The Art of the Japanese Garden from Tradition to Modernity


Marie Conte Helm giving talk for The Arts Society South West London

Japan’s gardens are world famous
Japan’s gardens are world famous

February 23, 2024

The next talk to be hosted by the Arts Society South West London is to be given by Professor Marie Conte-Helm BA, MA, FRSA on the subject “The Art of the Japanese Garden from Tradition to Modernity.”

It is taking place on Monday 11 March at 8pm at Dryburgh Hall on Dryburgh Road next to the Putney Leisure Centre(and by Zoom).

Japan’s gardens are world famous. Nature and artifice are combined in both intimate spaces and grand-scale gardens that surround palaces and Buddhist temples. Stone is used to provide structure, water to represent the life-giving force and plants to give colour throughout the seasons. The famous Zen-inspired dry landscape gardens by contrast are packed with symbolic content.

Historical, religious and philosophical influences have informed the Japanese approach to the visual arts but the lecture will also draw upon wider examples to illustrate the distinctive qualities that the Japanese have brought to garden design in both modern domestic settings and Japanese gardens abroad.

Professor Conte-Helm is a widely published and long-established lecturer on many aspects of Asian Art and East-West Encounters. She was Director General of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation from 1999-2011 and more recently served as Executive Director of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group. She has received honours from both the UK and Japan for services to UK-Japan relations.

The talk will also be available to watch on zoom and you can find details details of how to register on the society’s web site.

If you have never attended an Arts Society lecture before you are urged to join and find out about your local Arts Society. Visit the society’s website for further details.


Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.