Tomoe Steineck

Tomoë I. M. Steineck, Dr.

Phone: +41 44 634 31 79
Address: University of Zurich, Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, Zürichbergstrasse 4, CH-8032 Zurich
Room number: ZUB 3-311 (AOI)

Functions
Main research interests
Courses in 2024/2025
Academic CV
Memberships in Academic Associations
Conferences – Lectures
Publications since 2008 (ZORA)

Functions

Partnership Strategist, responsible for the partnership project for the mutual advancement of knowledge, operational development and scientific growth between the institutions of the UZH and the Rietberg Museum of the City of Zurich.

Lecturer in East Asian art and cultural history, visual studies, Japanese history, religious culture, global theories of cultural imperialism, decolonisation in art and science. https://www.khist.uzh.ch/de/chairs/ostasien/Team.html

Guest Researcher at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies NICHIBUNKEN, cooperation project A Critical Commentary on Inoue Tetsujirō's Collected Correspondence and its Dissemination throughout East Asia井上哲次郎関係書簡の史料解題の作成とHPの東アジアへの国際発信 https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/ja/research/projects/2024/s192/

Cooperation with E-codices – Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/zbz/D0199

Guest Researcher in cooperation with the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

Top

Main research interests

Decolonisation in context: differentiated historical analyses of cultural imperialism and its ideological foundations in the field of tension between German-speaking Europe and Japan. Emphasis on missionary exchange and religiously based cultural criticism, combined with hostility to images and class differentiation. A contribution to image science from a decolonial perspective.

Completed dissertation: Negotiating Paradigms: Construing the Nexus of Mission, Collection and Imperial Agenda; Japanologie, Universität Tübingen (2024, under embargo)

Kanda Sōtei and the Edo Period religious Material Culture: The sacred art of the shogunate in the Edo period: between the polarities of exclusivity and public accessibility

Digital Humanities project Database Japanese Buddhist Art in European Collections (JBAE) in conjunction with research, provenance research, and evaluation of Japanese Buddhist Objects in European Museums 在欧博物館等保管日本仏教美術資料データベース. http://aterui.i.hosei.ac.jp:8080/index.html

in co-operation with the Hosei University Research Center for International Japanese Studies HIJAS http://hijas.hosei.ac.jp/tabid/1441/Default.aspx

Inoue Tetsujirō and the Encounter with Prussia: The Transfer of Ideological Values into the Political Weltanschauung of Pre-War Japan. Analyses of manuscripts in German collections. In co-operation with the project A Critical Commentary on Inoue Tetsujirō's Collected Correspondence and its Dissemination throughout East Asia井上哲次郎関係書簡の史料解題の作成とHPの東アジアへの国際発信.

Further information: www.steineck.ch

Top

Courses in 2024/2025

Theories and Concepts in East Asian Art History: Object/Power. Decolonisation in East Asian Art History

Introduction into Korean Art History

Top

Academic CV

2024 –	Partnership strategist, Department of East Asian Art History OAKG Lecturer in Art History, Visual Culture, and decolonisation theories Department of Art History and Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies KHIST/AOI
2024	Doctoral degree in Japanese Studies, University of Tübingen, Germany
2017 –	Visiting researcher, University of Zurich, Dept. of Japanese Studies AOI
2015 –2017	Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich Guest curator for collection evaluation, provenance research, digitalisation
2014 –	Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Digital Humanities Project JBAE
2013 –2015	Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève MEG
2013 –2014	Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich VMZ Guest curator for the exhibition: Tokensof thePath: Japanese Devotional and Pilgrimage Images: The Wilfried Spinner Collection (1854–1918)
HS 2011 –	Lecturer in Visual Culture of and Cultural History of Japan, Department of Japanese Studies AOI
2010 –2020	Digital Humanities Project JBAE: International Cooperation Project UZH and Hosei University Tokyo for the Database of Japanese religious art in European Museums Chief curator
2005 –2008	Art and Exhibition Hall of the Fed. Rep. of Germany Chief curator of the exhibition: Treasures of the holy mountain – Daigo-ji
2003 –2005	Art and Exhibition Hall of the Fed. Rep. of Germany Curatorial advisor and negotiator of the exhibition: Genghis Khan and his heirs
2004 - 2005	Tokyo National Museum (TNM) and Nara National Museum Running exhibitions and renewal opening project
2002 –2003	Art and Exhibition Hall of the Fed. Rep. of Germany, Bonn Co-curation of exhibitions: Soul and Beauty of Japan, Divine Age – Eternal Youth: Noh masks of the Naitō Collection (Nobeoka), 100 years of Tokyo– Photography from the Camera Museums Tokyo
2001	Winner of the Independent Researcher Scholarship Award for Japanese Art History of the Culture Communications Fund, Amsterdam/Tokyo Research visit to China and Korea
1999	Master of Arts, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Top

Memberships in Academic Associations

Schweizerische Asiengesellschaft
Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst
JAHF Japan Art History Forum
Swiss Network of Female Historians
SGG Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Geschichte
GSU Gesellschaft für Schweizer Unterwasserarchäologie

Top

Conferences – Lectures

2024	October 10	Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin, Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst Jour fixe Lecture Kanda Sōtei: Shogunale Sakralkunst im Spannungsfeld von Exklusivität und Öffentlichkeit der Edo-Zeit
2023	May 5-7	International conference: "Comparing Chinese, Korean, and Japanese religions", Confucius Institute Geneva Inari 稲荷 as a hayarigami 流行神 and the social dynamics surrounding this deity
2023	November 23-25	International Symposium: "Japan’s Imperial Mythology: De/Sacralization in the Context of Exegesis, Politics and Folklore", University of Tübingen Panel chair
2022	December 8-10	"Inaugural Conference: Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective", organised by the University of Nürnberg-Erlangen Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Contested Images in the East-West Exchange: Siebold’s Nippon and Japanese Popular Depictions of Gods
2021	June 28-29	"Dynamic Encounters between Buddhism and the West" University of Cambridge Postgraduate Online Conference The Protestant Perception of Japanese Buddhism in the age of Imperialism: a case study of the Swiss-German Mission in the 19th century
2017	August 30 – September 2	15th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies, Lisbon Beyond Materiality -The Potential of a Non-Material Collection as a Historical Winess for Religious and Art Historical Studies
2016	October 27	Fondation Martin Bodmer Geneva Evening Lecture Des révélations sur les kakemono de la Fondation Martin Bodmer (The Collection of kakemono at the Fondation Martin Bodmer)
	October 19	Austrian Academy of Sciences Vienna Evening Lecture Die Sammlung Spinner: Ein Fenster zur Religiosität der japanischen Frühmoderne
	March 29	International Conference "Japanese Cultural Assets and Digitalization" 国際会議「日本の文化財とデジタル化」organized by ARC Ritsumeikan University, CEEJA and The Department of Japanese Studies of The University of Strasbourg Golden key or rusty iron? The Usefulness of Comprehensive Databases for Museums: The Example of JBAE
	January 20-21	International Symposium ヨーロッパにおける日本文化資源研究とその成果 (明治大学大学院文学研究科／文部科学省・私立大学戦略的研究基盤形成支援事業), Meiji University Tokyo ヨーロッパにおける日本文化資源研究とその成果ー欧州の博物館等保管の日本仏教美術資料の悉皆調査を一例として
2015	May 13	Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich Evening Lecture Die Nacht des blauen Diamantkönigs – und andere durchwachte Nächte (The night of the blue diamond king and other sleepless nights)
2015	July 28	International Workshop 『欧州コレクションにおける日本の宗教画と「おふだ」が伝える江戸時代の信仰』 (在欧日本仏教美術の基礎的調査・研究とデータベース化による日本仏教美術の情報発信プロジェクト), Hosei University Tokyo 十六善神から庚申講まで：近世の信仰世界を映すシュピンナー・コレクションの本質とは何か
2014	November	Siebold’s Vision of Japan as Represented in Japan-related Collections in the West, co-organized by Ruhr University Bochum and the National Institutes for the Humanities Japan Research and Evaluation of Japanese Buddhist Objects in European Museums: Lessons of a Digitalisation Project
2012	June 4-6	International Symposium “Japanese Buddhist Objects in European Collections and Their Impact on the European Image of Japan”, Organiser and speaker, co-organised with the University of Poznan, Poland Collections of Japanese Buddhist art in European museums: First results of the current project
2011	June 17	Digital Humanities Strategies Conference, Hosei University Research Center for International Japanese Studies 法政大学国際日本学研究所「欧州の博物館等保管の日本仏教美術資料の悉皆調査とそれによる日本及び日本観の研究」プロジェクト Launch and mission statement of the JSPS Digital Humanities Project & Database J.B.A.E. (Japanese Buddhist Art in Europe)

Top

Publications since 2008 (ZORA)

ZORA Publication List

Publications

Steineck, Tomoë I M (2024). Declaring Buddhism dead in the 19th century: the Meiji oligarchy and protestant mission in Japan a foreign religion. Explorations of an unchartered territory. East asian journal of philosophy, 3(1):25-45.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2020). Kanda Sōtei: The Shogun’s Sacred Painters and their Realm of Influence. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 47(2):305-340.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2016). Ofuda or not: Defining a Philosophical Collection – Understanding Japanese Religiosity Through A Material Collection. In: Kreiner, Josef. Japanese Collections in European Museums V : With Especial Reference to Buddhist Art. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, 97-109.
Wernsdörfer, Martina; Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). La collection Wilfried Spinner, Musée d'ethnographie de l'université de Zürich. In: Ducor, Jérôme; Delécraz, Christian. Le bouddhisme de Madame Butterfly. Le japonisme bouddhique. Milan: Silvana, 110.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). Recherche et évaluations des objets bouddhiques Japonais dans les collections Européennes (JBAE). In: Ducor, Jérôme; Delécraz, Christian. Le bouddhisme de Madame Butterfly. Le japonisme bouddhique. Milan: Silvana, 100.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). Research and Evaluation of Japanese Buddhist Objects in European Museum: Lessons of a Digitalization Project. In: Museum of Japanese History. Siebold ga shôkai shitakatta Nihon = Siebold's vision of Japan: Ôbei ni okeru Nihon kanren korekushon wo tsukatta Nihon kenkyū / Nihon tenji wo susumeru tameni: Bochum Ruhr University International Symposium. Sakura: Human cultural study organization, 281-288.
Steineck, Raji C; Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). Japonia luxurians. Zwischen reichhaltiger Oberfläche und bedeutungsvoller Schlichtheit. Der Blaue Reiter, 36:63-67.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). The Collection of Japanese Art by Victor and Marianne Langen, Langen Foundation Neuss. In: Kreiner, Josef. Japanese Collections in European Museums Vol. III: Regional Studies. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, 375-381.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2015). The Japanese Collection of the Foundation Martin Bodmer, Geneve: An Introduction. In: Kreiner, Josef. Japanese Collections in European Museums Vol. III: Regional Studies. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, 361-366.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2014). Die sozialen Aufgaben von Tempeln und ihren Geistlichen in Japan. In: Flitsch, Mareile. Wegzeichen : japanische Kult- und Pilgerbilder : die Sammlung Wilfried Spinner (1854-1918) : Japanese devotional and pilgrimage images : the Wilfried Spinner Collection (1854-1918) = Tokens of the path. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 54-65.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2014). WegZeichen. Japanische Kult- und Pilgerbilder. Die Sammlung Winfried Spinner (1854-1918). In: Flitsch, Mareile. Wegzeichen : japanische Kult- und Pilgerbilder : die Sammlung Wilfried Spinner (1854-1918) : Japanese devotional and pilgrimage images : the Wilfried Spinner Collection (1854-1918) = Tokens of the path. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 34-53.
Steineck, Tomoë I M; Wernsdörfer, Martina; Steineck, Raji C (2014). Wegzeichen : japanische Kult- und Pilgerbilder : die Sammlung Wilfried Spinner (1854-1918) : Japanese devotional and pilgrimage images : the Wilfried Spinner Collection (1854-1918) = Tokens of the path. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers.
Steineck, Raji C (2013). Images that don't fit: »Buddhism« vs. Japanese Buddhist Objects. In: Steineck, Tomoë I M; Kreiner, Josef; Steineck, Raji C. Buddhist Art. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, 53-69.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2013). Rezension von: MCCALLUM, DONALD F.: Hakuhō Sculpture. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012.. Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, 67(3):1039-1044.
Steineck, Raji C (2013). Images that don't fit: "Buddhism" vs. Japanese Buddhist Objects. In: Steineck, Tomoe I M; Kreiner, Josef; Steineck, Raji C. Japanese Collections in European Museums IV: Buddhist Art. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, 53-68.
Edited by: Steineck, Tomoë I M; Kreiner, Josef; Steineck, Raji C (2013). Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt. Buddhist Art.
Steineck, Tomoë I M (2008). Die Struktur des bildlichen Ausdrucks im geheimen Buddhismus. In: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Tempelschätze des heiligen Berges Daigo-ji: Der geheime Buddhismus in Japan. München: Prestel Verlag, 12-21.

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies

Quicklinks und Sprachwechsel

Main navigation