Virtual exhibitions offer scholars exciting opportunities to make public their research free from the fiscal and practical constraints. We will assess the digital resources now available for the construct virtual exhibitions with particular emphasis on presenting Japanese illustrated books.
Paper long abstract:
Virtual exhibitions offer opportunities to curators and scholars to present to the public the fruits of their on-going research free from the fiscal and practical constraints of actual exhibitions. This is particularly the case with exhibitions that focus on books. Virtual exhibitions allow us to transcend the constraint of only being able to present a single opening of a book in a display case.
The starting point of this presentation will be a brief review of the virtual exhibitions that may be accessed through the websites of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University and the Freer-Sackler Galleries, Washington. The the speaker will turn to the template for virtual exhibitions supported by the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University.
The advantages and limitations of the latter will be examined in detail, particularly with regard to its suitability for presenting research on the book in the Edo period.