Helena Gaudekova
Beverley Art Gallery  – East Riding of Yorkshire Museums

Showcasing Japanese art and craft Collections from East Yorkshire Museums

Beverley Art Gallery in East Yorkshire (UK) is a regional council-run public gallery, part of the East Riding of Yorkshire Museums Service in the North of England. In my talk, I would like to introduce this Museum and its collection of Japanese items, which have never been researched or exhibited. I am very passionate about bringing Japanese artworks into the spotlight, and building a strong Japan-related exhibition program in Beverley.

In my presentation, I will concentrate on how I plan to bring Japanese art into Beverley Art Gallery, which never had a Japanese-themed exhibition before.
I will showcase three examples:

  1. A current exhibition of the contemporary artist David Sprakes. I developed a Japanese-themed interpretation for this exhibition, using it as a gateway to explaining traditional Japanese aesthetics.
  2. A future exhibition celebrating the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Here I plan to show how traditional Japanese culture formed the visual and esthetic side of the Olympics.
  3. A future exhibition planned for 2021 on the collections of Japanese art in East Yorkshire – a never before researched topic. This will introduce local collectors as well as artists inspired by Japanese art since 19th century until today in the region. 

I will present an outline of the Japanese items held across East Riding Museum Service, and will give a brief history of the impact of Japanese art and craft in East Yorkshire.
As a regional gallery, Beverley Art Gallery is in strong need of establishing an international framework of cooperation.