ASIAN ART IN BRUSSELS announces exhibitors and program for the 2015 edition

ASIAN ART IN BRUSSELS announces exhibitors and program for the 2015 edition ASIAN ART IN BRUSSELS (AAB) is delighted to announce the launch of its 2015 edition, which will be held in Brussels from 10 to 14 June 2015 in conjunction with two other important fairs and cultural events, Brussels Ancient Art Fair (BAAF) and Brussels non European Art Fair (BRUNEAF). The 3 Fairs together are composed by approximately 80 established international antique dealers and create a unique event in the world of art fairs making Brussels a key destination for art enthusiasts in June. AAB will present 17 leading international specialists in the arts of India, Himalaya, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China and Japan, who will offer their finest works of art on view and for sale. We are pleased to welcome 3 new exhibitors specialized in the field of Japanese paintings and graphics : Ibasho (Antwerp), Hotei (Leiden) and Oranda Jin ( s Hertogenbosch), who will join our well established group of dealers exhibiting in conveniently located galleries in the Sablon area. Dealers returning to Asian Art in Brussels include: Himalayan, Indian and Southeast Asian art : Astamangala (Amsterdam), Buddhist Art (Berlin), Carlo Cristi (Italy), Karim Grusenmeyer (Brussels), Famarte (Knokke-Heist), Martin Doustar (Paris and Brussels), Michael Woerner (Hong Kong and Bangkok). Chinese art : Gisèle Croës (Brussels), Galerie Lamy (Brussels), Duchange et Riché (Brussels and London), Jacques How Choong (Brussels), Wei Asian Arts (Brussels). Japanese art : Hotei (Leiden), Ibasho (Antwerp), Kitsune Japanese Art (Brussels), Kyoto Gallery (Brussels), Oranda Jin ('s- Hertogenbosch) A strictly organized vetting by a panel of international specialists and the compulsory ART LOSS REGISTER certification of all offered works of art will assure the public and collectors of authenticity, quality, and provenance. Such high standard is quite unique and highly appreciated by the visitors. Dates: Wednesday 10 th to Sunday 14 th June 2015 Hours: Wednesday 10/06: Thursday 11/06: Friday 12/06: Saturday 13/06: Sunday 14/06: 3 pm 9 pm 11 am 8 pm 11 am 7 pm 11 am 7 pm 11 am 5 pm Venue: art galleries in the Sablon area (detailed list below) Contact: www.asianartinbrussels.com asianartinbrussels@gmail.com

EVENTS 2015 The Art Fairs AAB and BAAF are happy to announce the third edition of "ArtConnoisseurs - a rendez-vous with Art, Knowledge and Beauty" which will be organised in collaboration with the Royal Museums of Art and History. The Concept: ArtConnoisseurs is a cultural programme taking place simultaneously to the fairs which are held each June at the Sablon in Brussels. Since the last 3 years, in order to add the pleasure of knowledge to the events of the fairs, ArtConnoisseurs has received over 30 speakers of international standing in the field of Archaeology, ancient and Asian art. Many videos of the conferences are available on the websites of ArtConnoisseurs and AAB and BAAF. ArtConnoisseurs is organised by Asian Art in Brussels (AAB), Brussels Ancient Art Fair (BAAF), Brussels International Art Promotion and Logistics (BIAPAL) and the Institut Belge des Hautes Etudes Chinoises (IBHEC) ArtConnoisseurs Friday 12 June from 5 to 7 pm. Musées Royaux d Art et d Histoire (Musée du Cinquantenaire) On Friday the 12th of June, the Cinquantenaire Museum will host a series of lectures on Asian Art and Archaeology given by the museum's specialists and by invited international scholars. As every year, the lectures will be filmed and made available online on the websites of ArtConnoisseurs (www.artconnoisseurs.eu), Asian Art in Brussels (www.asianartinbrussels.com), and Brussels Ancient Art Fair (www.baaf.be). At this occasion, the museum will exceptionally open its reserves and offer private guided tours conducted by its curators. A fundraising party will also be held after the lectures to benefit various projects of the museum. Information and tickets: mecenat@rmah.be - http://www.kmkg-mrah.be/mecenat How to reach the Museum: bus 27 goes from Sablon to the Museum (bus stop Gaulois) in about 20 minutes.

PROGRAM OF LECTURES 5pm Hidden Treasures from the Floating World The Collection of Japanese Prints in the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels By Nathalie Vandeperre, Curator Far-Eastern Department (China, Japan, Korea) - Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH), Brussels treasures of the RMAH. Ukiyo-e prints were among the very first objects the RMAH acquired for its Japanese section, with the purchase of 267 prints at Bing s in Paris in 1889. The most important acquisition no doubt was Edmond Michotte s collection in 1905, that counted over 4600 prints. After the exhibition of the Michotte collection in 1911, the print collection grew but remained hidden in the storages until the 1970 s when it was rediscovered by the American specialists Roger Keyes and Jack Hillier. They identified unique Sharaku prints and found a selection of Harunobu prints in an impeccable state of conservation, among many others. With the restauration works of the Museum of Japanese Art in 2013, the prints returned to the storages. This lecture will introduce the highlights of the ukiyo-e collection, one of the Suzuki HARUNOBU, inv. JP.598, Michotte collection Nathalie Vandeperre is curator of the Far-Eastern department (China, Japan, Korea) of the Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH) in Brussels. She heads the Museums of the Far-East (Chinese Pavilion, Japanese Tower and Museum of Japanese Art) and their export art collections. She recently curated two important exhibitions: Utamaro: the twelve hours of the green houses, and other beauties (Museum of Japanese Art, 2012 (she also co-authored the catalogue of the exhibition); and Hokusai: views on Mount Fuji and other landscapes (Museum of Japanese Art, 2013) Recent publications: «The King s dream» and «Collecting the Far-East» in Arts of Asia nr.200, 2012 ; editor of «Hokusai, coup d oeil sur les deux rives du fleuve Sumida, suivi de Le fleuve Yodo» by M. Forrer, Editions Hazan, 2012 ; and of «Keisai, le maître du dessin abrégé. Tous les albums de style ryakuga» by M.Forrer, Editions Hazan, 201

6 pm From India to continental Southeast Asia: the diffusion of Buddhist Iconography by Pierre Baptiste, Senior curator - Southeast Asia, National Museum for Asian Art Musée Guimet, Paris Thanks to the study of a selection of Buddhist art objects preserved in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, it is possible to explain and illustrate the close links between these images (Dvâravatî art, Preangkorian Khmer statuary, art of Champa) and the Indian prototypes that generated them. These iconographical and stylistic links will be illustrated and studied thanks to a florilege of masterpieces from Southeast Asia statuary (c. 6th to 10thcentury). Bodhisattva Lokeshvara de Tan Long (Soc Trang, Vietnam), fin 7e- 8e siècle, grès, musée national des Arts asiatiques - Guimet MA5063 (photo Thierry Ollivier - Musée Guimet / RMN) In charge of the Southeast Asian art department of the Musée Guimet since 1996, Pierre Baptiste is an art historian and researcher. Teacher at the Faculty of Archaeology of the Royal University of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (1998-2002) and the Ecole du Louvre, Paris, he directed the renovation of the Southeast Asian galleries at the Guimet (1996-2001). Author of several essays, and articles devoted to the arts of Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, he participated to the scientific direction of books in this field, such as Missions archéologiques françaises au Vietnam 1903-1904, 2005 ; Catalogue des collections khmères du musée Guimet, 2008. He curated exhibitions on several aspects of the arts of Southeast Asia, such as : Trésors d art du Vietnam - La statuaire du Champa, 2004; Dvâravatî : Aux sources du Bouddhisme en Thaïlande, 2009. He organised an exhibition on Louis Delaporte and the so-called rediscovery of Angkor (Angkor Naissance d un Mythe Louis Delaporte et le Cambodge, 2013) and recently curated an exhibition with Vietnam on the iconography of the Dragon (L Envol du Dragon Art royal du Vietnam).

7 pm Crafting Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: Case Studies from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Denise Patry Leidy, Curator (Chinese sculpture and decorative arts), Department of Asian Art - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York From an early Buddha cast using the distinctively Chinese piecemold technique to a late seventh-century mandala, one of the earliest known examples of this type, to wooden bodhisattvas with hidden mirrors, scientific examination has yielded new information regarding the dating, meaning, and function of many of the Chinese Buddhist sculptures in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This presentation will both introduce new material regarding some of the most famous masterpieces in the collection and explore the ways in which this information broadens our understanding of the practice of Buddhism in China. Buddha Vairocana Tang dynasty, late 7 th early 8 th century Gilt arsenical leaded bronze: lost wax cast H. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm) Rogers Fund, 1943 (43.24.3) The Metropolitan Museum of Art Denise Patry Leidy has a PHD in Art History of the Columbia University of New York. Curator since 1995 in the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Chinese sculpture and Decorative Arts), she is responsible for extensive collections of sculpture, lacquer, ceramics and other decorative arts including bi-annual rotations of lacquers and textiles in The Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for Chinese Decorative Arts. Recent projects include «Silla : Korea s Golden Kingdom» (with Soyoung Lee) and the development of a «Treasure Room» for the third floor decorative arts galleries. Author of many books, essays, exhibition catalogues and brochures and gallery guides about Chinese, Korean and Central Asian Art, curator of major exhibitions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums, she is a very active international lecturer and collaborates at research projects and scholarly activities in her speciality : the Buddhist art of Asia.

EVENTS 2015 Exhibition: Fight Pray Love The exhibition: Fight Pray Love will focus on Moghul and Sikh arms and armours from an important private European collection. A catalogue will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition and a lecture will be held by the renown specialist Robert Elgood. The exhibition focus on the role of weaponry in acts of workship and rituals; its sacred role in the quotidian world and in religious ceremonies and the techniques; the design and decoration symbolism intervening in its manufacture, and on the wider role this material and metaphysical phenomenon has had to play. The exhibition will be held in an exceptional Art Nouveau building from the Belgian architect Victor Horta in 1894. Venue: Hôtel Frison, Rue Lebeau 37 (1000 Bruxelles) Lecture Date: Time: Venue: Saturday 13 June 5pm Hôtel Frison, Rue Lebeau 37 (1000 Bruxelles) North Indian Weapons and Warriors by Robert Elgood Muslims and Hindus had differing attitudes to arms and their place in the social structure but both delighted in producing the most magnificent arms possible. For Hindus warriors these were spiritually charged objects which the Goddess was persuaded to enter every year in the Durga Puja festival to make them efficacious.. For Muslims arms were part of religious duty but also about prestige and political power which was passed from the ruler to privileged subjects in the khilat system where by accepting gifts of personal items they became 'limbs' of the ruler, personifying his authority. This lecture will discuss a rich and varied selection of objects chosen for their beauty and for what they tell us about the people who owned them, how they thought and behaved. Robert Elgood has a BA in Islamic History from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University; and a DPHIL from Oxford University in Indian Anthropology. He was consultant in Indian and Islamic arms at Sotheby's London in the 1980s and Research Fellow, Eastern European, Islamic and Asian Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection 2006-2012.

List of exhibitors Astamangala / Sjoerd De Vries Keizergracht 574 1017 EM Amsterdam The Netherlands T: +31 20 6234402 F: +31 20 6234402 M: +31 621 546 317 asta@xs4all.nl www.astamangala.com Exhibition address: Rue des Minimes 52 Buddhist Art Berlin, Germany By Appointment T: +49 173 656 1260 Buddhist.art@hotmail.com www.buddhist-art.info Exhibition address: Rue des Minimes 61 Carlo Cristi / Asian Arts Company 12 Rue de Plancenoit B-1401 Baulers (Nivelles) Belgium T: +39 0332966114 F: +39 0332966114 M: +39 335 593 37 32 carlocristi@tin.it www.asianart.com/carlocristi Exhibition address: Galerie Champaka, rue Ernest Allard 27

Gisèle Croës Avenue Emile Duray 44 B-1050 Brussels Belgium T: +322 511 82 16 F: +322 514 04 19 gisele.croes@skynet.be Exhibition address: Avenue Emile Duray 44 Martin Doustar / Ancient & Tribal Art Paris - Brussels T: +33 687293074 F: +322 416 63 43 doustar79@aol.com Exhibition address: Rue des Minimes 61 Duchange et Riché Rue Ernest Allard 45 B-1000-Brussels-Belgium T: +322 512 42 18 M: +32 479 833 703 info@aabru.com www.aabru.com Exhibition address: Rue Ernest Allard 45

Famarte / Farah Massart Duindistelstraat 16 B 8300 Knokke M: +32495 289 100 art@famarte.be www.famarte.be Exhibition address: Galerie Lamy, Rue Ernest Allard 32 Karim Grusenmeyer Rue Lebeau 14 B-1000 Brussels Belgium T: +322 514 03 37 F: +329 223 39 37 M: +32 475 475 729 karim@grusenmeyer.be www.grusenmeyer.be Exhibition address: Rue Lebeau 14 Hotei Japanese Prints Rapenburg 19 23111 GE Leiden The Netherlands ukiyoe@xs4all.nl www.hotei-japanese-prints.com Exhibition address: Galerie Laurentin, rue Ernest Allard 43

Jacques How Choong Rue des Minimes 19 B-1000 Brussels Belgium T: +33 6 2296 9583 jacqueshowchoong@gmail.com Exhibition address: Rue des Minimes 19 Ibasho Japanese fine art photography Tolstraat 67 B-2000 Antwerp Belgium T: +32 (0) 3 216 20 28 M: +32 (0) 473 139 328 (Annemarie Zethof) M : +32(0) 473 139 329 (Martin Van Pieterson) info@ibashogallery.com www.ibashogallery.com Exhibition address: Galerie Laurentin, Rue Ernest Allard 43 Kitsune / Arie Vos Rue des Minimes 55 B-1000 Brussels Belgium M: +32 476 87 85 69 japanese.art@kitsune.be www.kitsune.be Exhibition address: Rue des Minimes 55

Kyoto Gallery / Tony Cammaert Rue Ernest Allard 20 B-1000 Brussels Belgium T: +32 71 703 701 F: +32 71 703 702 M: +32 475 448 356 info@chateaudacoz.be www.chateaudacoz.be Exhibition address: Rue Ernest Allard 20 Galerie Lamy / Georges Lamy Rue Ernest Allard 32 B-1000 Brussels Belgium T: +322 502 12 05 M: +32 475 604 053 galerielamy@skynet.be Exhibition address: Rue Ernest Allard 32 Oranda Jin/Jon de Jong Kalverstraat 28 5223 AD s-hertogenbosch The Netherlands T: +31 73 6218951 M: +31 6 347 4444 2 orandajin@home.nl www.orandajin.com Exhibition address : Galerie Antoine Laurentin, Rue Ernest Allard 43

Wei Asian Arts / Howard Wei Rue Van Moer 5 B-1000 Brussels Belgium T: +322 503 58 35 M: +32 485 960 695 weiasianarts@skynet.be www.asianart.com/wei Exhibition address: Rue Van Moer 5 Michael Woerner Hong Kong - Bangkok T: +49 172 660 45 22 M: +852 9874 1061 micwoerner@yahoo.com Exhibition address: Architect s House, Rue Ernest Allard 21 Thematic exhibition: Dong Son - Six Bronze Age Masterpieces from Southeast Asia