Lee Ufan, Zan and the School of Things

Explore the concept of Zen in relation to Lee Ufan and alternative ways of making, seeing and experiencing art with senior curator of Asian art Melanie Eastburn in conversation with religion expert Julian Droogan. 

Lee claims that Zen gives answers, but his work is all about questions. How can Zen help us understand Lee’s art? As embodiments of time and space or mediators of human connection, how do art objects help us attune to each other and the world around us? 

Japan, home to Zen, the tea ceremony and the post-war movement of ‘Mono-ha’ (School of Things) is the perfect location to contemplate and question our ideas of human engagement with the material world. 

Melanie Eastburn is senior curator of Asian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Dr Julian Droogan is an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University and has a PhD in Studies in Religions. 

Their talk will be moderated by Kathryn Hunyor, a Japanese-speaking curator who is head of international tours at the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales.  

Take a deep breath, as we try to decide: is it Zen or not Zen?