2025

January
Japanese textile
Below is a listing of JASA-sponsored events, including webinars, in-person lectures and tours. If you like, you can print out this schedule using the print function of your browser. You may also refer to the Newsletter’s listing of JASA events. If you wish to receive reminders by E mail, please contact our Membership Coordinator.  For all regional events, we would appreciate advance notice of attendance. Please contact the Membership Coordinator.

January

Monday, January 20, 5 p.m. EST

Live Zoom Webinar

Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork from the Shirley Z. Johnson Collection

Contemporary Japanese metalworking breathes life into traditional methods that have been passed down and practiced over generations. The history of Japanese metalworking evolved over two millennia, through cross-cultural exchange and internal innovation. Techniques unique to Japan flourished as metalworkers created armaments, Buddhist ornaments, and vessels used in Japanese tea practice.

In this talk, Dr. Sol Jung will examine examples of contemporary Japanese metalwork currently on view in the exhibition Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. The exhibition (on view until January 11, 2026) focuses on the technique of tankin (鍛金; hammering) through metalworks that came to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art as part of the bequest of the late Shirley Z. Johnson (1940–2021), a distinguished lawyer, philanthropist, and former board member of the NMAA. Shirley Z. Johnson’s passion for contemporary Japanese metalwork and her visionary gift have made the National Museum of Asian Art home to the largest collection of such works in the United States.

Sol Jung joined the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in 2021 as the inaugural Shirley Z. Johnson assistant curator of Japanese art. She oversees the museum’s collection of prehistoric to contemporary Japanese ceramics, lacquerware, metalwork and textiles. Jung received her B.A. with distinction in History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University.

Click here to register for the Zoom event: January 20 webinar. Please contact Cheryl Gall, membership coordinator, at jasa@japaneseartsoc.org or (978) 600-8128 with any questions.

Past JASA programs