The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host an online screening of the 2019 documentary Edo Avant Garde, along with a discussion with the director, on January 21.
Edo Avant-Garde reveals the untold story of the vital role Japanese artists of the Edo era (1603 – 1868) played in developing “modern art.” During the Edo era, Japan prospered in peaceful isolation from Western powers, while audacious artists innovated abstraction, minimalism, surrealism and the illusion of 3-D. Their originality is most striking in images of the natural world depicted with gold leaf on large-scale folding screens that anticipate 20th century installation art. In groundbreaking interviews with scholars and priests, the film traces the artists' original visions to their reverence for nature, inspired by Buddhism and Shinto animism.The event begins at 7:00 pm with an introduction by director Linda Hoaglund; the movie begins at 7:15 and is followed by a discussion with Hoaglund at 8:45 pm. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required.