The Bengal School of Art and Nihonga (19021928): Art Toward a Modern Asian Identity

Katherine Q. Caol Guo BSAD

Advisor: Kristel Smentek

At the turn of the twentieth century, both India and Japan increasingly sought to create new modern identities separate from Western influence. These ambitions are reflected in the philosophies of two corresponding art movements, the Bengal School of Art and nihonga which are both considered to be pivotal to the development of modern Indian and Japanese art respectively. India had been ruled and colonized by Great Britain for almost two centuries with Britain establishing state-run art institutions that mandated the standards of Indian art as well as commodifying it for European consumption. Similarly, though Japan was never directly colonized by a European state in the same manner, it felt pressure to assert its growing power by adopting and mimicking Western aesthetics. In contrast, the Bengal School and nihonga both actively rejected Euro-American art techniques. Instead, the artists of these movements were inspired by traditional Indian and Japanese forms. Initially, they developed their ideologies independently. However, in 1902, Okakura Kazuko, a Japanese art historian and vocal proponent of nihonga, visited Calcutta, India, staying with a prominent Bengali family, the Tagores, known for their contributions to Indian art, literature, music, and social reform. During this initial visit, as well as through subsequent travels to India and Japan by associated artists from the two groups, there was significant cross-pollination of ideologies, techniques, content, and aesthetics. For instance, the hazy ‘wash’ technique introduced by the nihonga artists, known as morotai, was adopted by the Bengal School of Art artists and became one of the movement’s defin- ing features. Another key theme these two groups of artists explored was the tension between nationalism and transnational Pan-Asianism, the idea that all of Asia should be united economically, culturally, and politically in opposition to European values. Through a detailed analysis of how nihonga impacted the Bengal School of Art, this thesis aims to demonstrate how inter-Asian artistic exchange and dialogue can lead to the creation of new art forms and how this interchange and similar ones can shape the development of art, culture, and identity in both countries.

Wok Palace 88

Felix Li BSAD Advisor: Azra Aksamija

Wok Palace 88 is a fictional and defunct American Chinese restaurant brought back to life through the institutional process of excavating, archiving, and displaying. The artist performed “A Soft Grand Opening” for Wok Palace 88 based on shutdown Chinese restaurants in the greater Boston area, including Eldo Cake House and Joyce Chen’s restaurants. Prior to the grand opening of Wok Palace 88, the artist biked around Boston and Cambridge to deliver the menus to the defunct restaurants and to buildings and households along the way. “A Soft Grand Opening” featured a video installation using footage from the menu deliveries and informal archives along with a performance where the artist played an archivist, curator, historian, collector, and subject. The artist presented and archived fabricated artifacts from the restaurant, and he embodied the histories ingrained in the objects. The performance asked what it means to embed time, memory, and place into an object; and consequently how they’re valued and commodified. The performance was a provocation on what it means to archive and institutionalize cultural objects, and how histories connected to material bodies are told.