Discovering the floating world of Edo Japan at the Asian Civilisations Museum's 'Life in Edo | Russel Wong in Kyoto'
Written by Kelly Khua on 24th May 2021
Installation view of Life in Edo | Russel Wong in Kyoto in 2021. Image Credit: Asian Civilisations Museum
With the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM)’s latest exhibition, Life in Edo | Russel Wong in Kyoto, experiencing Japan is now possible in a time where leisure travel is not happening anytime soon. The double-bill exhibition curated by Clement Onn brings together masterworks of woodblock prints and modern photography, taking audiences on a journey through a tale of two Japanese cities, Tokyo during the Edo period (1603-1868) and Kyoto today.
The exhibition revolves around Japanese craftsmanship and culture, showcasing an extensive display of 157 ukiyo-e prints and 40 black-and-white photographs of Kyoto by Russel Wong that capture sacred customs practised by geishas. Following a chronological approach, viewers first encounter Life in Edo, which offers a comprehensive array of woodblock prints by masters such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kitagawa Utamaro, Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Like its inviting title, the exhibition’s richly detailed woodblock prints depict the decadent lifestyles, social trends, and leisurely pursuits of Edo people. Visitors can expect lavish spectacles of Japanese festivals, sumptuous food. Think crispy tempura, miso-glazed tofu, and fashionable courtesans dressed in the most elaborate kimonos.
(Left) Russel Wong’s Geiko Fukune (2020) , photographed in Kyoto’s Nashinoki Shrine. (Right) Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s woodblock print Looks delicious: Appearance of a courtesan in the Kaei period (1888) from the Thirty-Two Aspects of Women series.
Ukiyo-e, meaning “pictures of the floating world", expounds on the philosophy of living in the moment and detaching oneself from life’s troubles. They evoke an imagined, paradisiacal universe of stylishness and extravagance, with overtones of indulgence and occasional playful naughtiness. In a time when social media and cult magazines like Vogue did not exist, Edo people lived and breathed ukiyo-e as it was the talk of the town and definition of popular culture.
The woodblock prints on display also reflect the cosmopolitan nature of Edo Japan, depicting images of French, Russian, and American travelers interacting with local Japanese civilians. Several other prints feature Kabuki actors and scenes from famous Japanese folk tales, highlighting how Edo artists were influenced by public taste and the entertainment industry in the process of creating their works. Not to mention, you can spot several beloved pets like cats, dogs, and fishes alongside portraits of courtesans, mothers, and children.
Wandering into the second part of the exhibition, audiences are transported into Russel Wong’s black-and-white world of contemporary Kyoto. In addition to the stills of Kyoto’s architecture and changing seasons, the Singaporean photographer unveils never-before-seen images of its private geisha community. With Wong 's craft, viewers get a rare glimpse into the customs that many Japanese citizens do not get to witness first-hand either.
His 13-year-long, ongoing personal mission to document the geiko of Kyoto sheds light on lesser-known Japanese traditions that are still well-preserved by geishas, such as the Erikae ceremony where an apprentice maiko graduates to become a geiko. In this two-week process, a maiko alters her hair, blackens her teeth, and trades her red collar (eri) for a white one.
According to Wong in a panel discussion, he felt a sense of responsibility as a photographer to capture Kyoto’s geisha community and tell their story without any embellishments, given his rare opportunity. In order to photograph the geiko, Sayaka, and the tea ceremony she performed, Wong had to wait for five years to receive an invitation to Tsuri, one of the most famous tea houses in the Gion Kobu kagai.
Emulating the ukiyo-e prints on display, most of Wong's photographs have been printed in oban size, the most popular woodblock print format during the Edo period. An outstanding piece in the exhibition is a side portrait of Sayaka that depicts a moment of stillness and communicates the geisha's quiet beauty. The large photograph is composed of symmetrical grids, creating an effect that suggests viewers are looking at the geisha not just through Wong's lens, but also the frame of Japanese screen dividers.
Overall, the ACM's exhibition achieves unity through the resonances of the past in the present, the preservation of vanishing cultural traditions, and the evolution of image-making. In every woodblock print and photograph, there is a sense of timeless wonder and stillness that invites viewers to observe how the value of beauty and craftsmanship never fades.
Given its double-bill structure, the exhibition encourages audiences to intuitively consider the continuities and changes across the two sides, in which themes of nature, beauty, and modernisation transcend the boundaries of time and space. The kaleidoscope of images on display blurs the lines between the traditional and the contemporary, prompting one to consider why trends and lifestyles from ancient Japan continue to fascinate and resonate with so many of us in the 21st century.
Life in Edo | Russel Wong in Kyoto is on view at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, with a first rotation from 16 April to 11 July 2021 and a second rotation from 12 July to 19 September 2021 due to the light-sensitivity of ukiyo-e prints.