Exhibitions

The Oriental Museum hosts a year round programme of exciting guest exhibitions. Oriental Museum exhibitions explore and engage with the civilizations and cultures of Asia, Egypt, Islamic North Africa, and the Near and Middle East.

Beyond the Great Wave

Hokusai, book illustration and the origins of manga

9th December 2011 - 27th May 2012

The print designer and painter Katsushika Hokusai is one of Japan's most well-known artists, world famous for works such as the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji including the iconic image The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Less well known is Hokusai's prolific output of illustrated books.

In later life Hokusai used the signature Gakyō rōjin, 'the old man mad about drawing'. During almost 70 years as an artist (he died in 1849 aged 89), Hokusai illustrated or contributed to more than 270 books. Some in colour, others in black and white, these books included works of fiction, poetry, erotica and instruction manuals for painters. This exhibition highlights the range of Hokusai's book illlustrations and includes some of earliest books to be referred to as 'manga'.

MANGA: Made in Japan

2nd March - 17th June 2012

An exhibition of contemporary Manga artwork and anime created by local students and inspired by the Oriental Museum's Japanese collections.

Click here for further information.

Made in China: Experiences and Exports

16th June - 16th September 2012

This Stories of the World exhibition will explore relations between Britain and China between 1500 and the present day. Click here for further information.

One in Five: Photographs from China

22nd June - 16th September 2012

China is here. Not only the largest nation in the world, but also shortly to become the largest economy in the world. The impact of China on the global stage in undeniable. As the balance shifts from west to east, the 'Middle Kingdom' increasingly impacts upon all of our lives.

According to the 2010 Chinese census, China accounts for 19.3% of the world's population - almost one in five people on this planet. Who are these people? What do they look like? How do they live? How much of what we think we know about China is based on hearsay, myths or propoganda from a bygone age?

Between September 2009 and February 2010, photographer James Sebright travelled extensively through China, photographing the people he met and observed, their behaviour and their landscape. In this exhibition he seeks to put a human face to China, to present one man's attempt to try to understand China for himself.