Making art together in Edo Japan | Curator's Corner S9 Ep10

In Edo Period Japan, people got together, maybe drank some saké and made art together. It might be poetry, it might be drawing, it could be painting. Regardless, it was an interesting mix of people, and social classes - many of whom would not have hung out together if not for the 'salon'.

Join Sophie Gong as she takes you through the class defying, blurry world of collaborative art in Edo-period Japan.

If you want to find out more about Salon Culture, your best bet is to check out our catalogue all about it (the one Sophie mentions in the video): https://tinyurl.com/bdh26d3w

In early modern Japan, cultural salons were creative spaces for people of all ages and social levels to pursue painting, poetry and other artistic endeavours, as serious but amateur practitioners. They all used a pen- or art-name. Individuals were therefore able to socialise and interact broadly through these artistic activities, regardless of official social status as regulated by the shogunal government. The idea of communal and collaborative creativity seems to have been especially ingrained around the area of Kyoto and Osaka. Each of the two cities had a distinct character: Kyoto was the national capital, where the emperor and aristocrats resided, and Osaka was the centre of commerce.

00:00 Introduction
00:42 What is a Japanese Salon?
01:28 Sencha
02:15 Surimono prints
03:53 Haiku
04:32 Nagasaki
05:50 Osaka
06:23 Kimura Kenkado
07:15 Kyoto
08:03 Collaborative paintings
09:27 Conclusion