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This is how art, history and people meld.
There is a “pillow” that looks superbly uncomfortable, shaped like a slice of rail from an abandoned train line. There’s an image of a woman and children carrying parasols as they walk across a green lawn, cherry blossom trees and Mt. Fuji in the background. There is a beautiful kimono with intricately sewn images of flowers blooming against a background of broad purple and green stripes.
There’s a version of the famous Japanese artwork “The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa,” with information — and a video — explaining the complex method used to create prints from etchings — including application of different colors, one color at a time.
If you have heard and believe people who say “There’s nothing to do here,” the newest display in the Pauly Friedman Gallery at Misericordia is yet another example of how false the claim is. Like our many other venues for art, music and live performances, the collection of art and artifacts dating back to Japan’s Edo Period (1615-1858) now in the gallery at Misericordia University provides a rich experience for all who visit.
As reported in Sunday’s paper, the display “Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-E’” is on loan from the Reading Public Museum. And while the art itself will catch many eyes, the accompanying information will almost surely surprise all but the most erudite of Edo scholars.
Take that famous image of the great wave. The first in a series entitled “Thirty-Six views of Fuji,” it would be no surprise if people look at the image and never notice the mighty mountain in the distance. The snow-capped peak in the distance almost merges with the mammoth white crest of the wave.
The explanation also notes that it’s also easy to miss the three boats “all in danger of the wave about to crash down on them.”
There’s so much more. That rail-shaped pillow — actually made of wood, bamboo, plant fiber and thread — was a headrest for Japanese woman while they slept. It doesn’t look relaxing because it wasn’t made for comfort. It helped protect painstakingly coiffed hair and any ornamentation that may have been added.
The women and children with parasols image packs a lot of history in a small space. As the explanation of “Cherry Blossom Viewing at Asuka Hill” notes, “school attendance skyrocketed during the Edo period as the wealthy merchant class could afford to send their children to schools.” While most teachers and students were male, the picture portrays a female teacher taking her pupils out for hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. Cherry blossoms were planted at the order of shogun in 1720.
There are images and information about an onnagata, a male actor who depicted women in kabuki theater. It may not be much of a surprise that women did not appear on stage, the same was common in Shakespeare’s time in England. But there may be surprise in learning that women were regarded with respect until the introduction of Chinese Buddhism in 552.
You can learn of the changes in culture that brought samurai to prominence and pushed them from it as the merchant class rose. The intricacies and complexities of courtesan life are well represented. In short, the offerings of this simple-looking exhibit can take hours to fully absorb. And Gallery Director Lalaine Little noted there’s even a bit more to come: a musical performance Feb. 15, and an remembrance event commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II on Feb. 19.
Little notified reporter Mary Therese Biebel that a woman called for more information on the internment event. It turns out her parents were put in one of those infamous mistakes of American democracy. She plans to attend — with her grandson.
— Times Leader