Join the ANU Art Collection curator team and students from the Centre for Art History and Theory to discuss the impressive Dragon (1967) calligraphic work by Japanese Ikebana specialist Teshigahara Sōfū, on display in the Menzies library reading room.

Teshigahara Sōfū (1900–1979) was a leading figure of the postwar avant-garde ikebana movement in Japan, treating iron, stone, root and bark as the equals of flowers, and working across sculpture, painting, collage and calligraphy. Teshigahara toured Australia in 1967, exhibiting and giving demonstrations, including at the ANU Menzies library, where this work was created and generously donated to ANU Libraries.

Calligraphy in Japan has long been valued as an art of gesture as much as an art of writing. In the decades after the Second World War, a generation of calligraphers carried the brushed character towards abstraction, working at a scale and with a freedom that had more in common with contemporary painting than with the writing desk. This work belongs to that moment. It offers a record of a brief moment when Canberra formed part of the circuit of the Japanese postwar avant-garde, and an opportunity to look closely at an art in which the trace of the hand carries the meaning.

Lunchtime Art Bites are held fortnightly during semesters, facilitated by Drill Hall Gallery staff and co-hosted by artists, academics, and students.

Expect a short informative introduction on the artworks followed by questions and an open conversation. Get to know your campus, learn to talk about art, build your cultural community, join the conversation.

Image: Teshigahara Sōfū, Dragon (detail), 1967, ink on paper, three panels. Collection of Australian National University Libraries

This edition is in collaboration with Menzies Library and the ANU School of Culture, History of Language for its annual flagship program Immersia.

Please note: If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please contact the event organisers.

This event may be photographed and recorded. The recorded material may be used to promote future ANU events and programs. By attending the event you are giving us informed consent. If you DO NOT wish to be recorded, please let ANU event staff know on the day. We will be mindful and ensure not to photograph any faces of children present.

Contact the host of 2026 Immersia: Lunchtime Art Bite with Drill Hall Gallery | Dragon: A calligraphy by Teshigahara Sōfū