On the evening of Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at the Lowe Art Museum, Joel Hollander, Ph.D., full-time faculty member at the University of Miami, delivered an informative speech for the project “West Encounters East,” whose focus is to rethink the significance of cultural exchange and diversity by identifying emerging Latin American artists of Asian heritage. Dr. Hollander focused on reflections of Japanese art and culture in the imagery of contemporary Argentine artists, including Valeria Yamamoto, Ary Kaplan Nakamura, Guillermo Ueno, and Lucila Heinberg, whose work will be highlighted in a special pavilion at arteaméricas art fair, March 25 – 28, at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

“One of the primary considerations in ‘West Encounters East’ is to investigate how officially sponsored Japanese emigration programs to South America during the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century changed the ethnic and cultural heritage of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, as well as other countries in the region,” said Dr. Hollander. He added, “The precedent for exploring how Western artists respond to Japanese art can be traced back to the French Impressionists who helped to shape the genesis of modern art.”

The lecture, which began with a moment of silence to honor the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, along with the reception and refreshments that followed, were sponsored by Stella M. Holmes, president of The Brickellian, Inc., an art consultancy group, and founder of Brickell Gallery Night. According to Ms. Holmes, “’West Encounters East’ is a natural evolution of Brickell Gallery Night’s mission to introduce emerging artists with Asian roots to the West.” She stated that, “For me, the emphasis is the fusion of the two traditions. I think of it as Artists Without Borders – a beautiful way that we can learn from each other through a meaningful exchange of culture.”

Photographs of the event