I couldn’t be more excited to be delivering a public lecture at Macalester College on September 19th. If you are interested in blending Art History, Asian Studies, and Indigenous Studies, I encourage you to come. My talk is titled “Indigenous Modernity in Hokkaido, Japan: the Complexities of Ainu Representation in Photography and Illustration” and is sponsored by the departments of Art and Art History, Asian Studies, and the Office of Academic Programs. The talk arises out of research completed for my dissertation and figures who I continue to grapple with. In addition to exploring the dominant images that forged the Ainu stereotype in the Euro-American imagination, I will be examining how Ainu producers of image and text—such as Takekuma Tokusaburō and Katahira Tomijirō—engaged with these dominant representations. I feel that understanding the gradual development of optical consistency from photographs to the illustrations based on them can better illuminate the calcification of Ainu stereotypes at home and abroad, as well as expand our understanding of photography as a visual medium in Meiji and Taishō Japan.
For those interested:
Title: “Indigenous Modernity in Hokkaido, Japan: the Complexities of Ainu Representation in Photography and Illustration”
Location: JBD Lecture Hall, Campus Center, Macalester College
Time: 6-7:30pm (talk followed by Q&A)