Garden connections with no borders

Cultural News, January 2009

 

International Conference on Japanese Gardens Outside Japan

March 26-29

California State University, Long Beach

 

 

Anderson Garden at Rockford, Illinois

 

   The first international conference on Japanese gardens for garden directors, administrators, educators, stewards, preservation experts, and horticulture experts will be held at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) from March 26 through 29. Registration information is now available at www.csulb.edu/~jgarden and at (562) 985-2169.

 

    Japanese gardens are an international phenomenon. They are found in at least 53 countries; North America alone has more than 250 major gardens. Recent most magnificent Japanese garden project was $200 millions recreation of Katsura Imperial Villa (built in early 17th century in Kyoto) in Silicon Valley by California software billionaire Lawrence Ellison.

 

    With memberships of garden architect, the International Association of Japanese Gardens (IAJG) was formed 10 years ago. The International Conference on Japanese Gardens Outside Japan in Long Beach is the first attempt to form a forum for professionals in wider fields on the subject and enthusiasts of Japanese gardens.  

 

    The conference will be held at Daniel Recital Hall at the university campus on Friday, March 27, and at Hilton Long Beach Hotel on Saturday, March 28.

 

    Conference tour itineraries on Thursday, March 26 and Sunday, March 29 include the James Irvine Garden at Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, and the Storrier-Stearns Garden in Pasadena. On Sunday, the deviated group will visit the Noguchi California Scenario in Costa Mesa, The San Diego Tech Center Japanese Garden, and the San Diego Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.

 

     The international conference is a collaboration between CSULB’s the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden and the College of Art, CSULB.

 

     Key note speakers are Prof. Kendall Brown of CSULB, Prof. Makoto Suzuki of Tokyo University of Agriculture, Marc Treib, Professor Emeritus of the University of California, Berkeley, landscape architect Ron Herman, and Dr. Miyuki Katahira-Manabe, lecturer of Momoyama Gakunin University, Osaka. 

 

 Prof. Kendall Brown teaches Asian Art History at the university and he is Curator at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. He received B.A. an M.A. degrees in history and art history from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University. Although a much-published specialist on Japanese prints and painting, he is also a scholar of Japanese gardens outside Japan. In this area, he has published many articles and the book Japanese-style Gardena of the Pacific West Coast (Rizzoli, 1999). 

 

  Prof. Makoto Suzuki’s research interests include the history of modern landscape architecture, the critical examination of modern garden design and the Japanese garden outside of Japan. He has authored numerous books and  articles including: Genealogy of the Japanese Garden Outside of Japan (2007), East meets West: World Wide Influence of Japanese Gardens (2006), and New Rocks, New Water: Transforming the Japanese Garden (2006).

 

  Marc Treib has published widely on modern and historical subject in the U.S., Japan, and Scandinavia. Recent books include: Noguchi in Paris: The UNESCO Garden (2003), The Donnell and Eckbo Garden: Modern California Masterworks (2005), and Setting and Stray Paths: Writings on Landscapes and Gardens (2005).

 

  Landscape architect Ron Herman has designed many of North America’s largest and most intricate private gardens. Having created more than 400 full-scale garden designs, he was recently engaged in the 25-acre Japanese-style estate of Oracle Corporation Founder Lawrence Ellison.

 

    Upon earning of a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, he worked as design associate with Robert Herrick Carter in Los Angeles followed by graduate studies in Japan. The experience led to a lifelong study of Japanese design.

 

   Dr. Miyuki Katahira-Manabe researched Japanese gardens in English speaking countries from 1868 to 1940, and analyzed their perspectives on Japanese gardens and Japanese responses. 

 

    On the evening of Friday, March 27, the inaugural award will be given to Dr. Takeo Uesugi, Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Dr. Uesugi designed numerous Japanese gardens in the U.S.

 

     Tim Altman contributed to this article.