unearthed
22nd Jun 2010 - 29th Aug 2010
This exhibition brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from the Balkans and Japan for the first time. Over 100 figurines from Albania, Macedonia, Japan, Romania and the UK will be on display. These will include ornate Jomon figurines (known as dogu) from the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection.
 FigurineJapan, Final Jōmon Period |
 The Grimes Graves GoddessBritain, 4000-2500 BC |
 Jōmon figurines and fragments from Sannai MaruyamaJapan, Middle Jōmon Period |
 FigurineNakamichi, Japan, Middle Jōmon Period |
 Playing in TimeAnimation |
 Miniature FigurineRomania, Gumelnita (4600-3900C) |
See below for an electronic version of the exhibition gallery guide. To view the gallery guide in full screen, click on the picture, then click on the arrows to turn the pages.
unearthed offers you the opportunity to get up close to these tiny, enigmatic figurines and to consider some of the mysteries of these ancient objects. Why were village dwellers in two unconnected regions making human forms from clay? Why were figurines commonly broken? What were they used for? What was their significance? How do they inform our understanding of early art? The exhibition poses these and other unresolved questions for art and archaeology.
unearthed challenges us to think more widely about figurines and the expression of the human form. This is explored with a series of contemporary artworks and images, including photographs and animations.
Collect your biscuit-fired figurine made by artist Sue Maufe from (with your ticket, subject to availability) and experience the tactile quality of the objects you will see in on display.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book, distributed by Oxbow Books, which is available from the Sainsbury Centre Gallery Shop.
unearthed is curated by Professor Douglass Bailey (San Francisco State University), Dr Andrew Cochrane (University of East Anglia) and Dr Simon Kaner (Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures).
Click here to view Sarah Beare's animation Playing in Time, created for the unearthed exhibition »
For more information about the Sainsbury Institute, please visit their website
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With support from
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