unearthed - Press information

22nd Jun 2010 - 29th Aug 2010

unearthed, a major new exhibition which brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from the Balkans and Japan for the first time, opens at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, on Tuesday 22 June and runs until Sunday 29 August. Over 100 ancient figurines from Albania, Macedonia, Japan, Romania and the UK will be on display together with contemporary artworks. This exciting fresh approach will reveal new ideas about some of the most remarkable survivals from prehistory, enable us to think about figurines in new ways and reflect on what makes us human. The exhibition has been developed by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures and is supported by The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), The Henry Moore Foundation, the Japan Foundation and the Duke of Omnium Fund.

Figurine Japan, Japan, Final Jōmon Period Read more »	The Grimes Graves Goddess Britain, 4000-2500 BC Read more »	Jōmon figurines and fragments from Sannai Maruyama Japan, Middle Jōmon Period Read more »
Figurine Nakamichi, Japan, Japan, Middle Jōmon Period Read more »	Playing in Time Animation Read more »	Miniature Figurine Romania, Gumelnita (4600-3900C) Read more »

See below for an electronic version of the exhibition gallery guide. To view the gallery guide in full screen, click on the picture, then click on the arrows to turn the pages.

unearthed will focus on two of the earliest and most elaborate traditions of ceramic figurine making: the Jomon from the Japanese archipelago (c.16,000-2,000 years ago) and the Neolithic and Eneolithic from the Balkans (c.8,500-4,500 years ago).

Whilst some information is known about how prehistoric people lived in Japan and the Balkans, our understanding of why figurines were made and how they were used is less certain. The exhibition brings together objects made by village dwellers from two unconnected regions, to enable comparison.

Stimulating new interpretation is made possible through the identification of intriguing similarities and differences; why, for example, were they both making human forms from clay and why were figurines commonly broken?

Theories about the possible functions of figurines include toys, dolls, magical objects designed to guarantee or increase fertility or successful harvests, and the representations of gods or as ‘Mother Goddesses’. The exhibition will explore these possibilities and will use the figurines to ask questions about how people express their worlds, why people make and break things, why people use small objects and how people lived in the past.

Visitors will be encouraged to make their own interpretations, encountering the figurines as an archaeologist would and piecing together the fragments of evidence they find.

Amongst the works on display will be the distinctive ‘goggle-eyed’ figures from northern Japan, objects from important early collections from the Tokyo University Museum and, back in Norfolk for the first time since its discovery in 1930s, the Grimes Graves Chalk Goddess. The exhibition includes 6 ornate Jomon figurines (known as dogu) from the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, which is permanently housed at the Sainsbury Centre.

unearthed includes a series of contemporary artworks and images from present day Japan and the Balkans. Ancient and contemporary will be juxtaposed to stimulate wider thinking about figurines, the representation of the human form and the ways in which these ancient figurines have become important visual icons in the development of 21st century cultural identities. Amongst the works on display will be Japanese manga characters inspired by Jomon figures, modern representations of the human form, and dioramic photographs with animations that recreate a sense of being in prehistoric worlds.

One of the key themes in the exhibition is miniaturisation and our relationship with small figures. Many of the figurines were designed to be held in the hand (typically 4-5cm in height with the smallest object being just 2.3cm tall). unearthed will look at the ways in which people interact with such small objects and how their size may affect how they are perceived. As part of this, visitors to the exhibition will be given a biscuit-fired figurine made by artist Sue Maufe, enabling them to experience the tactile quality of the ancient figures they will see on display. They will also be able to break their figurine, adding it to a heap of fragments in the gallery reminiscent of the archaeological sites where figurines have been found.

unearthed is accompanied by a book by two of the exhibition curators, Andrew Cochrane (University of East Anglia) and Douglass Bailey (San Francisco State University), which is distributed by Oxbow Books in Oxford, UK. It is intended that the book will set the future agenda for the study of prehistoric figurines. Press copies available on request.

The exhibition is accompanied by an exciting programme of academic and public events including artist-led workshops, family events and talks. A study day, organised by the Sainsbury Centre and SISJAC will be held at Norwich University College of the Arts on Saturday 19 June.

unearthed is curated by Professor Douglass Bailey (San Francisco State University), Dr Andrew Cochrane (University of East Anglia) and Dr Simon Kaner (Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures).

Click here to view Sarah Beare's animation Playing in Time, created for the unearthed exhibition »

For more information about the Sainsbury Institute, please visit their website
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