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Friday, March 29, 2024


Exhibition Public - USA & Canada

Life is a Highway: Prints of Japan’s Tokaido Road

The Harn Museum, the University of Florida
3259 Hull Road ,
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Apr 29, 2014 To Aug 17, 2014


Detail: The Tokaido Road was an important and well-trodden route in pre-modern Japan connecting ancient political capital of Kyoto with the imperial city of Edo [Tokyo]. The road was punctuated by 53 stations where travelers could rest and refresh themselves and where the government could monitor trade and collect taxes. Art and literature featuring the Tokaido Road were immensely popular in Japan and inspired an American culture of virtual tourism. In particular, woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e tradition functioned as visual memorabilia depicting travel-related scenes along the road. The term ukiyo-e, literally “pictures of the floating world,” was originally a Buddhist concept that focused on one’s existence in a world of suffering from which all wished to be released. The term was coined during the Edo period (1615–1868) to describe artworks that captured the joie de vivre when lives were defined by pleasurable enjoyment of all things.

This exhibition will include four complete series depicting the Tokaido Road, noteworthy for its comparative approach to the stations along the route. The “Parallel Tokaido”, 1843-47, was designed by three of the best known 19th century Japanese woodcut artists working in the ukiyo-e tradition: Utagawa Hiroshige, Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Utagawa Kunisada. Rather than focusing on the passing landscape, the artists represented the road through historical and legendary stories associated with its numerous stations. The exhibition also will include two complete versions of the series that Hiroshige created himself. These are vibrantly colored masterful depictions of landscape and figural forms. Between 1959 and 1974, Sekino Jun’ichiro created a modern version of the Tokaido series that reflects global perspectives on the intersection of traditional and modern sensibilities. Additional Japanese art objects, such as textiles and paintings, will complement the prints.

By juxtaposing these varied interpretations spanning more than a century along the Tokaido Road, the exhibition will offer a more complete picture of place: an intersection of text, image, folklore, and history. These spectacular prints will address themes such as classical literary and theatrical subjects, dangerous liaisons, tales of the supernatural, samurai legends, religious pilgrimage, memorable characters from all walks of life, along with universal themes to which all travelers can relate.

Phone No.: 352.392.9826
Site URL: http://www.harn.ufl.edu/exhibitions/exhibitions_future.php

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