|
 Those
who visited Lalit Kala Akademy in Chennai on March 6 would have
wondered whether they are in India or in Japan. Both the paintings
as well as the captions were entirely new to Chennaivasis. The words
include bijin-ga, yakusha-e, okubi-e and ogao-e.
As part of Japan-India Friendship Year 2007, ABK-AOTS DOSOKAI, Tamil
Nadu Centre organised the Ukiyo-e Prints Exhibition (Japanese Wood
Block Prints Exhibition) and Paintings on Japan-in the eyes of an
Indian artist.
In Ukiyo-e, each image was created through the collaborative effort
of four skilled individuals: the publisher, who coordinated the
efforts of the specialised artisans and marketed the art works; the
artist, who designed the art work and drew them in ink on paper; the
carver, who meticulously carved the designs into wood block(s) and a
printer, who applied pigments to the wood blocks and printed each
colour on hand made paper.
This one-day exhibition featured around 400 Japanese Wood block
printed replicas in original colours from Japan so that the
Chennaivasis could see and feel the growth of Japanese art which is
interlinked with their culture and tradition.
The wood block prints have a long tradition in Japanese history. At
the exhibition, prints of around 25 Japanese artists like Utamaro,
Hokusai, Shunei, Moronabu and Eishi were displayed.
 Majority of the prints were bijin-ga or the picture of feminine
beauty. However, this style of print differed among the artists. The
bijin-ga of one artist did not resemble the other.
Similarly, the portraits of Kabuki actors (yakusha-e) and okubi-e
(half length or face portraits) varied from one another.
Even though portraits were aplenty, the meisho or the prints of
celebrated places largely attracted the visitors. The artist Hokusai
is indeed known as the pioneer in landscape prints. Some of his
prints were on volcanoes, sea shore, water falls, flowers and birds.
There were also beautiful paintings of the city of Edo (Tokyo) and
its prominent places. Interestingly, paintings of an Indian artist,
Dhinakar Sundar were also part of the exhibition. His lotus leaf
painting techniques inspired both students as well as art lovers.
Yet, many art lovers were disappointed as it was a one day
exhibition. Certainly, the exhibition is worth a minimum of one
week. Only a few visitors including the writer were privileged to
witness the age old traditional art work of that beautiful country.
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U. Bakialakshmi |
