Values change with the times, and times create art. To coincide with the Oyoshiwara Exhibition, the organizer, Tokyo University of the Arts President Katsuhiko Hibino, and academic advisor for the Oyoshiwara Exhibition, Professor Emeritus Yuko Tanaka of Hosei University, will have a conversation. Mr. Hibino explains, “Art is based on people’s emotions and emerges together with society,” and Mr. Tanaka says, “Negative history and the art that was born there are both real.”
Yuko Tanaka (left) and Tokyo University of the Arts President Katsuhiko Hibino talking about the “Oyoshiwara Exhibition”
◆”Art is something that humans always try to relate to nature”
TanakaHow do you view art and art in general?
HibinoArt is based on the emotions that humans have. Each person’s emotions exist within society, and they confront the environment and nature of each era. It should remain unchanged for tens of thousands of years. The joys and sorrows of those times are shaped into culture within social systems. Isn’t art the force that gave rise to cultural creatures called humans?
TanakaWhat I find most amazing about researching Edo culture is its relationship with nature. Even when making or dyeing a single piece of cloth, materials are brought from the natural world. Isn’t art something that humans always try to relate to nature? I think humans are creatures that have once lost their connection to nature, but are trying to reconnect with it. But I can’t connect. Everyone expressed their feelings while feeling this frustration.
◆“It is necessary to appreciate authentic items from various eras”
HibinoWorks of art are not created on their own, but are created while being nurtured within society. He also appealed to new students at Tokyo University of the Arts, saying, “Let’s express ourselves to the people in front of us right now, to society.” His individuality comes out because he is surrounded by diverse people.
TanakaDo students ever become aware of the times?
Katsuhiko Hibino talks with Yuko Tanaka (left) about the importance of seeing the actual work.
HibinoTime is relative, so the more you can imagine the past or the future of the earth, the more valuable your current time becomes. It is necessary to appreciate the real things from various eras. The ability to see is important in art. If you look closely at various things, whether it’s nature or paintings, you can get closer to envisioning their true appearance. If you look closely at the actual hand-drawn drawing, you can see each stroke and think, “That’s how it was drawn.” You can see things that cannot be seen in print or video.
TanakaDoes seeing the real thing affect your production?
Hibinoyes. When you see the real thing, you get the impression that the creator was there before you, and you get a sense of a live performance. It has the power to transport you back hundreds of years.
◆“Art born in negative history is also reality”
TanakaWhen I first saw Torii Kiyonaga’s shunga paintings in the British Museum’s archives, I was astonished by their dignity and beauty. Because you can see the heart of the person who drew it, and how they are facing it.
HibinoAs times change, so do our values, but it is important to learn about the times and circumstances in which works were created, and how they relate to the present.
Yuko Tanaka talks about the history of Edo and Yoshiwara in a conversation with Katsuhiko Hibino (right)
TanakaEven though Yoshiwara was based on prostitution, if you look at the town as a whole, it can be said to be an art in itself. It was a theater space, a fictional world imitating reality. Even back then, it was a bad place, but there were artists and publishers (of books and ukiyo-e prints) who tried to document the festivals that took place there. A picture that vividly conveys the lives of the people dancing. Truly timeless. There is a history that should not be repeated, but we also cannot reject the art that was born there. Both are real, so you need to see both.
HibinoThe space itself is an expression created by the society as a whole at the time. I think it is necessary to take a close look at art that has been created in various eras in world history in order to imagine what people should be like in the future. Many of the emotions of that era have been preserved in works of art.
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Oyoshiwara Exhibition(Sponsored by Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo Shimbun, etc.) will be held at the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts in Ueno, Tokyo, until May 19th.
Tags: Space art created society time Katsuhiko Hibino Yuko Tanaka talk Oyoshiwara Exhibition Tokyo Shimbun TOKYO Web
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