Dr Minna Katriina Torma
- Lecturer (History of Art)
telephone:
01413306247
email:
MinnaKatriina.Torma@glasgow.ac.uk
History of Art, 8 University Gardens
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9717-479XResearch interests
Research Interests
- Landscape Art (Global)
- Song dynasty visual culture
- Chinese gardens and architecture (including interiors and furniture)
- East Asian art, with a focus on history of collecting
Biography
Studied art history and theatre history at University of Helsinki and received her PhD with a dissertation on Northern Song landscape painting (Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative) in 2002. She complemented her studies with courses on Chinese art at University of California, Berkeley (1993-1994) and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London (1998). She was Lecturer in the Arts of China (MLitt) programme at Christie's Education, (London 2009-2014). She is also Adjunct Professor of Art History at University of Helsinki.
Research Projects
Current research focuses on the theme of “The Ten Kings of Earth Prisons” and their visual representations from Song to Qing. In addition, she is exploring the material and visual culture of the Five Dynasties period and the Song dynasty. Another research trajectory consists on history of collecting practices: Nordic Private Collections of Chinese Objects (forthcoming from Routledge 2020).
Member of the Scottish Centre for China Research
http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/sccr/
Member of the Board of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS)
Grants
PI of China Art Research Network (CARN), 2016-2018 funded by RSE
Supervision
The areas of priority of my PhD supervision are:
- Global landscape: this covers topics related to any geographical location or historical period; it could be about painting or gardens, or other media.
- History and theory of collecting practices: preferred focus is on private collecting and on Asian material culture
I am also happy to consider other proposals related to my research areas.
Enquiries should include a CV and a preliminary research proposal which should demonstrate innovativeness and excellent research skills. In addition, for those who are not native English speakers, the IELTS score should be 7.0 or above (with no sub-category under 6.5).
- Fung Helena
From East to West and Back Again: A critical review of the cross-cultural consumption, collecting and historiography of Chinese ‘classic’ furniture from the Ming and early Qing dynasties. - Hu Qiao
Materiality, Visuality, and Spatiality of Incense Culture in Ming Dynasty China - Rao Qinghong
Rivers and Mountains: a Research about British and Chinese Landscape Painting - Ren Baihua
The Water Mill – Authentication of Jiehua
Teaching
Current and new:
- Journeys in the Netherworld: Representations of the Ten Kings of Hell in Imperial China (Junior Honours)
- Approaches to Chinese Painting History (Senior Honours)
- Methodologies I: Object Biographies (MSc)
- Methodologies II: Collecting and Display (MSc)
Old:
- Arts of the Song Dynasty and Its Neighbour Regimes (Junior Honours)
- Collecting East Asian Art (MLitt)
Additional information
Recent conference presentations
2018
A Comprehensive Look: The Cultural Biography of the Daitokuji 500 Luohans from Its Local to Global Contexts conference, Kyushu National University, Fukuoka (invited speaker): “Enchanted by Luohans Expanded: Western Scholar Encountering Chinese Religious Painting”
2017
Hills and Ravines in the Heart: Chinese Gardens and Landscape Painting symposium at London South Bank University (invited speaker): “Landscape for Travelling, Sightseeing, Wandering or Dwelling”
British Association of Chinese Studies (BACS) conference, Glasgow: organiser of the panel Religious Images and Objects in Late Imperial China and paper “Travels through the Netherworld: The Ten Kings of the ‘Earth Prisons’”
European Association of Asian Art and Archaeology (EAAA) conference, Zürich (roundtable participant): “Identification, Categorization and Digitization of East Asian Objects in Local Collections of Different European Countries”
2016
Creating Markets and Collecting Art conference at Christie's London: invited discussant for a panel "Moving Objects: Representations of Chinese Art in Europe"
Creating Markets and Collecting Art conference at Christie's London: invited discussant for a panel "Moving Objects: Representations of Chinese Art in Europe"
2013
Chinese Painting conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (invited speaker): "Scissors Cutting Silk"
2012
European Association of Chinese Studies, Paris: “Scholarly Souvenirs: Chinese Art in an auspicious Environment for Intellectual Pursuits” (Panel: Cross-cultural issues and Private Collection)
2010
Enchanting Modernity: Theosophy and the Arts in the Making of Early Twentieth-Century Culture, Liverpool Hope University: “In Search of Religious Purity: Osvald Sirén and the Allure of Chinese Art”
Questioning Oriental Aesthetics and Thinking: Conflicting Visions of ”Asia” under the Colonial Empires conference, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto (invited speaker): “Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with the Arts of China and Japan”
British Association of Chinese Studies, Bristol: “Garden as a Refuge: Osvald Sirén’s Reminiscences and Appropriations of Chinese Garden Art”
Annual Meeting of College Art Association, Chicago: “Playing All the Roles: Osvald Sirén as Curator, Collector, Dealer and Art Historian” (Panel: Roles of Acquisition)
2009
Nordic conference of art historians, Jyväskylä, Finland: “Auspicious Furnishings for the Dream Environment”
The First China Contemporary Art Forum, International Conference on Art Theory and Criticism, Beijing (invited speaker): “Changing Perceptions of Chinese Art”
Exhibitions
2007
”With Osvald Sirén in Chinese Gardens”, organization committee of the exhibition, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm
