Light over Dejima - Symposium, Book Launch and Exhibition Opening
Portraits, encounters, domestic scenes, street views, and landscapes. The earliest photographs of Japan not only show the development of a new technique but also form a rare visual record of a changing society. How did photography reach Japan in the nineteenth century?
On Thursday, September 24, the focus will be on the introduction of photography in Japan during the period 1840–1870 and the role of the Dutch in this process. Early photography reveals old Japan, encounters and collaborations between the Japanese and the Dutch, and social tensions during Japan's opening up and the building of a new Japan.
A symposium and the presentation of the book Light over Dejima will be held at the University Library. Following this, the opening of the exhibition Light over Deshima will take place at the Japan Museum SieboldHuis. Please register separately for both events.
Symposium and Book Launch – University Library
Kartini Auditorium, University Library
Witte Singel 27, 2311 BG Leiden
During the international symposium, curators and specialists from Leiden University Libraries, the University of Tokyo, and various museums will give presentations on early Japanese photography in their collections. Following this, the first copy of the book Light over Dejima will be presented. The symposium and the book presentation will be held in English.
Light over Deshima—written in Japanese, English, and Dutch—examines early photography in Japan from the collections of the UBL, Nagasaki University, and several smaller collections. Light over Dejima examines the introduction of photography in Japan, focusing on the role of collaboration between the Japanese and the Dutch, initially on Dejima, during the period 1843–1870. The book is published by Wbooks (ISBN 9789462587977), edited by Maartje van den Heuvel and Akiyoshi Tani, comprises 320 pages, contains approximately 200 images, and is available for €39.95.
Registration (= separate from Exhibition Opening in Japan Museum SieboldHuis) is mandatory:
RegistrationProgram
10:30 | Registration and coffee/tea
10:45 | Kartini Auditorium open
11:00 | Welcome
11:05 | Lecture 1: Maartje van den Heuvel, Curator of Photography at Leiden University Libraries and guest curator of the exhibition. The Historiography at Leiden University regarding the introduction of photography in Japan from Dejima
11:45 | Lecture 2: Akiyoshi Tani, photography specialist, Center for Collaborative Research on Historical Resources. On the introduction of photography in Japan. Contemporary views on the introduction of this new medium.
12:30 | Lunch
13:30 | Hans Rooseboom, Curator of Photography, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, On the donation to the Rijksmuseum of 121 photographs taken and collected by the Bauduin brothers during their time working in Japan in the 1860s.
14:00 | Sara Keijzer, Curator of Photography, The National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam, On the albums of Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, one of the most important Dutch diplomats in Japan in the 1850s and 60s.
14:30 | Esther Scholtes, Curator of Photography, Royal Collections, The Hague, On the Japanese legation that visited Europe and the Netherlands in 1862, relations with the royal family, and the exchange of gifts.
15:00 | Book presentation with two guests of honor, including Herman Moeshart, former staff member of the Leiden Prentenkabinet and author of the first book on the history of early Japanese photography. With this groundbreaking work, he laid an important foundation for the historiography of early Japanese photography.
15:30 | Walk to the Japan Museum SieboldHuis, Rapenburg 19, Leiden
Exhibition Opening – Japan Museum SieboldHuis
Japan Museum SieboldHuis
Rapenburg 19, 2311 GE Leiden
You are cordially invited to attend the opening of the exhibition Light over Deshima at the Japan Museum SieboldHuis on Thursday, 24 September.
Light over Deshima invites you to discover Japan's earliest photography. The exhibition shows how Dutch and Japanese doctors and researchers began experimenting with photographic techniques on Dejima in the mid-nineteenth century. Photography subsequently grew into an invaluable tool for capturing a society in transition. This fascinating history takes on an extra layer of significance in the former home of Philipp Franz von Siebold, who had an important role in the the exchange of knowledge between Japan and the Netherlands.
Registration (=separate from the symposium and book launch in the University Library) is mandatory. Would you like to bring a guest? Please reserve two tickets for the opening.
RegistrationProgram
15:30 | Reception (doors open)
16:15 | Opening remarks by Marianna van der Zwaag, Director Japan Museum SieboldHuis
16:20 | Presentation of the book Light over Dejima to Mr. Michii Rokuichiro, Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands, and Prescillia van Noort, Wethouder for Culture of the Municipality of Leiden
16:30 | Introduction by Maartje van den Heuvel, Curator of Photography at Leiden University Libraries and Guest Curator of the exhibition
16:35 | Viewing of the exhibition and drinks
18:00 | End of opening
The symposium, the book, and the exhibition are the result of a specia collaboration between Leiden University Libraries, Nagasaki University Library, Japan Museum SieboldHuis, and various museums and photo collections in the Netherlands and Japan.