Koken Nomura

Anchored in the Western art world, Nomura naturally incorporated cultural and spiritual traditions of his native Japan into his versatile artistic work, which often touched on the spiritual dimensions of life. Text in English, German and Japanese.

Shortly before his death, the artist Koken Nomura, who was born in Japan in 1948 and died in Cologne in 2021, planned a publication of selected works. This book follows the artist’s original wish in its selection of works and texts. His use of different materials, artistic approaches and means of expression were as complex as our lives. Anchored in the art world of the West, Koken Nomura repeatedly referred to his inherent Japanese perspectives. He naturally incorporated the cultural and spiritual traditions of his homeland into his work, which repeatedly touched on the spiritual dimension of life.

Text in English, German and Japanese.

Franziska Ehmcke (born 1947) was a Research Assistant in the East Asian Faculty of the University of Cologne from 1978 to 1986, later working as a freelance translator and author between 1986 and 1993. She was Professor and Head of the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Cologne from 1994 to 2012, and member of the board of the Center for Asian Studies. On June 14, 2013, Ehmcke was awarded the Japanese order Order of the Rising Sun for her cooperation with other institutions and projects in Japan, promotion of Japan outside of academia, and impact on German-Japanese relations, having established the first taught degree program in Japanese at the University of Cologne, which trained Japanese schoolteachers. Ehmcke’s publications include Der japanische Tee-Weg - Bewusstseinsschulung und Gesamtkunstwerk (Cologne, 1991) and Osaka zu byobu - Ansichten der Burgstadt Osaka in Schloss Eggenberg (Graz, 2010).