An exhibition of the Japanese contemporary arts and crafts has opened in Kyiv. It is not the first time the Taras Shevchenko National Museum plays host for an exhibition dedicated to Japan: last year the Ukrainians had an opportunity to feast their eyes on exquisite Japanese dolls. At the opening of the current exhibition Deputy Head of the Mission, Adviser to the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine Shusuke Watanabe noted that Japan believes the Ukrainians are sincere spectators able to appreciate both their own culture and those of other peoples. Thus it is planned to bring more displays for the judgment of Ukrainian public in the fall, since the Japanese believe it to be a season of culture.
“When a child turns ten years old, he/she starts a new stage in his/her evolution. The relationship between Ukraine and Japan is also ten. Thus we believe our cooperation will further develop qualitatively,” Mr. Watanabe underscored.
To make easier perception of the Japanese art, the exhibition organizers specified six common features in the displays: rich decorativeness, modest refinement, well-defined outlines, deformation, and ornaments with flower and birds motifs. The works of art are divided into groups according to their material, historical epoch, and style.
The works by the Japanese masters amaze one with their originality. For instance, master Mitamura Arisumi’s work titled Goodbye, Stars is made of wood and decorated with golden, silver, and pearl spray. The Hydrangea ornamented box by Chuji Kenzo is inlayed with silver spray and eggshells. Using gold leaf and silver is one of the specific techniques characteristic for the Japanese. In many cases these metals are well combined with bright red, light or dark green, or orange shades and create a unique coloring. The so-called poetry boxes made of gold and lacquered are also out of the ordinary.
Some masters have tried to express the traditional art views, while others borrowed their ideas, such as art deco and constructivism, from Europe or the USA. Tanaki Kobuyuki’s Illusion of Quality is also interesting. It represents a huge black monolith plate. Perhaps this is how the Japanese see the expressiveness of modest refinement, also an important characteristic trait of their art. It is believed that using simple unobtrusive means, in part, muted colors, mat surface, and natural compositions with smooth lines, gives one a feeling of peace and rest.
To properly understand Japanese art, one has to possess an outstanding imagination. Take Nakashimi Harumi’s Fight of Form. From the outside it reminds of a constant movement of molecules, while inside it has nothing but thorns. Probably this is what contemporary life is. Each of us is surrounded with the constant flow of life, which pushes us ahead. But too often fate’s sharp thorns send us back to reality and make us start all over again.
Striving to reproduce the world’s beauty, some masters deliberately distort its forms. The world is not always beautiful; sometimes there are deformed ideas, feelings, and moods in it. By distorting a regular form, like a circle or a square, the author exposes beauty, which is impossible to disfigure by brainwork. This is a special view on arts, incomprehensible for the West.
