Scroll Showcase

Person holding out a long scroll on a tabletop against a wall of plan cabinets.
Curator, Rare East Asian Collection, Shiqiu Liu, with a scroll from the collection.

Noel Shaw Gallery, Level 1 Baillieu Library

Join Curator, Rare East Asian Collection, Shiqiu Liu, on the Lunar New Year for a unique opportunity to view the unrolling of two treasured scrolls within the collection. Experience previously unseen sections of the “Garden of the Jade-Surrounded Hall”, currently on display in Here Lives Our Culture, along with the “Scroll of Frolicking Animals”, (Chōjū jinbutsu giga), a humorous and delightful Japanese scroll featuring frogs, monkeys, rabbits and other animals performing serious rituals in a comical way. Attendees will be invited to find interesting details within the work and offer their own interpretations of illustrations within the work.

The Rare East Asian Collection holds over 20,000 items ranging from the 17th to the 21st century, on topics such as history, literature, fine arts, traditional medicine, religion, linguistics, education, gender studies, politics, architecture, craft and design. It consists of books, scrolls, realia, stone rubbings, and ephemera.

This event is part of the University’s Lunar New Year celebration, and forms part of the programming for Here Lives Our Culture, currently on display on Level 1, Baillieu Library.