22 November 2023
25 March 2024
Famous for the extreme refinement of its court art, imperial Japan of the Heian period (794-1185) notably gave birth to a major work of classical Japanese literature, the Tale of Genji. Written in the 11th century by a woman, the poet Murasaki Shikibu, it has generated an extremely rich iconography over a thousand years, influencing even contemporary mangaka....
This event exhibition invites visitors to immerse themselves in ancient Japan, discovering the Heian period (794-1185) and its court art. This period of freedom for women, with particularly rich artistic production, notably saw the emergence of a unique women's literature in Japanese history. They took up waka style poems which they wrote using a cursive writing system derived from Chinese and adapted to the Japanese language of the time. Freed from the Chinese model, they produced works mixing waka and prose, in the form of journals or told stories.
This exhibition is organized in partnership with the Franco-Japanese Sasakawa Foundation, which with this event celebrates thirty years of action for the development of cultural relations and friendship between France and Japan. The foundation is recognized as being of public utility.
Curator: Aurélie Samuel, heritage curator
