If you’re anywhere near Iowa, this sounds like a fascinating exhibit featuring Japanese, Chinese, and African art of the 19^th and 20^th centuries!

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Imaging Others: Cultural Intersections in the Colonial Period

An Exhibition Examining Cultural Representation
in Japanese, Chinese And African Works

Opening at the Anderson Gallery, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa

We often hear the term “diversity.” But who decides what constitutes diversity? Differentiating one group of people from another is a process a process of “othering” that highlights characteristics that distinguish one group from another. These categories are fluid: at times, groups highlight their differences from one another, at other times the same groups overlook differences and, viewing similarities, unify.

More than 50 works from Japanese, Chinese and African artists of the late 19th century and early 20th century will be brought together in “Imaging Others: Cultural Intersections in the Colonial Period,” a landmark exhibition opening this November at Drake University’s Anderson Gallery. The exhibition looks at the process of “othering,” displaying the wide assortment of other ways nations viewed each other during the turbulent nineteenth century.

“Imaging Others” illuminates the distinctive interaction between art and commerce, demonstrating how artists of this era interpreted the transformations that occurred between cultures.

The exhibit incorporates Japanese 19th century prints depicting the first Japanese impressions of Westerners, at the time when the West persuaded Japan to open its ports to Western trade. The exhibit also features African sculptures portraying white people, or incorporating items from European countries into culturally significant objects. In addition, stereographs and photo-postcards show Chinese people in the United States, and Westerners in China.

“In each culture, some objects emphasize the foreignness of another group, while other objects from that same culture reveal the incorporation of once foreign people and their works,” says Lenore Metrick-Chen, curator and professor of art history. “Through the process of othering, not only is the other group defined, but often inadvertently, we reveal characteristics of our own.”

The exhibition is organized into several groupings that closely examine thematic intersections such as utility, spirituality, and power, while also examining ways in which Africans, Japanese and Chinese artists viewed the West and western practices and dress. A prominent theme throughout the exhibition is the idea of market exchange and commodification.

The exhibition will open with a public reception on Friday, Nov. 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Anderson Gallery and will run through Friday, Dec. 17.

Additional Related Events and Programs

The Anderson Gallery will present a selection of related public programs to coincide with “Imaging Others.” All events are free and open to the public.

• Saturday, Nov. 20, 2 p.m. “Imaging Others through Woodblock Prints,” a gallery walk led by Lenore Metrick-Chen and Michael Chiang, professor of East Asian History. This event is held in conjunction with the monthly meeting of the Japan-American Society of Iowa (JASI).

• Saturday, Dec. 4, 2 p.m. Roundtable Discussion to be held at the Anderson Gallery with: Lenore Metrick-Chen, curator of “Imaging Others” and professor of Art History at Drake University; Michael Chiang, professor of East Asian History at Drake University; John Monroe, professor of History at Iowa State University and former curator of the Stanley Collection of African Art at the University of Iowa Museum of Art; and Glenn McKnight, professor of History at Drake University.

Contact: Lenore Metrick-Chen, lenore.metrick-chen@drake.edu , 515-271- 3801 For additional information, visit http://www.drake.edu/andersongallery or contact the director, Heather Skeens, at 515-271-1994.

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Lenore Metrick-Chen
Assistant Professor
Department of Art & Design
Drake University

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Image from Anderson Gallery website