Thursday, January 30
1:00–3:00 p.m. PT
Speaker: Meher McArthur, Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Curator of Academic Programs and Collections at Scripps College, Claremont
Virtual Event

Hear from Japanese art historian Meher McArthur as she shares a slide lecture previewing her newest traveling exhibition Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse, which will begin its national tour in March 2025 in Wisconsin. The exhibition explores the iconic Japanese kimono, its origins, form, and styles in Japan, the many ways it has served as a canvas for conveying spectacular design, symbolism and meaning over the centuries, and its recent influence on the world’s artists. McArthur will showcase works created in paper, ceramic, glass, metal, and other materials by artists in the US and Europe to demonstrate the impact of this garment beyond Japan and beyond fashion.

Speaker Bio: Meher McArthur is an independent Asian art curator, author, and educator. She currently works at Scripps College, Claremont as the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Curator of Academic Programs and Collections. Previously, McArthur worked for nine years as Curator of East Asian Art at Pacific Asia Museum (now USC PAM), where she curated over fifteen exhibitions. She also worked as Creative Director of the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena for almost five years. As an independent curator, she has curated several exhibitions for Southern California galleries, En Gallery at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena, and for the traveling exhibition company International Arts & Artists (IA&A), including Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami (2012-2017), Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami (2015-2019), and Nature, Tradition and Innovation: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Collection of Gordon Brodfuehrer (2016-2019). She has also curated SHIKI: The Four Seasons in Japanese Art for Scripps College’s Williamson Gallery (2021), the IA&A traveling exhibition Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper (touring from 2021), and YOKAI: Spirits, Specters and the Supernatural in Japanese Woodblock Prints, a traveling exhibition from the Scripps College collection (touring from 2022).

Meher writes regularly about Buddhist art and artists for Buddhistdoor.net and is a contributing writer for KCET Artbound, Artillery Magazine, and Orientations magazine. Her major publications include Gods and Goblins: Folk Paintings from Otsu (Pacific Asia Museum, 1999), Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols (Thames & Hudson, 2002), and The Arts of Asia: Materials, Techniques, Styles (Thames & Hudson, 2005), Confucius: A Throneless King (Pegasus Books, 2011), Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami (IA&A, 2012), and New Expressions in Origami Art (Tuttle, 2017). Her children’s books include Michael and the Magical Museum (Pacific Asia Museum, 2003) and An ABC of What Art Can Be (The Getty Museum, 2010).

Please note, this session will be conducted virtually via Zoom.

Save your spot by clicking on this link. All participants will be sent the Zoom link via confirmation email with instructions once you secure your place.

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Sponsored by the Asian Arts Council.

Featured at top right: Miya Ando, Mofuku (formal Mourning Kimono) (detail), 2024. Dyed anodized aluminum and steel rings. Courtesy of the artist.