Spotlight on... Ms Anna Jackson, Keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum

2020/12/17
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Ms Anna Jackson is the Keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum. A specialist in Japanese textiles and dress she has written widely on the subject. Most recently she curated the exhibition Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk and edited the accompanying publication. Ms Jackson was awarded the Foreign Minister`s Commendation on 1 December 2020 for the promotion of Japanese culture in the United Kingdom.

Following on from last month`s webmagazine which featured an interview with Senior Curator of Japanese Art at the V&A, Dr Rupert Faulkner, this month we turn our spotlight on Ms Jackson for a special interview to talk about her career and achievements.


Congratulations on receiving the Foreign Minister`s Commendation. How do you feel about receiving this award?

I am delighted of course, and very honoured. Coming in the same year as Rupert Faulkner, with whom I have worked for most of my career, was awarded The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, is particularly pleasing. This is cause for a double celebration but is also a reflection, and I hope a recognition, of the commitment and passion of all of us who work with the Japanese collections at the V&A.


How did your fascination with Japanese art and culture begin, and how has it developed over the years?

It was complete serendipity. I studied western art history at university, but when I joined the V&A I was placed in the department that was most in need of a junior curator which was the Far Eastern Department, as it was then called. I was only planning to stay a couple of years before transferring to one of the European departments but, as a whole new part of the world opened up to me, I became fascinated by Japanese art. I enrolled as an occasional student at SOAS, and was lucky enough to be one of Professor Timon Screech’s first students, and I have never looked back. My job has changed dramatically, as I am now head of the whole Asian Department, but the fundamental pleasure of being a curator, and being able to constantly build on my knowledge and understanding, has not.
img2 Kimono for a young woman (furisode), 1910-1930
Which aspects of Japanese art and culture are you personally most interested in and why?

Coming to the Far Eastern Department with knowledge, not of Japan, but of 19th century British and European culture, my early research examined the acquisition, reception and influence of Japanese art and design in the west during the Meiji period. Widening my interest in this cultural relationship, I went on to contribute to a number of V&A exhibitions and their related publications, including Art Nouveau 1890-1914 (2000) and Art Deco 1914-1939 (2003), and in 2004 I was co-curator of Encounters: the Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800. The way in which art and design is transmitted and transformed across cultural borders remains one of the main focuses of my research.

However, all of my colleagues had a material specialism, so it became clear I needed to decide on which part of the collection to specialise. I chose with my heart as much as my head, having been transfixed by the beauty of the Japanese textiles in the V&A collection from my first encounter. I made my first acquisition, of a Taisho period kimono, in 1994. I have spent 25 years studying the subject and my emotional and intellectual enthusiasm has never waned, whether I am trying to understand the sophisticated techniques used to create the textiles or exploring their meaning within the contexts of their use and wear.
img3 Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, section on formal samurai dress showing garments mounted on mannequins
img4 Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, section on contemporary makers
What would you regard as the greatest highlight of your career at V&A Museum to date?

It certainly has been a very stimulating and varied career, but I would have to say the Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk exhibition is the highlight, particularly as it brought together my two great interests. It was very distressing, of course, when it had to close after only 18 days because of the covid pandemic, but at least it did re-open and has garnered many positive comments and reviews both here and in Japan which is very gratifying.


Could you tell us about the most enjoyable and most difficult aspects of preparing the exhibition?

It was a labour of love, so most aspects of it were enjoyable, from the initial research to the final installation of the objects. Being able to collaborate with colleagues in Japan, and to study some of the amazing pieces in their collections, was a privilege and a great pleasure, the main difficulty being to narrow down my final choice of loans. Another very enjoyable aspect has been getting to know the contemporary kimono makers and talking to them about their design and making processes and their hopes for the future of kimono culture both within and beyond Japan.

One of the main challenges of the exhibition was to explore new ways of displaying kimono. These garments are invariably shown hanging on stands, this being the optimum way to appreciate their striking designs and ensure that what are often fragile objects do not get damaged by being wrapped around and dressed on mannequins. The disadvantage of this method of display, however, is that it results in kimono being seen as works of art rather than as items of clothing. So we worked with our Conservation Department to mount some of the historic kimono on mannequins. The results were really wonderful and helped our audiences understand the garments in a whole new way.
img6 Box for scrolls, 1650-1700
img7 Vessel by Takauchi Shugo, 1992
Other than textiles, are there any Japan-related items in the V&A collection that have a special meaning for you?

I am drawn to so many items in the collection, that this is a difficult question to answer. The extraordinary craftmanship of Japanese lacquer, of which we have a wonderful collection, never ceases to amaze me. One of my favourite pieces is a Rinpa style scroll box, which I love for its elegant sophistication and stylised design. This was one of the key objects I chose for the Art Nouveau exhibition, the asymmetric, undulating line that is the principal formal characteristic of the style being derived from Japanese art. The world of Japanese contemporary crafts is a very exciting one and Rupert Faulkner has built up an impressive collection at the V&A. If I could take one object from the collection home with me it would be a powerfully sculpted Oribe style vessel by Takauchi Shugo which we acquired in 1992, the year it was made. It featured in Rupert’s 1995 exhibition Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant Garde which was the first major exhibition on which I worked.
How would you assess the role of the V&A in promoting better understanding of Japanese culture in the UK?

It is an interesting coincidence that the V&A was founded just one year before Commodore Perry arrived off the coast of Japan demanding that the country open its ports to foreign powers. The museum collected Japanese objects from its inception and played an important part in presenting the art of this newly ‘discovered’ country to British audiences. Today the V&A has one of the most important collections in the world and continues - through its gallery displays, special exhibitions, publications and events – to promote the understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture in the UK and beyond.


What do you envisage for the future of the Japan Section at V&A and can you tell us about any of your own future plans?

Rupert Faulkner will be retiring next spring and Greg Irvine, our other Senior Curator for Japan, retired in May 2020. Their loss, in terms of expertise and warmth of personality, will be keenly felt. However, we are lucky that we have two, relatively new, curators for Japanese art, Masami Yamada and Josephine Rout, who are already injecting their knowledge and ideas into our endeavours. So I am sure we have a dynamic and innovative future in front of us, despite the many challenges the V&A faces in light of the pandemic. As for me, I plan to continue researching kimono, particularly the early period of cultural exchange, hopefully with colleagues in Japan. Masami and I are also planning a book on fashion in ukiyo-e which will feature some of the hitherto unpublished prints in our large collection.



All images courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum