy, sculpture, paintings, and decorative or ritual objects, including many of the greatest masterpieces associated with Zen - a never before assemblage of Japan’s rarest and most significant Zen-related artworks. Divided into five sections, “The Establishment of Chan Buddhism,” “The Development of Rinzai Zen,” “Sengoku Warlords and Early Modern Zen Priests,” “Zen and Buddhist Deities,” and “The Spread of Zen Culture,” they provide an extraordinary opportunity to experience in person the visual forms representing the spirit of Zen.
[Related Events]
Special Anniversary Lecture
Date: Apr.16 (Sat) 13:30-15:00
Participants: 180 (Numbered tickets will be distributed on the day)
Admission: Free (Exhibition ticket required)
Lecture
Date: Apr.24 (Sat) 13:30-15:00
Participants: 180 (Numbered tickets will be distributed on the day)
Admission: Free (Exhibition ticket required)
Please refer to the official site for further details.
Media
Schedule
from 4月 12, 2016 at 9:30 to 5月 22, 2016 at 18:00
Artist(s)
Sesshu, Eitoku Kano, Sanraku Kano, Ekaku Hakuin, Josetsu et al.
