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khiemtranWhat an age to live in! At 7:30 am, on the last day of my leave, I read on the internet about a new free exhibition of artwork inspired by The Tale of Genji at the NSW Art Gallery. By 9 am, after dropping Liem off at daycare, I have looked up The Tale of Genji on wikipedia, downloaded a translation from Project Gutenberg, and read the first few chapters, all in time to catch the first off-peak service into the city.
The exhibition turned out to be quite fascinating. It took up a single large room and featured artwork from across the last four centuries, ranging from picture albums to ornate screens to ukiyo-e to modern manga. The Tale of Genji is a thousand year old novel written in the Heian Period. It is certainly one of the world's oldest novels, and possibly the oldest, depending on what your definition of a novel is. It tells the story of the "shining prince" Genji and his various intrigues and mostly amorous encounters with a cast of hundreds.
It was interesting to see the different ways the stories were depicted over the last thousand years, including several reinventions and revivals - the most recent being manga in different flavours for different readers - cute for young girls, romantic and sensual for women readers, and sexually explicit for young men ("to interest them in the classics").
It was also interesting in some of the older prints how passive the depictions looked until you know the story. In one famous scene, Genji's second wife, known as the Third Princess, is revealed to her long time admirer when a cat disturbs a curtain, thus ultimately leading to an affair between them. There were several depictions of this in the exhibition, some quite obvious, but others very subtle indeed. A passing observer might easily overlook the cat in the picture and the the postures and eyelines of the different characters. In another scene, Genji and his friends are sitting apparently passively on a landing. It is only when you know the context of the scene that you understand that Genji has just asked about his lost daughter and the subtle postures of his attending friends take on different meanings.
For me, the most thought provoking exhibits were the three hundred year old ornamental screens - the wide screen televisions of their day. It was quite remarkable to be able to stare at something made so long ago and to wonder if the creators and commissioners would have thought to know that one day they would be exhibited in such a far away place. I couldn't help but wonder what fate must have befallen the commissioner, or their descendants. Did they fall on hard times and have to give up their treasures, or did they simply trade up for the next year's larger model?
On a whim, after the exhibition, I had lunch at a restaurant named Asagao ("Morning Glory", also the nickname of one the characters in the book). As it turned out, Asagao the restaurant didn't quite live up to the standard set by the exibition, but it was at least some experience gained, and a fitting ending to the rare day out.
The exhibition turned out to be quite fascinating. It took up a single large room and featured artwork from across the last four centuries, ranging from picture albums to ornate screens to ukiyo-e to modern manga. The Tale of Genji is a thousand year old novel written in the Heian Period. It is certainly one of the world's oldest novels, and possibly the oldest, depending on what your definition of a novel is. It tells the story of the "shining prince" Genji and his various intrigues and mostly amorous encounters with a cast of hundreds.
It was interesting to see the different ways the stories were depicted over the last thousand years, including several reinventions and revivals - the most recent being manga in different flavours for different readers - cute for young girls, romantic and sensual for women readers, and sexually explicit for young men ("to interest them in the classics").
It was also interesting in some of the older prints how passive the depictions looked until you know the story. In one famous scene, Genji's second wife, known as the Third Princess, is revealed to her long time admirer when a cat disturbs a curtain, thus ultimately leading to an affair between them. There were several depictions of this in the exhibition, some quite obvious, but others very subtle indeed. A passing observer might easily overlook the cat in the picture and the the postures and eyelines of the different characters. In another scene, Genji and his friends are sitting apparently passively on a landing. It is only when you know the context of the scene that you understand that Genji has just asked about his lost daughter and the subtle postures of his attending friends take on different meanings.
For me, the most thought provoking exhibits were the three hundred year old ornamental screens - the wide screen televisions of their day. It was quite remarkable to be able to stare at something made so long ago and to wonder if the creators and commissioners would have thought to know that one day they would be exhibited in such a far away place. I couldn't help but wonder what fate must have befallen the commissioner, or their descendants. Did they fall on hard times and have to give up their treasures, or did they simply trade up for the next year's larger model?
On a whim, after the exhibition, I had lunch at a restaurant named Asagao ("Morning Glory", also the nickname of one the characters in the book). As it turned out, Asagao the restaurant didn't quite live up to the standard set by the exibition, but it was at least some experience gained, and a fitting ending to the rare day out.
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Date: 2008-12-12 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-12 07:31 pm (UTC)