May 15 to 22, 2019
Content: 170 works created by Japanese artists: oil, watercolour, Japanese painting, calligraphy, craftwork, sculpture
Organised by: Qualiart (Japanese publishing house)
Co-organiser: Eugenio Granell Foundation
With the collaboration of: Casa Galicia Japan Association
Some words from the organiser:
Chairman of Qualiart (Japanese publishing house), Mr. Hidetoshi Kushida
In 1868, Japan and Spain signed a Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Shipping, maintaining a friendly relationship down to the present. In 2018, they celebrated the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
After signing the agreement, Japan and Spain began to deepen their diplomatic relationship after the former had been closed for two centuries. The Japanese of the new Meiji era chose Spain, within Europe, as the place to undertake new exchanges and look to as an example to follow and learn from in several fields.
On the other hand, Spain has served as a catalyser for conveying the variety of European culture by means of the Way of St. James, recognised as the First European Cultural Itinerary, as well as working hard in the development of religious art. In modern and contemporary times, great artists, from Goya to Picasso, have had a large impact on the artistic world, reaching as far as Japan in the Far East.
The Aragonese section of the French Way of St. James features the place called Javier, where the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born; he was the one that introduced Japan to Christianity and Western culture. The Pilgrimage Route gifted us not only with Christianity but also brought Western culture and art to the Far East, to Japan.
Therefore, in 2019, we would like to show our admiration for Spanish culture and, naturally, for the great artist and genius of Spanish and Galician surrealism, Eugenio Granell. We are pleased to hold this exhibition in the Eugenio Granell Foundation in Santiago de Compostela, a holy city and a World Heritage city.
We hope that this exhibition links Galicia-Spain, in the westernmost part of Europe, and Japan, in the Far East, thereby creating a new artistic route.
