"Edo-Tokyo, a journey back in time"
Under the high patronage of
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco
AMCA
Monegasque Association for the Knowledge of the Arts
2024-2025 season cycle
“Beyond heritage: places of beauty and sharing”
4 conferences from October 2024 to January 2025 –
At the Théâtre des Variétés 1, Bd Albert Ier 98000 Monaco
and at the Théâtre Princesse Grace 12, av. d’Ostende 98000 Monaco
MONDAY JANUARY 6, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
THÉÂTRE DES VARIÉTÉS
Edo-Tokyo, a journey back in time
MARIE-CLAUDE MELLIES
Historian
The Edo or Tokugawa period (1603–1868) is a subdivision of modern Japanese history, beginning with the accession of Tokugawa leyasu to the title of shogun and ending with the restoration of imperial power. At the Edo-Tokyo Museum, reproductions of the districts of Edo (the old name of Tokyo until 1868) in scale models or life-size allow visitors to navigate the world of the Tokugawa who ruled Japan from the 17th to the 9th century. During this period, Japan experienced long years of internal peace in a country that had closed itself off. Isolationism brought a flourishing culture to the country, kabuki theater, haiku poetry, paintings and prints of the floating world (ukiyo-e...). The museum also takes us into a Japanese society that has found its most perfect answers through its art objects and aesthetic taste: clothing, mirrors, boxes of all kinds, pots and vases, wood sculptures, associated with painting or lacquer, the tea ceremony and martial arts.
Japan finally opened up to the West in 1854 when the American "black ships" arrived to demand the reopening of the country to trade.
The conference will offer an overview of this Japan of yesteryear.
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Marie-Claude Mellies obtained a master's degree in History teaching by presenting "The symbolism of fire in Greek and Roman rituals." Since then, Marie-Claude Mellies has continued her research in comparison by focusing on different civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome). Since 1991, she has been giving lectures at the UNIA in Nice and accompanying cultural trips to the sites. In recent years, she has become particularly interested in Japanese civilization.
With its new series of conferences entitled “Beyond Heritage: Places of Beauty and Sharing,” the AMCA focuses on exemplary sites located on four continents.
From Cairo to Tokyo, via Philadelphia and Chambord, several museums and a castle will be examined in relation to their architecture and artistic collections, witnesses to civilizations that are very different from each other but whose heritage belongs to all. It is on the atmospheres of these unique places and the exceptional works of art they contain that the speakers will intervene, showing that they are an inexhaustible source of intellectual enrichment and emotions. Finally, in a keen knowledge of the history of these places and a questioning of their future, each of these specialists will speak of the men who worked to create them. Therefore, to capture the spirit of these places to continue to keep it alive and give as many people as possible the chance to appreciate its full value.
ROYAL ARTS VISIONS; "Edo-Tokyo, a journey back in time"