See below for open resources on Asian arts and culture
Cultural Influencers Virtual Exhibitions Contemporary Works
cultural influencers
Tokyo Swan
The Rodger Swan Memorial Fund for Japanese Studies at Western Michigan University https://wmich.edu/languages/rodgerswan
李子柒 Liziqi
Liziqi is a Chinese youtuber famous for her videos featuring food harvesting, cooking, handcrafts, and country life. She has amassed over 20 million followers through her use of simple ingredients, cinematography, and traditional Chinese handcrafting techniques, and has become one of the most influential Chinese youtubers. Her videos feature her rural hometown in north-central Sichuan province, Southwest China.
Asian Art Museum
The Asian Art Museum is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art and culture. Home to works of art from over 40 Asian countries, we strive to be a catalyst for discovery, dialogue, and inspiration. The YouTube channel features exhibition walkthroughs, artifact spotlights, scholar talks, meditations, food preparation videos, and more.
The MET: Videos on Asian Art
Trans Asia Photography Journal
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Playlists:
Arts of Asia Lectures
A series of academic lectures on various aspects of the arts of Asia.
Arts of Asia Spotlights
Asia Society
Smithsonian: National Museum of Asian Art
Committed to preserving, exhibiting and interpreting exemplary works of art, the museum houses exceptional collections of Asian art, with more than 44,000 objects dating from the Neolithic period to today. Renowned and iconic objects originate from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the ancient Near East and the Islamic world. Videos span object highlights, lectures, performances, workshops and artist/curator talks.
Michigan/Shiga Webpage
Japan Foundation New York
The Japan Foundation was established in 1972 by special legislation in the Japanese Diet and became an Independent Administrative Institution in October 2003. The mission of the Japan Foundation is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. Their YouTube page offers videos of panels and events concerning Japanese culture.
Virtual Exhibitions
Captive Beauties: Depictions of Women in Late Imperial China
Kalamazoo Institute of Art
Balancing the Cosmos: The Works of Li Hongwei
Kalamazoo Institute of Art
From Earth and Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics
Kalamazoo Institute of Art
Through the Years: Selections from our Asian Collection
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Cultural Encounters: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin American and the Caribbean 1945-Present
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Yun-Fei Ji: Tall Tales of a Scavenger
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Asian Art Museum: Online Collections
Anno's Journey: The World of Anno Mitsumasa
Japan House London
Windowology: New Architectural Views From Japan
Japan House Los Angeles
Confucius: His Life and Legacy in Art
China Institute Gallery
Theater, Life, and the Afterlife: Tomb Décor of the Jin Dynasty from Shanxi
China Institute Gallery
The Korean Tiger: Icon of Myth and Culture
National Museum of Korea
Rha Hye-Seok: Korea's Most Daring Feminist Artist
Google Arts & Culture
Dreamers Exhibition: Cheongju Craft Biennial 2019
Cheongju Craft Biennial
[Project 1] an/other avant-guarde china-japan-korea
Busan Biennale
Discover Tokyo Through Funny Food Ukiyo-e
Keio University Library, Japan
Important Cultural Properties in the Permanent Collection
Museum of Modern Art Tokyo
Records and Memories of Ueno
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
The History of Manga in Manga
Google Arts & Culture
Summoning Monsters: From Jiraiya to Naruto
Keio University Library
Kintaro: the Legendary Folk Hero
Keio University Library
Where did Manga Come From?
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
Manga Edutainment
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Bunka Fashion Graduate University Fashion Week
Bunka Fashion Graduate University, Japan
Knife Forging of the Tottori Prefecture
Tottori Prefectural Government
Sushi: Japan's Most Recognizable Dish
NHK Educational
Takasaki Daruma: Spiritual Crafts
The City of Takasaki
Koshu Crystal Carving
Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Kumano: "Land of Brushes"
Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University
Kyoto Embroidery
Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University
Seeing Gender: Dynamic Representations of Gender in Asian Art
Asian Art Museum
Spectrosynthesis: Asian LGBT Issues and Art Now
Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
Spectrosynthesis II: Exposure of Tolerance - LGBT Issues in Southeast Asia
Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
Indian epics in Art: Folk Images from the Chitrakathi Tradition of Paithan in Maharashtra, India
Salar Jung Museum, India
A Game of Thrones: How Chess Conquered the World
Salar Jung Museum, India
Humsafar - The Story of Indian Textile
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
Amrita Sher-Gil: Collection of National Gallery of Modern Art
Museums of India: National Portal & Digital Repository
Meet 10 Women Working in Kathmandu
WOW - Women of the World Foundation
Thai Contemporary Artistic Practices in Transition
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand
Online Exhibitions
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
Lo Chia-Lun Calligraphy Collection
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Contemporary Works
The Kalamazoo Lion Dance Troupe does a performance at the Kalamazoo Public Library
WOMAN by guest artist and 2021 National Choreography Competition winner, Tsai Hsi Hung. Performed at Western Michigan University
At University of Chicago, featuring the poems カノコ殺し / Killing Kanoko, 河原荒草 / Wild Grass on the Riverbank, and ハラキリ / Harakiri
A modern retelling of the Hindu epic the Ramayana, this work was created by artist Nina Paley who waved her copyright for the film to be used and shown freely.
The shuffle dance became a major craze in China. This husband and wife in rural Wenzhou China came to international attention when their videos dancing on their farmland went viral. Peng Xiaoying started getting her husband to dance with her to help him with depression brought on by an auto accident. They continue to post videos and now feature many dancing with their children and showing aspects of their farm life.
"Transient Rainbow" is a 15 second-long pyrotechnic event conceived by artist Cai Guo-Qiang and commissioned by MoMA.
China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe performs the Thousand Hand Dance during VSA's opening ceremony.
Welsh Guard and Taiko West Drummers
Drummers from the Welsh Guard and Taiko West student in the UK drum battle for the public.
A downloadable series of comics by Brittany Partin illustrating tales from Japanese Mythology. Click here for the original blog.
Out In Japan: Photo Project
Article with exhibition excerpts Project Page
Originally featuring portraits taken by Leslie Kee, a Singaporean photographer with a major presence in Japan, the project now features 21 series with different photographers. People who Posed include politicians, teachers, celebrities, artists, and more.
Scholar Talks
Personal Narrative Panel hosted by Kalamazoo Public Libraries
TEDed
The Rice vs. Wheat Theory of Culture in China
TEDxUVA
From Medicine to a Staple Food:
How Science and Tradition are Shaping the Milk Production and Consumption in Modern China
Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Veronica Mak, Sa Wa
Getting Spicy: Chilies Flavoring Chinese Culture
SOAS Food Study Center: University of London
Brian Dott
TED Talk
Jennifer 8. Lee
Conversations about Appropriation: Food Industry
Conversations About Appropriation is a series of public panel conversations diving into cultural appropriation as it manifests across different industries. The conversations are hosted by Studio ATAO and General Assembly.
Why Speak of Asian Art in Paris?
Eric Lefebvre, chief curator of Cernuschi Museum — Museum of the Asian Arts of Paris, presents some of the collections and masterpieces at the museum, one of the oldest dedicated to Asian arts in the world.
Kawaii: Cuteness in Japanese Girls' Culture
Panel discussion hosted by the Japan Foundation NY.
Documentaries
In this film Tim Graf and Jakob Montrasio follow Buddhist priests through the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters in Japan.
Kodo Nishimura is a Buddhist monk, makeup artist and LGBTQ+ activist, each identity an expression of his desire to live life without limitations.
Mini-documentary on Indoor Graves at the High-Tech Temple Banshōji in Nagoya, Japan. This video introduces several of Banshōji’s indoor graves and shows how different graves represent different aesthetics, needs, and financial plans. Viewers will notice the importance placed on light and the material features involved in making religious beliefs and practices visible and tangible at Banshōji.
In this documentary, Japanese artist Azuma Makoto uses plants to create stunning sculptures that connect humanity and nature.
In this mini-documentary artist Aimee Lee discusses her pursuit of training in the male dominated field of hanji paper making, and how she incorporated hanji into original art pieces.
Brilliant Ideas: Bloomberg series on contemporary Asian artists Series:
Asian-American:
is an artist who freely explores genres of sculpture, performance, video art and installation. His experiences dictate how he approaches diverse topics, with keywords spanning from identity, nature, humanity and even politics. His art radiates from a singular identity to a universal identity, and at times reaches out to something else altogether, making him one of the most enigmatic artists in contemporary art today.
Born in 1976 in Tehran, Ali Banisadr moved to America when he was a child. His works are influenced by his experiences as a refugee from the Iran-Iraq war and his approach to abstraction mixes memory, nostalgia and violence. He is best known for his large, lush, highly intricate paintings featuring fantastical landscapes reminiscent of stained glass. Ali experiences synaesthesia, a condition which shapes his perception of the world, and a dimension of his work.
Cambodia:
is one of Cambodia’s most exciting and internationally recognized artists. His instantly recognizable bamboo and rattan sculptures are shaping the South East Asian contemporary art world. Sopheap’s work ranges from large geometric sculpture to grid paintings to his most recent bamboo strip and natural pigment paintings
China:
The modern society has changed beyond recognition. Still, we are speaking and writing in the same languages as we have been before. Xu Bing, an installation artist from China, questions this state of language use with a view that the old languages are no longer suitable for the new era.
is one of China’s most talented and ambitious young artists. He experiments with drawings, traditional ink paintings and woodcuts, and then uses new technologies to transform them into his artistic trademark – black and white animations.
Gun powder is Cai Guo Qiang's calling card, as the artist behind the fireworks displays of the Beijing Olympics, having also won the coveted Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale, Cai Guo-Qiang stands today as a bona-fide rock-start in the world of arts. From his "Explosion of Ants" to his gun powder drawings, to his monumental installations, his art is unique, and one seen it's never forgotten.
Chinese artist Cao Fei is one of the most ground-breaking and talked-about artists of her generation. She skillfully uses new technologies to create multimedia projects that explore themes of escapism, consumerism and the effects of economic change across China.
In this episode, we meet Ai Weiwei in Athens for his solo exhibition at the Cycladic Museum. We revisit his most iconic works and see how Ai Weiwei became the artist and the champion of human rights that he is today.
One of the public images of an artist is that he or she presents a breakaway from the things already existing. In that, Zhang Huan has taken steps to always surprise the public as an artist. The start of Zhang Huan’s steps was his first performance, which embarrassed Chinese people. Afterwards, he went to and returned from New York, suddenly embraced Buddhism, and presented sculpture installations, which are totally new compared to his performances that made him one of the world’s famous artists.
is one of China’s rebellious and unconventional artists. With the common use of surprising materials in his sculptures and construction of massive installations, his works are fearless and uncompromising. Having lived through a period that witnessed drastic urban change in China, Liu Wei frequently turns to architectural themes in his work.
Hong Kong:
Originally trained in music composition, Samson Young’s creative outputs now take shape in a variety of media and across many disciplines. Born in 1979 in Hong Kong, Samson studied music, philosophy and gender studies at the University of Sydney and holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University. His diverse and experimental practice includes live performances, radio broadcasts, public-participatory events, films, installations, and “sound drawings”.
India and Pakistan:
Feminist, mythology narrator and quasi-anthropologist are just some of the titles that describe artist Bharti Kher, currently at the center stage of the Indian contemporary art scene. Kher was born in London in 1969 and earned a BFA at Newcastle Polytechnic before moving to India in 1993.
Bangladeshi born, but British raised artist, Rana Begum, is best known for her minimalist, abstract sculpture. Whether it is her delicate wire structures or large-scale public installation, all her work explores the principles of light, color and form.
As Jean Michel Basquiat was nicknamed the “Black Picasso,” many brilliant contemporary artists will earn the sobriquet of another’s name. Subodh Gupta, though now an institution in his own right, was once referred to as the “Damien Hirst of India.”
"Brilliant Ideas" looks at the most exciting and acclaimed artists at work in the world today. On this episode, N.S. Harsha talks to Bloomberg.
London-based artist Haroon Mirza is at the forefront of British sound and installation art. Each element of Haroon’s work interacts and produces provocative sounds. Through the interplay of flashing lights, sound and object, Haroon explores profound themes of science, culture and religion, often drawn from his experiences of British and Pakistani culture.
Indonesia:
has been a central figure of the Indonesian art scene for over four decades. He works across many mediums, experimenting with paintings, installations, film and performance art. Harsono was among the group of artists who founded the New Art Movement (Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru), which rejected Western techniques, and promoted a more conceptual and experimental approach.
was born in 1960 in Jakarta, Indonesia and is one of Indonesia’s best-known contemporary artists. Heavily influenced by Javanese “wayang” theatre, comic books and animation, Dono’s works are characterized by his penchant for the fantastical and the absurd, populated by astonishing characters and strange juxtapositions. While ostensibly playful and humorous, his works often contain incisive socio-political commentary on both Indonesia and abroad. He works across a broad range of media, from painting, sculpture, installation to performance.
Japan:
Founded in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, teamLab is a 400-strong Japanese digital art collective whose members include artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects and designers. Their multi-disciplinary, intensely collaborative practice fuses art, technology and the natural world, resulting in immersive, multi-sensory artworks that thoroughly redefine how we view and interact with art.
is best known for his detailed miniature landscapes, made from found materials such as toothbrushes, books, flags and used clothing – even hair. Takahiro’s work is very much a reflection of his relationship with Japan, having grown up in Hiroshima.
is an artist who comes from a background in fashion, modeling and design. In 1993, she moved to New York City and enrolled in the independent study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art, changing her career path from design to fine art. Mori is recognized for her distinctive style portraying Japanese tradition and futuristic thought, rarely bound to a particular space or time. She is a multifaceted artist who knows how to utilize her talents in a combination of ways.
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is best known for her inexhaustible creations involving polka dots, pumpkins, and vibrant colors. Her love of design has seen her join forces with top fashion houses.
Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is best known for her fantastical installations made out of intricately woven yarn but her body of work is much more diverse - ranging from visceral performance art to grand sculptures created with used objects.
Singapore:
Born in 1972 in Singapore, Charles Lim is a former Olympic sailor and his art is based on his special affinity with the sea. From films, installations, and photography, his works explore the biophysical, aspirational, and cerebral contours of the island city-state of Singapore, through the visible and invisible lenses of the sea.
South Korea:
Striking, complex, and deeply moving, the poignant video works of Korean-born artist Im Heung Soon deal with serious local and international issues like war, poverty and state repression.
Born in 1957 in Daegu, South Korea, Kimsooja started attracting the attention of the international art community when she began constructing Korean bottaris in her art – a gesture and motif that continues to appear in her work till today. Her art centers on the work and labor of women –beginning with her early sewn works, to her films and video performances, and now to her sparse, experiential installations that we see today.
Born in 1962 in Seoul, South Korea, Do Ho Suh’s art is very much rooted by his own history of migration, having moved to the United States in his late twenties. From his sculptures, installations and drawings, his works explore the notion of personal space, the boundaries of identity, and the relationship between the individual and the collective body.
Contemporary art is often the subject of confusion and frustration. Unlike paintings of the past that were relatively consistent to the subject matter, contemporary art presented viewers with a conceptual layer that alienates the public. Lee Bul claims that prior knowledge is not a requirement in understanding her works. Instead, she underlines the importance of experience, by encouraging the public to experience her works first-hand.
Born in 1955, Ahn Kyuchul is a Korean sculpture and installation artist, writer and teacher. He has taken a different path to the circle of Korean sculptors who mainly work on decorative art and monumental sculptures, preferring instead to work with mundane objects like the hammer, the door, the table – objects with no real meaning or aesthetic value. His work explores aims to realise his long and profound examination on life and what contemporary art could be.
is one of South Korea’s most exciting contemporary artists. Born in 1970 in Seoul, U-Ram creates meticulously intricate and beautiful art works. Biology, mathematics, robotics and engineering shape his work.
mesmerizes audiences with his photography and video. From live performance art to virtual reality photo booths, he blurs the lines between the real and the ideal. And delving into the hopes, dreams and passions of ordinary people, his artwork has a profound effect.
Vietnam:
Artist, researcher and historian Tiffany Chung has made a name for herself with her stunning cartographic works. Her experience as a Vietnamese refugee has influenced the subjects of her art. Her work examines conflict, migration and urban transformation in relation to history and cultural memory. She is a contemporary artist whose work crosses many mediums including video and performance art, embroidery and beadwork on canvases, and sculptures and archaeological discoveries.