When Zen Becomes Political: Zen and Soft/Hard Power

In celebration of Asia Week New York 2024, the Japanese Art Society of America is delighted to invite you to join JASA Members for the 2024 Annual Meeting and a special lecture presented by Frank Feltens, Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Zen has been used to foster political agendas, as inspiration for activism, and as a way to go against common norms. This talk highlights distinctive moments and individuals that made Zen and its arts a part of the political discourse of their times. They showcase how Zen has been part of Japan’s hard and soft power for centuries and continued to be in the twentieth century.