General Members Meeting 2025

The board of the KVVAK invites its members to the General Meeting (ALV) on Saturday, April 12, 2025, 2 p.m. in the Auditorium, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Walk-in with coffee and tea: 1:30 p.m. You will receive the official convocation in good time.

During the ALV you will receive information about our association policy and finances, we will look back on the past association year, Anne Gerritsen, KVVAK Professor of Asian Art at Leiden University, and the curators of Asian art at the Rijksmuseum will give a presentation on their work.

After a short break after the ALV, we will continue the afternoon with four short lectures on restoration and research on Asian objects in the KVVAK collection and in that of the Rijksmuseum.

Over the past year, XRF (X-ray technology) has been used to study the composition of enamel on Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The Rijksmuseum has pieces that are well documented (before 1814) and pieces whose age is questionable. This afternoon, Jan van Campen, curator at the Rijksmuseum, addresses the question of whether we can be more certain about dating by comparing the emails of the “definitely-old” pieces with those of the “doubtful” ones?

Two Japanese folding screens from the KVVAK collection show flying cranes against a sky with golden clouds, made during Japan’s Edo period (1600-1700). Decades of wear and tear and attempted repairs necessitated restoration. Paper conservator Juliet Baines explains how traditional Japanese techniques were combined with modern expertise during this process. During the restoration, historical layers were revealed, which are explained in today’s presentation by Wouter Koch and Luca van Leeuwen, researchers at Leiden University.

The Rijksmuseum has a large collection of Japanese prints. The colors on these prints can be sensitive to light. Using new research techniques and in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others, the research project Japanese Prints Better Viewed has begun. It investigates which pigments were used and the condition of the collection. Marije Jansen and Juliet Baines tell us about the reason for the research and the results so far.

An extraordinary Korean Buddhist statue is temporarily on display in the Asian Pavilion: a wooden, partially gilded and polychromed statue of Gwaneum from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). This sculpture, on loan from the National Museum of Korea, offers insight into the art tradition of Buddhist master sculptors and the role of monks as both spiritual and artistic leaders. Senna van Dam, one of KVVAK’s young scholars, convinces us that the sculpture is a valuable addition to the Korea collection because it brings attention to Buddhist art of the late Joseon period.

We will conclude the afternoon with drinks in the Foyer.

Everyone is welcome and registration is already available.