Speaker: Kirsten Cather, associate professor, department of Asian studies, University of Texas at Austin

For ages, Japanese artists have adapted the literary and visual arts from their own nation’s past and from lands as distant as ancient China and the modern West. The exhibition Unrivalled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art, with treasures spanning the 8th to the 19th centuries, features numerous recurrent motifs.

Classic subjects—including the sacred figure of Bodhidharma, Prince Genji’s many scorned lovers from the 11th-century Tale of Genji, and the big-nosed, Western “red-haired barbarians”—appear with such frequency as to risk charges of being hackneyed. Contemporary subjects, such as Godzilla and Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies, reveal traditional roots in Japanese and Western culture.

During this richly illustrated talk, Kirsten Cather defines how this practice is not mere repetition, but an evolution of stories and subjects for new times and places, inspiring both new possibilities for artists and new pleasures for their audiences.

This event is free, but printed tickets are required. Secure your seats by downloading tickets in advance! Tickets are available online, by phone at 713.639.7771, or at any admissions desk at the MFAH. Questions? Contact lectures@mfah.org or 713.639.7771.