Published: 16/07/2025
Hiroshige - Artist of the Open Road Exhibition - ends 07 September 2025
Members will remember our recent lecture on Hokusai during which our lecturer explained the print making process, showing us her own tools as she practises the art herself. With this in mind, I visited the Exhibition on Hiroshige , ‘artist of the open road.’ We travel on a lyrical journey through Edo (Tokyo) Japan, see the natural beauty of the landscape, recognise Mount Fuji, the mountain of Hokusai’s ‘The Wave’ and reflect on a world that was about to change for ever. The exhibition features prints, drawings, illustrated books and paintings from the British Museum collection, as well as a significant gift and loan of prints.
I find Japanese art difficult, partly through ignorance, but may be this exhibition helped me to appreciate it a little more. I loved the woodblock print, ‘Sudden Rain Shower’ which shows bamboo and travellers caught in a sudden downpour.
Ancient India, Living Traditions Exhibition – ends 19 October 2025
I felt more at home in the ‘Ancient India, living tradions’ exhibition which is bigger and spaciously laid out, making it easy to look closely at the statues et al and read the signs. Look closely and you will see the footprint trails which preceded the depiction of the Buddha in human form. The rooms cover more than 2,000 years, exploring the origins of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art, as represented in the ancient and powerful nature spirits of India. The final room shows the spread of this art beyond the subcontinent.
So, take your pick where you travel or, even better, travel to both. You have until the autumn! Do consider writing to us to say what your highlights were.
Click here for more information
