Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) led a delegation of scholars and specialists on Indo-Japan relations to The Japan Foundation office in New Delhi on November 17.
The occasion was an exhibition “Indigo and Its Impact on India & East Asia” by Dr. Padmini Tolat Balaram who has displayed design techniques using natural indigo on textile woven in Japan, Korea, China and India. A Japan Foundation Fellow, she is presently working as Professor of Design at Visva-Bharati University in India.
Kaoru Miyamoto, the director general of The Japan Foundation, New Delhi welcomed the delegation and accompanied them during the exhibition.
These scholars and specialists were visiting New Delhi to participate in“International Conference India and Japan: Unearthing lesser-known linkages” held on November 15-17 jointly organised by MOSAI and India International Centre. They were there for presentations and deliberations to provide a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of the historical foundations of intellectual and creative exchanges between India and Japan.
“On the last day of the conference, we took these scholars and specialists to the Japan Foundation to witness the indigo work by Dr. Balaram. They took keen interest in the exhibition,” said Dr. Ashok Jain, the president. MOSAI.
The exhibition “Indigo and Its Impact on India & East Asia” that was opened for public on November 16, will continue till December 11. It has a total of 56 exhibits on display, and 30 of these are fabric pieces from Japan, six from Korea, two from China and 18 from India.
Dr. Balram’s first research in Japan was as a Japan Foundation Fellow, on ‘Indigo and Its use in Japan: A comparative study with India’, where she documented and experimented with Nihon Ai, Ryukyu Ai and Indo Ai (Indian Indigo), various Japanese techniques of designing with natural Indigo including Shibori, Kasuri, Tsutsugaki, Bingata, Aigata, Egata, Katazome, Edo Komon, Tsujigahana, etc.
Ambassador Hiroshi Hirabayashi, the President of Japan- India Association who presented the keynote address “Unearthing Japan-India History: From Spiritual Affinity to Strategic & Global Partnership” at the“International Conference India and Japan: Unearthing lesser-known linkages” also accompanies the delegation to Japan Foundation for the Indigo exhibition.
Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) comprising of Japan specialists promotes educational, research, and academic contacts between India and Japan. This International Conference provides an opportunity to scholars and specialists to present papers and posters on different aspects of research on lesser known historical and cultural exchanges between India and Japan mainly but not exclusively during 16th to the early 20th centuries.
“Tracing some of the lesser-known historical linkages between India and Japan with multiple perspectives would support a foundation on which mutual relations are built, and flourish in the changing geo-political and economic environment. The Conference objective is to bring together scholars and specialists for presentations and deliberations to provide a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of the historical foundations of intellectual and creative exchanges between India and Japan,” Dr. Jain said.
