Announcement: Tōdai-ji Photo Exhibition ‘Road of Light and Hope’ (by Miro Ito) begins on 29th Sept.2026 at University of Salamanca
🔸Venue: Empress Michiko Hall, Spanish-Japanese Cultural Center, University of Salamanca
🔸Dates: 29 September to 18 December 2026
Media Art League’s ongoing globally touring exhibition, short-film screening & lecture series entitled Road of Light and Hope: National Treasures of Tōdai-ji Temple will be presented at its 13th venue of the 11th country: Spanish-Japanese Cultural Center/University of Salamanca (Spain) from 29th Sept. to 18th Dec in 2026.
🔸Exhibition Purpose
The core message of this project is the shared ancient Eurasian wisdom which arrived in Japan 1300 years ago via the Silk Roads and still survives to this day in the form of art. The project’s purpose is to present this Eurasian trail where beauty and wisdom interacted as both a Road of Light and Hope and the Road of the Vairocana Buddha’s introduction to Japan, where an all-inclusive vision—in which everyone is a part of everything and all is interconnected—emerged. In today’s increasingly fragmented world, the significance of this wisdom from 1,300 years ago is a resounding appeal for our present and our future.
🔸Exhibited Work
To highlight the crossroads of aesthetic art exchanges between East and West,the selected cultural treasures are Buddhist sculpture masterpieces (incl. Gigaku masks) from the 8th century of the Tōdai-ji Temple as well as the 12th century Bugaku masks of the Kasuga-Taisha Shrine; both sites are part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site: Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
The masterpieces of the Buddhist sculpture art of the 8th century of Daian-ji and Shōrin-ji will be also added in the coming venue in Salamanca. In additions, a new short film by Miro Ito will be screened on site (in Spanish): The Vairocana Buddha of Tōdai-ji Temple: Formation of Cosmic Life-Force and Light of Wisdom.
🔸 Spanish-Japanese Cultural Center
Spanish-Japanese Cultural Centre was established there in 1999 as an annex to the University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1208 and is the fourth oldest still-existing university in the world. The centre’s ‘Empress Michiko Hall’ (formerly the Palais San Boileau), is the only cultural facility in the world permitted to bear the name of the former Empress. The annual ‘Salamanca Japanese Culture Week’ is held here every year, which serves as a hub for cultural exchange between Spain and Japan through exhibitions, lectures and concerts marks its 25th anniversary this year.
Organised by: Spanish-Japanese Cultural Center, University of Salamanca
Co-organised by: Media Art League + Japan Camera Industry Institute
Concept and Production: Media Art League + Japan Authentic Heritage Inititative
Photo permits by: Tōdai-ji, Daian-ji, Shōrin-ji Temples; Kasuga-Taisha Shrine; National Museum of Nara
Photography, text and short film by: Miro Ito
English editing by: Andreas Boettcher
Spanish editing by: Spanish-Japanese Cultural Center, University of Salamanca
Endorsed by: Embassy of Japan in Spain; Japan Foundation, Madrid