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Information for Visitors to Nomura Court

Understanding the arts of Asia

Nomura Court was, for a long time, the only permanent exhibition at the National Gallery which provided substantial text accompaniments to the works on display, explaining their significance and some of the religious themes which aid the viewer in gaining a greater understanding of the artworks. When the galleries of Australian art were re-hung last year, panels of text were provided for a similar reason; to aid the viewer in placing the works in an appropriate context. A very recent exhibition of Chinese sculpture has similar panels of text.

This move towards providing textual information as a supplement to visual art can be seen in several ways. Firstly, it has obvious benefits for the average viewer who knows nothing of the country of origin of the piece. Written information can give a quick historical, religious or cultural context which enables the viewer to 'make semse' of certain elements within the piece and the significance of it as an artifact. The problem with providing such information is that the context has to be fairly generalised, simply because of the limits of space and the attention span of the gallery visitor. This could lead to only a limited reading of the piece, as designated by the writer of the text. It could also lead us to think of these pieces more as reliable historical or cultural documents of a given society, which can not only be misleading in interpretation, but can also detract from their visual impact and value as creative visual objects. There is a fine line between too much and not enough information.

Several of the exhibits in Nomura Court are accompanied by a short passage on the religious significance and context of the piece. The most recently acquired and hung pieces have labels in both English and Chinese script. At each end of the gallery space are placed text panels which explain the themes by which the items in the exhibition are linked together. This provides the context for the chosen works and is supported by the display of the works as religious artifacts. The text provided reads as follows;

"No single culture or artistic style unites the whole of Asia. The variety of cultures and religions that developed in this vast region is matched only by the diversity of its art. Nevertheless, factors such as migration, trade, travel and language have forged a number of enduring links within this diversity.
Buddhism, for example, arose in India but there are few areas of Asia that did not feel its influence. The Hindu religion of India spread into south east Asia with Indian traders, and the participation of Hindu priests became an essential element of court ritual in some Buddhist states. The latest of the great religions to develop in this part of the world was Islam, which proved especially popular among the traders who sailed between the cosmopolitan ports of Asia.
Although each area of Asia has its own art forms and styles, these cultural links have also given rise to a number of pan-Asian themes and subjects. The Buddha, for example, can always be recognised by certain physical characteristics. There are many hand gestures, symbolic objects and decorative motifs which are common to all Hindu and Buddhist art. And the fine calligraphy and illumination used in making sumptious copies of the Koran has led to the high esteem in which these arts are held throughout the Islamic world.
One of the most compelling aspects of Asian art is the way in which the different peoples of Asia have interpreted these common themes within their own cultural framework to produce works of unsurpassed aesthetic quality."

This last comment almost acts in dismissing the need for a context to be provided, with emphasis on the visual aspects of the works alone. Nevertheless, the chosen context of religion, even if it has been generalised to only the three prominent religions in Asia, is a valid one for the grouping together of such a vast array of widely differing works.

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HOW THE WORKS ARE DISPLAYED IN NOMURA COURT
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OTHER AVAILABLE RESOURCES ON ASIAN ART

Jane Carter 19.10.95