Penny Bailey

I am a Lecturer in Japanese Studies at The University of Queensland, specialising in modern Japanese art. My PhD examined the art criticism of Yanagi Soetsu, focusing on how his encounters with Korea prior to the founding of the Mingei (Folk Craft) Movement shaped its core ideals. My current book project explores how Yanagi's writings on Korea and folk art negotiated questions of aesthetic value, cross-cultural empathy, and resistance to imperial ideology.