Online International Symposium “Japanese Ceramics That Arrived in Switzerland: Discovery of the Musée Ariana Collection” (6 January 2022)

The Musée Ariana in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of Europe’s leading ceramics museums and features pieces from around the world. Although not well known in Japan, the museum has a collection of over 780 valuable Japanese ceramics from the seventeenth to early twentieth centuries, making it one of the largest collections of its kind in Switzerland.

In collaboration with the University of Zurich’s East Asian Art History Department, the National Museum of History began surveying this collection in 2016, helping to enrich the Musée Ariana’s database and put together basic data for exhibitions.

This led to a large exhibition of Japanese ceramics, “Chrysanthèmes, dragons et samouraïs: La céramique japonaise du Musée Ariana,” which is currently underway (11 December 2020 – 9 January 2022).

In this symposium, researchers and students involved in the survey and exhibition will introduce this wonderful collection that has been treasured overseas in Switzerland, as well as present the characteristics and significance of the Japanese ceramics therein revealed through the project’s activities.

Title: “Japanese Ceramics That Arrived in Switzerland: Discovery of the Musée Ariana Collection.” Organizers: National Museum of Japanese History (National Institutes for the Humanities) and the University of Zurich’s East Asian Art History Department.

The symposium will take place online (via Zoom) on 

Date: Thursday, 6th January 2022
Time: 9:30-12:10 (Swiss time)/17:30-20:10 (Japan time)

Please note that the talks will be in Japanese, with the exception of the section The Musée Ariana Ceramics Survey, where the language is English or French with Japanese subtitles. 

For questions regarding the symposium, contact Prof. Hans Bjarne Thomsen at: thomsen@khist.uzh.ch 

The symposium is open to the public. Those wishing to attend are required to register using the following link:

Conference Registration on Zoom

The link to register can also be found on the websites of the National Museum of Japanese History and the symposium website (see links section on the right).

Please note that times for both Japan (J) and Switzerland (S) are given in the programme below.

17:30–17:35 (J)    Opening address
09:30–09:35 (S)    HIDAKA Kaori (National Museum of Japanese History)

17:35–18:00 (J)    The Japanese Ceramics Collection at the Ariana Museum
09:35–10:00 (S)    Hans Bjarne Thomsen (University of Zurich)

18:00–18:25 (J)    About Arita Porcelain with Ka Inscriptions
10:00–10:25 (S)    OHASHI Koji (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum)

18:25–18:50 (J)    From Satsuma-yaki to “Satsuma”
10:25–10:50 (S)    WATANABE Yoshiro (Kagoshima University)

18:50–19:15 (J)    Changing Designs in Japanese Ceramics: From Early            10:50–11:15  (S)   Modern to Modern Times
                              ARAKAWA Masaaki (Gakushuin University)

19:15–20:05 (J)    The Musée Ariana Ceramics Survey
11:15–12:05 (S)    University of Zurich’s East Asian Art History Department
                              & Musée Ariana    

20:05–20:10 (J)    Closing words
12:05–12:10 (S)    OKUBO Jun’ichi (National Museum of Japanese History)

(Facilitator: SAWADA Kazuto, National Museum of Japanese History)

Presentations will be held in Japanese, with the exception of the section entitled The Musée Ariana Ceramics Survey. The presentations in this section will be held by museum-related professionals and by students of the University of Zurich who took part in one of the surveys. The presentations will be held in English or French and all have Japanese subtitles. They appear in the following order:

Hans Bjarne Thomsen (University of Zurich) – English with Japanese subtitles
Introduction to the University Surveys of the Ariana Museum

Ana Quintero-Perez and Stanislav Anthonioz (Musée Ariana) – French with
Japanese subtitles
Céramiques Japonaises au Musée Ariana

Patrick Reymond (Atelier Oï) – French with Japanese subtitles
Les coulisses de la scénographie

Anjuli Ramdenee (Independent Scholar) – English with Japanese subtitles
A Pair of Vases with Monkey Imagery

Maria Boog (University of Zurich) – English with Japanese subtitles
Contemporary Pottery of Bizen

Polina Chizhova (Independent Scholar) – English with Japanese subtitles
Banko Ware (萬古焼, Banko-yaki): From the Collection of the Ariana Museum

Jisoo Lee (University of Zurich) – English with Japanese subtitles
A Pair of Large-Format Vases and Pedestals

Sopio Kolkhidashvili (University of Basel) – English with Japanese subtitles
Sake Cups from 19th Century Japan

This symposium is organized by the National Museum of Japanese History and the Section for East Asian Art at the University of Zurich