THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - SAINSBURY INSTITUTE

Dr Eriko Tomizawa-Kay (Sainsbury Institute Associate Professor in Japanese Art History, University of East Anglia)

About the Talk

This talk explores the vibrancy of art from Okinawa today, looking at how artists balance cultural identity through both tradition and innovation. With deep roots in textile dyeing, weaving, ceramics, and lacquerware, this creativity also finds new meaning in dialogue with global contemporary art.

We will look at artists who breathe fresh life into traditional practices, transforming them into forms that speak to the present moment. Some reinterpret inherited patterns to reflect on ideas and concerns that reach far beyond the islands, while others develop painting styles that grow from classical methods yet carry a distinctly local spirit. Alongside these, artists working in kōgei continue to expand the possibilities of heritage techniques, showing how art can link past and present in dynamic and engaging ways.

The talk will also warmly introduce the forthcoming exhibition Okinawan Kōgei: Crafting Continuity and Change (29 October – 1 November 2025, Crypt Gallery, Norwich). Bringing together eight artists from Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, this exhibition invites viewers to experience the creativity and resilience of Okinawan kōgei—an art form that feels at once deeply rooted in place and open to the broader world. We warmly encourage you to visit and discover for yourself the beauty and vitality of these works.

About the Speaker

Dr Eriko Tomizawa-Kay is Sainsbury Institute Associate Professor in Japanese Art History at the University of East Anglia and Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies. She received her PhD from SOAS, University of London, and has held fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. Most recently, she served as Toyota Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan (2023–2024).

Her research focuses on modern and contemporary Japanese art, with particular expertise in Nihonga, Okinawan visual culture, and transnational art history. She is co-editor of East Asian Art History in a Transnational Context (Routledge, 2019) and Okinawan Art in its Regional Context (SISJAC, 2022). Her latest publication is Contested bodies: female imagery in pre-war Okinawa (Japan Forum, 2025).

Free and open to all, booking essential.