VO LU M E 2 1 N O.

2 J U N E 2 0 1 2

the journal of
the asian arts society
of australia

TAASA Review

c o n t en t s
Volume 21 No. 2 June 2012

Editorial

TAAS A RE VI E W

Josefa Green, Editor

KAMIS AKA SEKKA : DAW N O F MODE RN J A PA N E S E D E SI G N

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Abn 64093697537 Vol. 21 No. 2, June 2012
ISSN 1037.6674

Khanh Trinh

SPEC TACLE AN D FAN TAS Y: T H E E X HIBITION S TA R S O F T H E T O K Y O S TA G E

Lucie Folan

10

THR EAD S OF HI STORY: C AT H OLIC T E XTILE S I N VI ETNA M

Chris Douglas

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

e d i to rIAL email: editorial@taasa.org.au

General editor, Josefa Green

publ i c at i ons c omm i t t ee

Josefa Green (convenor) Tina Burge

Melanie Eastburn Sandra Forbes
Charlotte Galloway Jim Masselos Ann Proctor
Susan Scollay Sabrina Snow Christina Sumner

12

NEW LITERATI: FUKUDA KODOJIN AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY NANGA

Rhiannon Paget

des i gn / l ayou t

15

SHUTTING THEIR EYES ON HISTORY: PRE-ISLAMIC HERITAGE AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MALDIVES

pr i n t i ng

Ann Proctor

John Fisher Printing

17

IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: A TWELFTH CENTURY SHO KANNON BOSATSU AT THE NGV

Wayne Crothers

18

THR EAD S T HAT LI N K WORLD S

Mary Jose

20

AN IDENTIT Y RE - FOR G ED I N MILD STE EL : T H E W OR K OF K E N S U K E TODO

Olivia Meehan

22

SU DJO JO NO : P RI VATE FAC E A N D P U BLI C P ER SO NA

No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of

Matt Cox

No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA

24

B OOK R EVIEW: B A L I AG A V I L L AG E S - D O C U M E N T S A S A R T

in other material published by it. We reserve the right to alter

Adrian Vickers

or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require

25

RECEN T TAASA ACTIVITIE S

or liabilities that may arise from material published.

Josefa Green

All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders.

25

TAASA M embe r s D i a ry: J U N E - AU G U S T 2 0 1 2

TAAS A M E M B E RS H I P RAT E S

26

BOOK REVI EW: I N D O N E S I A N G O L D J E W E L L E RY

Gill Green

$70
$90
$95
$35

27

W hats On in Aus t r a l i a : J U N E - AU G U S T 2 0 1 2

Compiled by Tina Burge

Ingo Voss, VossDesign

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.

PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011
www.taasa.org.au
Enquiries: admin@taasa.org.au
TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members
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performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and
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A world of things, Kamisaka Sekka,190910, one page from three volumes of woodblock
prints, ink and colour on paper, 29.9 x 22.4 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased
with the assistance of the Sidney Myer Fund 1991. See pp4-6.

A fu ll Ind ex o f arti c les publ ished in TA A S A R ev ie w s i nce i t s begi nn i ngs

i n 1991 is available on the TAAS A web s i te , www. ta asa . o rg. au

The d eadline f or all articles

FOR OUR NE XT ISSUE IS 1 JULY 2012
The deadline for all aDve rtis ing
FOR OUR NE X T ISSUE IS 1 AUGUST 2012

TAA S A c o mm i t t ee

E DITORIAL

Gill Gr een President

Josefa Green, Editor

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

CHRI STIN A SUMNE R V ice President

Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
A NN GU ILD TREASURER

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

Dy An dr easen SECRETARY

Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry

Hwe i-fe n cheah

Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian

National University.
JO CE LYN CHEY

Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies,

University of Sydney; former diplomat
Matt Cox

Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of New South

Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of
Southeast Asia
Phili p Co urt enay

Former Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus, James

Cook University, with a special interest in Southeast
Asian ceramics
LUC I E FOLAN

Assistant Curator, Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

Sa ndra For bes

Editorial consultant with long-standing interest

in South and Southeast Asian art
Josefa Green

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese

ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian
art as student and traveller
MIN-JUNG KIM

Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

ANN PROC TOR

Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

Yuk i e Sato

Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of

the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art
and culture
SA B RIN A SN OW

Has a long association with the Art Gallery of New South

Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China
Ho n. Au ditor

Rosenfeld Kant and Co

s t a t e r ep r esen t a t i ves
Australian Capital Territory
Ro byn Maxwe ll

Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU;

Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia
Northern Territory
Joann a Barr km an

Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture,

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Queensland
Russe ll Stor er

Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art,

Queensland Art Gallery
South Australia
James Benne tt

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

Victoria
Carol Cains

Often, though aiming to present a wide

range of topics, a general issue of the TAASA
Review develops a flavour of its own. This
is the case with this June issue, which has a
strong Japanese flavour.
One reason for this is the exhibition Kamisaka
Sekka: Dawn of Modern Japanese Design coming
to the Art Gallery of NSW on 22 June. As
Khanh Trinh puts it in her article on this
exhibition, Sekka was a visionary figure who
reinvigorated the decorative tradition of the
Rinpa school in the early 20th century. We
are fortunate to be able to see a wide range of
his works and that of the Rinpa school in this
exhibition, mostly drawn from the Hosomi
Museum in Kyoto. Two associated symposia
one by the AGNSW on 23 June and one by
TAASA jointly with the AGNSW on 4 August
(see p25) will allow us to immerse ourselves
in this beguiling arts and design tradition.
Two other articles present aspects of Japanese
art in the 19th/early 20th century, but from
quite different perspectives. Rhiannon Paget
discusses the work of Fukuda Kodjin, who
painted in the literati or nanga tradition
based on the spontaneous ink painting style
favoured by Chinese scholars. She argues
that, far from experiencing artistic exhaustion,
nanga artists like Kodjin were producing
expressive and visually exciting work,
enlivened by its absorption of elements of
decorative Japanese style painting, favoured
in early 20th century Japan.
The glamour of Kabuki in the 1920s and 30s
is the subject of Lucie Folans article, which
covers the National Gallery of Australias
travelling exhibition Stars of the Tokyo Stage,
on display at RMIT Melbourne from 28 June.
Splendid kimono currently being produced
by the Shochiku Costume Company are
displayed alongside the woodblock printed
actor portraits by artist Natori Shunsen.
Our final Japanese offering is an exquisite
12th century Kannon Bosatsu statue acquired
by the National Gallery of Victoria last year.
The detailed description provided by Wayne
Crothers, Curator, Asian Art at the NGV, can be
checked out by those of us lucky enough to catch
the current Buddhist art exhibition in Melbourne.

The pre Islamic collection held by the

newly built Museum of the Maldives is the
fascinating subject presented by Ann Proctor.
Unfortunately, while this account of Buddhist
artefacts, some uniquely carved from coral,
will be a surprise to many readers, Ann
sadly reports that many of these pieces were
recently destroyed by Islamic extremists, not
long after she visited the Museum at Mal.
For textile lovers, we offer two articles with a
hands on perspective. Chris Douglas takes
us through his own journey of discovery
from the day when his eye caught sight of
an ornate embroidered chasuble in a small
antique shop in Hanoi. His discovery leads
him to the village of Phu Nhai, where the
making of such Catholic vestments is still
very alive today.
We also publish an article by Mary Jose,
Director of Adelaide textile shop, Fabric of Life,
based on a presentation she made at a seminar
jointly run by TAASA and the Queensland
Gallery of Modern Art in October 2011. Here
she discusses a number of textile enterprises
in the north of India, which offer excellent
examples of organisations committed to fair
trade principles.
Modern and contemporary art is also
covered in this issue. Matt Coxs article is
concerned with the way in which the life
and works of modern Indonesian artists
have been appropriated by political or
nationalistic movements. He cites the work
of Sindudarsono Sudjojono, sometimes
described as the Father of Indonesian
Modern Art, as a case in point. Sudjojonos
self portraits and two biographies are used
here to reveal a more nuanced understanding
of his life as an artist, one enveloped in
personal concerns rather than reduced to his
political activist public persona.
Two book reviews one on author Carole
Mullers images of Bali Aga villages taken in
the 1980s, reviewed by Adrian Vickers, and
one on Anne Richter and Bruce Carpenters
massive tome on Indonesian gold jewellery
reviewed by Gill Green, complete the menu
for this June 2012 issue of the TAASA Review.

This is a general issue of the TAASA Review,

after all, so our remaining articles offer an eclectic
mix of topics.

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

K A M I S A K A S E K K A : DA W N O F M OD E R N J A P A N E S E D E S I G N
Khanh Trinh

n 2001, the French fashion brand Herms

featured the woodblock-printed pattern
books A world of things (Momoyogusa) of
190910 by Kamisaka Sekka (18661942) as the
cover story for its lifestyle magazine Le Monde
Herms. Few would have been surprised had the
cover illustrated a work by leaders of Japanese
contemporary art like Takashi Murakami or
Yoshitomo Nara, but the inclusion of Sekkas
book in such a high-profile fashion magazine
was perplexing. Who was this figure from the
last century? Except for a handful of Japanese
scholars and collectors in Kyoto and the United
States, the name Kamisaka Sekka was relatively
unknown. However, taking the cue from the
Herms publication, a wave of re-appreciation
of Sekkas artistic achievements has taken place
in Japan and beyond over the last decade.

Since then, various large scale exhibitions

and monographic works have contributed to
cement his position as a visionary figure who reinvigorated the decorative tradition of Rinpa to
forge the unique aesthetics of Japanese art and
design in the transitional period at the turn of
the 19th century.
From 22 June to 26 August this year, the
Art Gallery of NSW will host the exhibition
Kamisaka Sekka: Dawn of modern Japanese
design. In contrast to previous shows that

have focussed solely on Sekka, the Sydney

exhibition will take a more comprehensive
approach, embracing the entire tradition of
Rinpa, the artistic lineage often described
as the one which most fully expresses
Japanese sensibility and emotion (Yamane
1988). By updating this traditional style to
breathe new life into Japanese craft design,
Sekka also contributed greatly to sustaining
interest in Rinpa aesthetics into the modern
era. Thanks to the accessibility of its imagery
and its compelling graphic quality, Rinpa
continues to delight contemporary audiences
and exert remarkable influences on current
artistic practices. The diverse impact of Rinpa
on 21st century artists and designers such as
Ai Yamaguchi, Tar Yamamoto, Kitamura
Tatsuo Unryan and Sydney-based fashion
designer Akira Isogawa constitutes the third
component of the exhibition.
Kamisaka Sekka was born on 12 January
1866 in Kyoto. Two years after his birth,
Japan was transformed from a feudal society
under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo
period (16031868) to a modern nation state
under the enlightened rule of Emperor Meiji
(r. 18671912). Drastic reforms in political,
social, economic and educational spheres
were enacted by the new modernising Meiji
government in an effort to achieve parity

with industrialised nations in the West.

In the arts, too, the era was one of intense
transformation and disruption, marked by
a reciprocal exchange of cultural ideas. The
re-establishment of imperial rule resulted
in the move of the court to Edo, which was
renamed Tokyo and made the capital of the
new age. This left Kyoto at a psychological
and economic disadvantage. However, thanks
to the astuteness of the first two governors of
Kyoto prefecture, a wide range of industrial
and educational projects were implemented
to revive and improve the quality and
production of textiles, lacquerware, ceramics
and other crafts to ensure the citys economic
future (Conant 1995).
In 1881, Sekka began to study Shij-school
painting with Suzuki Zuigen (18471901).
Even though Zuigen taught at the Kyoto
Prefecture Painting School, a newly
established art school with a Westerninfluenced educational system, Sekka chose
to follow a traditional training at his teachers
privately run atelier. Six years later, he began
an apprenticeship in the Kawashima Textile
Factory in Kyoto, a leading textile producer,
to learn about the production of sketches
for textile designs. This is indicative of
Sekkas rather traditionalist outlook on
the arts, namely one that made no clear
distinction between the fine and decorative
arts or crafts.
In 1889, Sekka came under the tutelage of
Kishi Kkei (18401922), an artist, craftsman,
and governmental official in charge of reforms
in the field of design. As Kkeis assistant,
Sekka participated in projects involving the
design and production of lacquer objects for
domestic and international exhibitions as well
as for the Japanese Imperial Household and
the British royal family (Sat 2003).
From the 1890s onwards Sekka became
increasingly engaged in the reform and
promotion of Kyotos traditional crafts by
participating in various study groups, serving
as juror for crafts exhibitions and acting as
editor of the Journal of the Kyoto Art Association.
In 1901, he was dispatched to Europe by the
Kyoto prefectural government to observe the
Glasgow International Exhibition. During
his six-month stay, he also travelled to a
number of European countries to research
contemporary trends in the arts and crafts.
But while Sekka was open to the aesthetics of

Cigarette box with design of a farmers hut, Kamisaka Sekka (design)/Kamisaka YOkichi (lacquer), 1920s. Gold, lead,
maki-e lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay on wood, 6 x 12.5 x 15.3 cm. Hosomi Museum, Kyoto

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

Flowers of the twelve months, Kamisaka Sekka, 192025. One leaf from twelve album leaves,
now framed, ink and colour on silk, 24.7 x 31.7 cm. Hosomi Museum, Kyoto

Art Nouveau and British Arts and Crafts, the

exposure to these new styles only reinforced
his belief that the future of Japanese craft
design lay in the revival and preservation of
native traditions, and not in the emulation of
Western artistic trends.
After his return from Europe, Sekka took a
teaching post in the design department at the
Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. He
was also instrumental in establishing various
art associations such as the Katsumikai and
the Kybikai. The first was a study group that
offered emerging artists a forum to research
painting and design under his guidance, while
the latter created a platform for established
craft artists to explore design concepts and
exhibit their works twice yearly.
The activities of such associations was of
enormous importance for craft artists in the
promotion of their work, since governmentsponsored exhibitions, such as the Ministry of
Education Art Exhibition (known as Bunten) did
not have a category for applied arts until 1927. By
the 1920s, Sekka was one of the most influential
figures in the field of art and design in Kyoto. In
his capacity as artistic director, he was able to
influence first-hand every stage of production,
from the development and improvement of
designs, to the collaboration with craft artists in
creating new types of products, and finally to the
planning of exhibitions.
While Sekkas artistic roots were in the
naturalistic Shij style, he would eventually turn
his attention to Rinpa artists, especially Honami
Ketsu (15581637), Ogata Krin (16581716)
and his younger brother Kenzan (16631743).
Originated in Kyoto at the beginning of the
1600s, Rinpa holds a unique position in Japanese
art history in that it was not based on the passing
of family lineage from generation to generation.
Rather, Rinpa artists were bound by the shared
dedication to a particular style, one that has
continued for over four centuries without direct
transmission through a close master-pupil
relationship. Since its inception in the early 17th
century, artists of the Rinpa tradition revived
the courtly aesthetics of the Heian period (7941185) to formulate a new visual vocabulary,
characterised by decorative motifs drawn from
nature, classical literature and the quotidian.
These are rendered in abstracted shapes, daring
composition and brilliant colour and could
be applied on a wide range of two- and threedimensional objects.
There are two reasons for Sekkas shift to the
decorative Rinpa tradition. Firstly, his mentor
Kishi Kkei was well known as a member of
a group of tea practitioners and connoisseurs
in Kyoto, who at the turn of the 19th century

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

instigated a renewed appreciation of Ketsus

life and art. In 1913, Sekka assisted Kkei in
establishing the Ketsu Association. It was
through these activities that Sekka became
acquainted with Ketsus wide-ranging
accomplishments in ceramics, lacquerware and
woodblock-printed books. He also understood
the older masters significance as a designer
and supervisor of craft production.
Secondly, there was a craze for Rinpa art in
Japan at the turn of the 19th century. With the
increased popularity of Art Nouveau, Japanese
newspapers attempted to promote the art of
Krin, Kenzan and Sakai Hitsu (17611828),
the progenitor of the Edo Rinpa tradition,
as Japanese beacons of this European style.
The Krin pattern or Genroku pattern, in
particular, was broadly and cleverly marketed
by department stores such as Mitsukoshi
and Takashimaya. This sparked a vogue for
kimono decoration in a Krin style, as well as a
re-evaluation of Rinpa arts and crafts.
In his writings for various art magazines,
Sekka frequently questioned the originality
and artistic merits of trendy, imported Western
aesthetics such as Art Nouveau. For instance,
he pointed out that the curvilinear lines
characteristic of this style were nothing new,
as they already enjoyed widespread use in
the Heian and Kamakura periods (11851333)
(Sakakibara 2008). On the other hand, he was
also sceptical about the newly forged national
painting style called Nihonga (literally,
Japanese painting), claiming that most of it
derived from Chinese and Western models,
and that nothing but the paintings by Krin

could be called pure Nihonga (Sakakibara

2003). Believing that excellent design
including interior, industrial and graphic
design would dominate modern aesthetics,
Sekka was particularly drawn to the Rinpa
philosophy that considered the production of
beautiful objects used in daily life as equal in
importance to the creation of objects for purely
aesthetic pleasure. Also, he recognised that
the accessibility of Rinpa motifs, its abstract
decorativeness and brilliant colour palette
were the perfect ingredients for a distinctive
Japanese visual vocabulary that had at the
same time a modern and universal appeal.
In the spirit of a true Rinpa artist, Sekka was
prolific in a broad range of media including
paintings, lacquerware, ceramics, textiles and
woodblock prints as well as garden and interior
design. The subjects of his paintings are drawn
from the rich Rinpa repertoire: flowers and
grasses of the four seasons - symbols of natures
transient beauty; scenes from courtly literature
and poetry, as well as figures and scenes from
Chinese and Japanese legends and folklore.
The extensive use of the soft boneless (mokkotsu)
brushwork technique that concentrates on shape
rather than descriptive line, the suggestive
pooled ink technique (tarashikomi) as well as
a predilection for minimisation of the depicted
subjects are further characteristics borrowed
from the Rinpa style lexicon. Yet Sekkas works
are by no means derivative. He imbued his
paintings with a modern flair through the use
of vibrant chemical dyes and abstracted forms,
both of which were newly imported to Japan
from the West.

Entre dishes in the shape of a stream, Kamisaka Sekka (design)/Kiyomizu Rokubei IV & Kiyomizu Rokubei V (ceramics), 1920.
Porcelain with underglaze blue enamel, 3.6 x 10.8 x 16.6 cm each. Private collection, Kyoto

His lacquerware, mostly done in collaboration

with his younger brother Ykichi (18861938),
owe much to the works of Ketsu and Krin.
They display simplified, graphically strong
designs and an extensive use of broad areas
of gold makie, lead and mother-of-pearl inlays
that create a startling contrast to the plain
dark lacquer ground. Sekkas ceramic designs
are indebted to the distinctive style originated
by Ogata Kenzan. Often made in sets for daily
use, they typically show minimal decoration
that focus on a single magnified motif set
against a predominantly blank ground and
reveal a great sensibility in accommodating
the shape of the vessel in the overall concept
of surface decoration.
Sekkas genius in reinventing traditional
subjects and expressive idioms, synthesising
them with contemporary trends to forge a
unique visual language is best represented in
his woodblock printed pattern books, most
notably the above mentioned three-volume
set A world of things (Momoyogusa). For this
work, Sekka reprises familiar motifs from the
repertoire of the Shij and Rinpa schools but
enlarges and distorts the main motifs so that
they fill the entire compositional surface. The
forceful design and abstract graphic quality
of the imagery are enhanced by the flat
application of broad washes of bright aniline

colour absent of contour lines. Originally

intended as decorative motifs that can be
applied on various crafts media, these prints
could be appreciated as works of art for their
excellent aesthetic allure and extremely high
quality printing techniques.
From early in his career, Sekka choose to
travel a road different from many of his
contemporaries. In his move to study in a
traditionally run studio and to become an
apprentice as a designer for craft objects,
he resisted the modern Western-influenced
system of art education and exhibition.
A firm believer in the merits of Japanese
artistic traditions, he revived the Rinpa style
by employing it as the basis for modern
Japanese design. Moreover, Sekka did not
appear interested in casting his net beyond
the Kyoto-Osaka region. All of these reasons
might explain his relative anonymity in
modern Japanese art history, indicated by the
fact that there was a hiatus of almost 60 years
between the first retrospective organised by
the Kyoto City Museum of Art in 1944, two
years after Sekkas death, and the extensive
solo show at the Kyoto National Museum of
Modern Art in 2003.

lacquer ware, textile and woodblock printed

books dating from the early 1600s to the
present. The majority of the works on display
are from the Hosomi Museum, Kyoto. The
exhibition will be closed on 23-24 July for a
mid-term rotation of paintings and lacquer.
A symposium, supported by the Toshiba
International Foundation and the Department
of Japanese Studies, Sydney University, is
scheduled for the opening weekend on 23 June.
Khanh Trinh is Curator of Japanese Art at the Art
Gallery of NSW and of this exhibition.

REFERENCES
Conant, Ellen P. 1995. Tradition in transition, 18681890 in
Ellen P Conant (ed), Nihonga: transcending the past, Japanese
style painting 18681968, Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri.
Sato Keiji. Kamisaka Sekka and Kyoto lacquer as modern Rimpa
art in Donald Woods & Yuko Ikeda (eds), 2003. Kamisaka
Sekka: Rimpa master, pioneer of modern Japanese design, The
National Museum of Modern, Kyoto & Birmingham Museum of Art,
Birmingham, Alabama.
Sakakibara Yoshio. A study of Kamisaka Sekka in Woods & Ikeda
(eds) 2003.
Sakakibara Yoshio. 2008. Kamisaka Sekka no sekai, Rinpa kara
modan dezain e no kakebashi (The world of Kamisaka Sekka: the
bridge between Rinpa art and modern design), Heibonsha Corona
Books, Tokyo.
Yamane Yuzo et al. 1998. Rimpa art from the Idemitsu collection,
Tokyo. British Museum Press, Tokyo & London.

Kamisaka Sekka: Dawn of modern Japanese design

draws together 105 paintings, ceramics,

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

S P E C TA C L E A N D F A N TA S Y: T H E E X H I B ITIO N S T A R S O F T H E T O K Y O S T A G E
Lucie Folan

tars of the Tokyo stage a National Gallery

of Australia travelling exhibition on
display at the Royal Melbourne Institute
of Technology Gallery from 28 June 2012
celebrates the glamour and vitality of Japans
kabuki theatre in the 1920s and 30s. For
centuries, the theatrical art form of kabuki has
inspired visual artists, especially printmakers
concerned with depicting contemporary life
and culture. The exhibition, featuring superb
woodblock printed actor portraits by Tokyo
artist Natori Shunsen (18861960), explores
this relationship. The prints are animated by a
selection of spectacular kabuki robes made for
use by Tokyos Shochiku Theatre Company.

Tokyo in the 1920s and early 30s was the scene

of dramatic social change as the city was
rapidly growing and modernising. Between
1890 and 1920 Tokyos population tripled to
approximately 3 million, mainly rural Japanese
people relocating in search of opportunities
and employment (Sawada 1996:61). Modern
industries developed, private corporations
became more important, mass consumerism
increased, social movements and political
groups proliferated and in 1925 Japanese men
over twenty-five were granted suffrage (Jansen
2002). The cityscape itself changed dramatically,
accelerated by rebuilding programs after the
Great Kanto earthquake of 1923.
In this environment, there was an influx of
Western ideas and fashions. Western-style

clothing was commonly worn, particularly

by those living in major cities. New forms
of modern imported urban entertainment
became popular, with Japanese people
embracing cafs, jazz clubs, dancing,
magazines, department store shopping,
cinema and spectator sports such as baseball
(Tipton 2000; Brown 2001). Kabuki was forced
to adapt to the changing times, as it had many
times in the past.

Its acting is characterised by a codified style of

exaggerated poses, movements and stylised
speech, with music accompanying scenes
and heightening dramatic moments. Visual
spectacle is extremely important, with bold,
ornate and colourful stage settings, costumes,
makeup, props and elaborate stage tricks such
as lighting, smoke effects and mechanical
devices including wires to allow actors to fly,
trapdoors and rotating stages.

Kabuki originated in Kyoto in the early

17th century as a form of popular street
entertainment when lower-class women,
often prostitutes, began presenting humorous
plays and dances. After a series of government
bans, all kabuki roles came to be performed
by men. In the 18th and 19th centuries, kabuki
flourished as part of the floating world of
Japans cities. Closely identified with the
entertainment and red-light districts, its
theatres were located alongside teashops,
brothels and drinking establishments. During
the Meiji period (18681912), kabuki was
elevated to a reputable art, officially supported
as a symbol of Japans national culture. Kabuki
became a refined, but still somewhat irreverent,
theatrical form (Leiter 2002).

Throughout its history, kabuki actors adored

and gossiped about in the same way as movie
stars are today have been wildly popular
for their exciting portrayals, extraordinary
characters and colourful personal lives.

Kabuki plays range greatly, from epic

period dramas to real life domestic plays,
to those about the criminal underworld
or supernatural beings, from comedies to
tragedies and tales expressed only in dance.

From its beginnings kabuki had an air

of outrageousness, with cross-dressing,
sexual innuendo, bravado and exaggerated
histrionicskabuki actors were on the pale
of society, beneath the official four-class
system of samurai-farmer-artisan-merchant.
The irony is that these outlaw-like figures
came to be popular superheroes - sexual and
cultural icons. (Gerstle 2012)
By the 1920s and 30s, kabuki was mainstream
entertainment, actors continued to be idolised
and performances were well attended.
However, theatre companies were aware
of the competition from modern pursuits,
and feared losing audiences and patronage.
In response, writers, actors and producers

MATSUMOTO KOSHIRO VII AS BENKEI IN 'THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST', NATORI SHUNSEN, 1935. WOODBLOCK PRINT, EMBOSSING,

MATSUMOTO KOSHIRO VII AS UMEOMARU IN 'SUGAWARA'S

INK AND COLOUR ON PAPER, 39.0 X 53.0 CM. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA, PAULINE AND JOHN GANDEL FUND, 2011

SECRETS OF CALLIGRAPHY', NATORI SHUNSEN, 1926, WOODBLOCK

PRINT; INK AND COLOUR ON PAPER, 38.2 X 25.9 CM.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

NGA CANBERRA, GIFT OF JENNIFER GORDON, 1998

KABUKI COSTUME FOR PRINCESS YAEGAKI IN 'JAPAN'S TWENTY-FOUR PARAGONS OF FILIAL PIETY',
C. 2000, SHOCHIKU COSTUME COMPANY. SILK DAMASK, GOLD THREAD; EMBROIDERY, LAID COUCHING.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA, PAULINE AND JOHN GANDEL FUND, 2011

The rich costumes on display in Stars of the

Tokyo stage are made from expensive showy
fabrics, epitomising the costumes of the Tokyo
stage. The robes were recently produced, but
follow styles and motifs established during
the Edo period (16151868), subtly refined
into their current fixed forms in the early
decades of the 20th century. In the Edo period,
actors, theatre producers and costumiers
designed costumes collaboratively. While
there is little scope for extreme modifications
today, minor changes may be made to suit the
performance of an important actor (personal
communication with Shochiku staff 2011).
The Gallerys brilliant akahime (red princess)
robe is reserved for leading onnagata (female
roles) such as Princess Yaegaki in Japans
twenty-four paragons of filial piety or Shizuka in
Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees. It is
patterned with ornate embroidered wisteria,
plum blossom, chrysanthemums, clematis,
blades of grass, maple leaves and reeds against
a lattice of gold thread. With long trailing
sleeves, the furisode kimono a style popular
with young Edo-period women of the pleasure
quarters is ideal for the stylish dances of
grief-stricken lovers, while the padded hem
allows actors to glide across the stage.

created new dramas, some of which

assimilated Western-style acting and staging.
At the same time, popular plays of the past
were revived with even greater emphasis on
elaborate sets and extravagant costumes.
It was in this era that theatre companies became
big business enterprises. In 1902, Shochiku
now Japans major kabuki producer began
gradually taking over theatres and signing
progressive and influential actors. By 1923, the
company held a monopoly, and also started
producing movies. Shochiku was concerned
with retaining kabukis unique traditions
and in keeping up with popular fashions.
With significant resources, the company
was able to create and actively promote its
lavish productions and adored stars, helping
to foster a resurgence in the popularity of
theatre-going (Leiter 2002). In short, kabuki
thrived, experiencing a modern golden age
(Gerstle 2012).
Dress is integral to kabuki, an essential
element of the stage setting and overall
artistry of performance. To enhance an actors
stage presence, costumes may be oversized,
outlandishly shaped with strong decorative
motifs, or made using techniques such as
embroidery to create spectacular visual effects:

a notable array of colours, at times almost

discordantproduce dazzling costumes of
incredible beauty and unexpected vibrancy.
(Shaver 1966:113)
Distinctive ensembles represent particular
characters, allowing immediate recognition
and helping audiences follow complex plots.
For onnagata (female-role actors), costume and
makeup transform the male actor, allowing
convincing portrayals of beauty and femininity.
Particular styles, garment types, colours
and motifs also symbolise age, social status,
morality or relationships between characters.
Kabuki dress may be pure fantasy, but more
often is based on historical Japanese fashions.
Some history plays present magnificent, colourful
and ornate costumes of the period in which the
play is set, while others portray the popular styles
of the Edo period (16151868), when kabuki
was at its height. The latter typically echo the
flamboyant clothing worn in the urban pleasure
quarters by wealthy Edo (Tokyo) residents as
well as prostitutes, geisha and other entertainers.
Kabuki robes may also be brazenly anachronistic,
with beauty and entertainment valued over
historical accuracy. In domestic dramas, simpler
cotton clothing is often worn. Again, the styles of
the Edo period are often favoured (Shaver 1966).

The magnificent ensemble for the role of Benkei in

the period drama The subscription list exemplifies
the fantastic, symbolic and role-specific aspects
of kabuki costumes. The bulky clothing worn by
Benkei, a samurai retainer of Japanese history
immortalised in various plays, is designed
to enhance the actors physical presence. The
subscription list was adapted from a play of
the no theatre, and the outfit therefore consists
of no garments such as oguchi (wide-mouth)
trousers with auspicious Buddhist wheel and
cloud motifs, a black happi garment emblazoned
with gold and a checked twill under-robe.
In The subscription list, Benkei dresses as a
yamabushi (mountain-dwelling priest) to
smuggle his fugitive master through a blockade.
While the costume is far more opulent than
that of a real yamabushi, the accoutrements of
pompon, brocade, hat and tasselled neckpiece
are signifiers of the priesthood. The costumes
details and colour palette date from the 1920s
or 30s the megastar Matsumoto Koshiro VII
is portrayed wearing the same design in a 1935
print by artist Natori Shunsen.
Shunsen was clearly deeply engaged in the
world of kabuki. Between 1925 and the mid
1930s, he produced two series of bold actor
prints depicting the kabuki stars of the day
as legendary characters at iconic moments
in performance. Published by Watanabe
Shozaburo (18851962), the portraits provide a

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

KABUKI COSTUME FOR BENKEI IN 'THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST', C. 2000, SHOCHIKU COSTUME COMPANY.
SILK AND GOLD THREAD BROCADE, EMBROIDERY, LAID COUCHING, POMPONS, PLAITED CORD, TASSELS, TWILL WOVEN PLAID.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA, PAULINE AND JOHN GANDEL FUND, 2011

In printmaking, these currents were expressed

in the shin-hanga (new print) and sosakuhanga (creative print) movements. Sosakuhanga advocated the artist as sole creator of a
work of art, and valued personal, expressive,
original printed images. Shin-hanga, founded
by influential publisher Watanabe Shozaburo
sought to preserve and reinvigorate traditional
Japanese printmaking to produce commercially
viable prints (Reigle Newland 1990).
Shunsens exquisite prints were created through
the time-honoured collaborative process
involving publisher, artist, block-carver and
printer. The images display the influence of
historical Japanese actor prints one of the major
long-standing themes of Japanese printmaking
as well as the modern international concern
with realistic representation.
Stars of the Tokyo stage presents costumes and
prints related to the modern flowering of
Japans kabuki theatre, as well as exemplary
images of the brief 20th century resurgence
of traditional Japanese printmaking. The
exhibition is the first to show the complete set of
Natori Shunsens celebrated 1920s print series.
Stars of the Tokyo stage also provides an extremely
rare opportunity while kabuki costumes are
regularly seen on stage in Tokyo, Kyoto and
Osaka, audiences outside of Japan are seldom
able to view these sumptuous garments.
fascinating record of kabuki during the Taisho
(191226) and early Showa (192689) periods,
a compendium of the great actors of the day
in their best-loved roles. Made for theatre
aficionados, each portrait highlights costume
details, nuances of facial expression, pose and
makeup to convey the magic of performance.
Shunsens portraits capture the tension
inherent in kabukis most celebrated mie
(dramatic poses). For instance, his portrait of
Benkei shows the samurai holding a blank
scroll and audaciously concocting a list of
names to convince his enemies that he is a
real priest. Similarly, the image of Matsumoto
Koshiro VII as Umeomaru depicts the most
famous scene of Sugawaras secrets of calligraphy.
The heroic character, distinguished by his
red stripes of makeup and bold costume, is
typically played in the brash exaggeratedly
masculine aragoto (rough thing) style.
Other portraits from Shunsens repertoire
illustrate the accomplished performances
of onnagata stars. The print of Nakamura
Fukusuke V playing the romantic female lead
in The Katsura River and the eternal bonds of love
is intensely feminine and a moving portrait of
a young woman contemplating suicide after
a scandalous love affair. Another portrait

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

depicts the elegant akahime costume worn by

the heroine Shizuka.
Revealing the innovations and popular fashions
of the period, two of Shunsens portraits depict
stars from more modern acting genres the
progressive actor Sawada Shojiro and the movie
star Okochi Denjiro. In the 1930s, movies made
in Japan were becoming increasingly popular
with Japanese audiences. Okochi Denjiro
starred in numerous films about the one-eyed,
one-armed swashbuckling ronin (masterless
samurai) Tange Sazen. The grimacing Denjiro,
a scar across his face, is shown in the act of
pulling out his sword, dressed in a distinctive
calligraphy-embellished robe.
As well as reflecting the flourishing of preWorld War II kabuki, Shunsens prints have
become internationally famous as outstanding
examples of the shin-hanga movement. In the
1920s, many artists, writers and intellectuals
were grappling with ideas of modernisation
and Japanese identity. Art movements
to preserve traditional Japanese media,
techniques, aesthetics and subject matter
coexisted with those dedicated to introducing
the practices and ideas of modern Western art,
with many artists seeking to synthesise the
seemingly opposed approaches (Ajioka 1998).

Stars of the Tokyo stage will be on show in

Melbourne at the Royal Melbourne Institute
of Technology Gallery from 28 June to 25
August 2012. The exhibition will then tour
other Australian venues.
Lucie Folan is the curator of Stars of the Tokyo stage,
a National Gallery of Australia travelling exhibition.

REFERENCES
Sawada, Mitziko 1996. Tokyo life, New York dreams: urban
Japanese visions of America, 1890-1924. University of California
Press, Los Angeles.
Jansen, Marius 2002. The making of modern Japan. Harvard
University Press, Cambridge.
Tipton, Elise 2002. Being modern in Japan: culture and society
from the 1910s to the 1930s. Australian Humanities Research
Foundation, Sydney.
Brown, Kendall H., et al 2001. Taisho chic: Japanese modernity,
nostalgia, and deco. Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu.
Leiter, Samuel L. 2002. A kabuki reader: history and performance.
M.E. Sharpe, New York.
Gerstle, Andrew C. 2012. The cult of the actor in Folan, Lucie
(ed) Stars of the Tokyo stage: Natori Shunsens kabuki actor prints.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Shaver, Ruth 1966. Kabuki costume. C. E. Tuttle Company, Vermont.
Ajioka, Chiaki et al 1998. Modern boy modern girl: modernity in
Japanese art 1910-1935. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Reigle Newland, Amy & Uhlenbeck, Chris 1990. Ukiyo-e to shin hanga:
the art of Japanese woodblock prints. Mallard Press, New York.

T H R E AD S O F H I S TOR Y: C AT H OLI C T E X TIL E S I N V I E T N A M

Chris Douglas

Full chasuble, Vietnam. Gold colour metallic thread groundweave, with silk appliqu panels embellished with
sequins and metal pieces, embroidery. Garment lined with cotton. Early 20th century. Photo: Chris Douglas

he softly glowing robe hung from an old

hanger in a darkened corner of the antique
shop. In the filtered light of the Hanoi streetscape,
there was something about the quality of the
robes reflecting fabric that caught my eye, so I
asked to see the piece more closely. I immediately
recognised what the robe was used for, but I was
surprised to see it in Northern Vietnam.

It was a chasuble: the sleeveless, coloured, overtunic worn by Catholic priests when they say
Mass. It had an opening at the top to admit the
head, and the sides were open and loosely tied.
The form was stiff, connected at the shoulders,
so that each half would lie against the chest
and back. The fabric was made of gold metallic
thread with heavily embroidered beatified
faces, flowers, and symbols of the Sacred
Heart. On the back of the robe, a small carved
wooden torso sat attached, with protruding
hands that seemed to be making the Sign of the
Cross. The robes purpose was to instil a sense
of ceremony and grandeur into the Mass, and
as I handled it, it whispered look at me and
that was all I could do.
I immediately wanted to know more. Where
had this piece come from? How old was it?
What was an ornate Catholic robe of this nature
doing in an antique shop in Hanoi, Vietnam in
2006? The sales assistant was unable to answer
these questions, so while I purchased the robe,
I arranged to return the next day to meet the
shops owners, Giang and Lan, a husband and
wife team who proved to be experienced antique
collectors specialising in Vietnamese cultural
pieces. Giang told me that my newly acquired
robe had recently been found on one of his sorties
into the North Vietnamese countryside, and that
the robe had been sold because it was old and
was no longer used. Giang didnt know where,
when, or by whom it was made, but I guessed
that he could help me find out.
I arranged to stay in touch with Giang and
Lan, and over the next three years, as more
pieces emerged onto the Hanoi marketplace,
I collected around 50 Catholic artefacts - more
chasubles, processional banners, and several
church decorations. Some of them were
elaborate, others not, and their condition
varied, but I was intrigued by the uniqueness
of the craftwork in these pieces. Here was a
wonderful example of textile art - made for a
specific group, in a specific place, with strong
cross-cultural connections between West and
East - and I felt that it was important that I

10

try to find out more about this seemingly lost

world of Catholic textiles in Vietnam.
Catholicism in Vietnam was slow to emerge.
Although Portuguese missionaries first
brought Catholicism to Vietnam in 1533, they
encountered a society that was classically
Confucian, and it was not until the arrival
of the Jesuits in the early decades of the 17th
century that Christianity began to establish its
position within the local population.
By the early 1800s Christianity was
tolerated and missionary activities were

permitted, however this co-existence between

Christianity and Confucianism was not to
last. By the mid-1830s Christianity had fallen
foul of the Emperor Minh Mang, and as a
consequence, many Catholic missionaries
were executed for their role in supporting (an
unsuccessful) rebellion. Persistent uprisings
continued to occur over the following
decades, many led by Catholic priests intent
on installing a Christian monarch. During
the French colonial campaign against the
Vietnamese, many Catholics joined with the
French. When colonial rule was established
in 1883, they were rewarded with preferential

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

Modern day embroidery workshop, Phu Nhai village,

Room of martyrs, Bui Chu Cathedral, Vietnam. Photo: Chris Douglas

treatment in government posts and education,

and the church was given vast tracts of royal
land that had been seized. It was a fruitful and
prosperous time for Catholicism in Vietnam.
It was not until the Second World War and the
Japanese occupation of Vietnam, that French
control was usurped. When the war ended, the
French Government attempted to regain control
of Vietnam, but it was not an easy task. In 1954
a provisional division of Vietnam was instituted,
with the north given to the communist backed
Ho Chi Minh and his party, and the south to the
ruling Emperor Bao Dai. Catholics no longer had
support in the north and indeed Ho Chi Minh and
his government regarded all religious activity as
a reactionary force. Many Catholics moved to the
south and church doors closed. With the ensuing
Vietnam War and the subsequent victory of the
communist north in 1975, the same fate befell the
Christians of the south.
By the early 1990s however, the Vietnamese
Government had decided adherence to a
political ideology was less important than
economic development, and its relationship
towards the Catholic Church began to change.
Religious freedoms were once again tolerated
and the doors of the closed churches started
to re-open. Over the next decade the church
began to establish itself once more.
By this time Catholic priests rarely wore the
old and more ornate vestments, and many
Vietnamese churches were selling off their
often damaged pieces to fund much needed
church repairs and community projects.
These factors contributed to the emergence of
church artefacts onto the marketplace by the
time I arrived in Hanoi in 2006.
It would seem that these heavy, ornate pieces
belong to the late French colonial period, when
the Catholic Church was at its wealthiest and
could afford to commission such elaborate,
and no doubt, expensive handiwork. It is
also likely that these pieces were put into
storage at the end of this colonial period, at

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

the beginning of the Japanese occupation or

later, as needs dictated.
Aware of this history, and armed with photos
of my growing collection, I returned to Hanoi
in 2011, still unsure about where they had been
made. I contacted a company in Hanoi making
contemporary Catholic embroidered garments
for the export market. The owners thought it
most likely that my pieces had been made
in Europe. But this just didnt make sense
to me. Perhaps the fabric had been imported
from Europe, but the embroidery must have
been worked in Vietnam, where it had been
a tradition since the 15th century. I felt that
the work in the textiles I had collected was
too similar to the embroidery craft that I was
seeing in the streets of modern-day Hanoi.
So, hoping to meet someone who could help
me further, I again got in touch with Giang
and Lan and arranged for a guide to take me
south to the churches where my textiles had
been sourced around 100 km from Hanoi. As
we travelled along and I was musing on how
much ground I had to cover in the time that I
had, my driver announced that we had arrived
at Trung Linh church. It was a welcome stop,
but it was not the church that I was heading
for. Somehow, a miscommunication had
occurred between my translator and driver
and I found myself still a couple of hours
away from my original destination.
Well, I thought, at least I was at a Church.
At the suggestion of a local nun, we drove
on to Bui Chu Cathedral around 5 km away
where I met Father Dominic. Showing him
the photographs of my textiles, I asked if he
recognised these pieces, if he knew anything
about the makers, and indeed, if he could offer
me any assistance. He was a young man so I
wasnt hopeful that he could shed any light on
my quest. To my astonishment he said, yes, he
did recognise the work from these garments
and, yes, he did know where they were
probably made, and yes, he could give me
directions, and before I go there, would I like to

Vietnam. Photo: Chris Douglas

see the textile collection held by the Cathedral?

I thought of my driver and smiled; what stroke
of luck, what quirk of fate had brought us here?
Over the next few hours I was led through
a remarkable display of Catholic history in
Vietnam. In one room lay around 40 glass
coffin-like cases: inside each, a life- sized
priestly effigy, peacefully asleep. They told
the story of the martyrs, and they were
wearing their chasubles; just like mine. Another
building housed myriad Catholic collectables
- textiles, statues, furniture, altar pieces- two
floors of wonderfully made objects preserved
for Catholic and Vietnams posterity. Father
Dominic then sent me off to Phu Nhai, a small
village only a few kilometres away, where
these items were probably made. There I found
a shop carving wooden religious statues,
another, wooden tabernacles and crucifixes,
and several others making Catholic textiles.
I asked the owner of one textile shop to look at
my photographs and while he acknowledged
that the work had most likely come from
this area, he was unsure who had made the
pieces or when. Looking around, I could see
modern textiles of a similar nature being
embroidered with the same patience that had
been employed for generations, and I realised
that I was probably never going to know who
exactly had made the pieces I had collected:
my collection was a part of a much bigger
picture and I had come as close as I could to
uncovering its intriguing story.
And then it occurred to me that this Catholic
art form was not lost, far from it. It was alive
and kicking, and I had just stumbled upon
it again, propelled by a robe hanging in a
darkened corner of an antique shop in Hanoi.
Chris Douglas lives and works on the Gold Coast,
Australia where he runs his business jula.com.au,
selling handmade and collectable pieces. His interest
in textiles stems from many years of travelling and
collecting. He plans to return to Vietnam in 2012 to
continue his research on Catholic textiles.

11

N E W LIT E RATI : F U K U DA K ODO J I N A N D E ARL Y 2 0 T H C E N T U R Y N A N G A

Rhiannon Paget

Landscape after Mi Fei (1914). Hanging scroll, ink on silk,

179.5 x 52.7 cm, gift of Mr David Frank and Mr Kazukuni
Sugiyama, Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture

apanese literati painting or nanga from the

early 20th century has been long neglected
by studies of both literati and modern
painting. Surveys of nanga tend to conclude
with the mid-19th century, suggesting that
what followed represents the movements
decline. The antiquarian and independent
tendencies of nanga have meant that it has
been similarly marginalised by the preference
for linear progression and academic painting
among scholars of modern art.

The liminal position of modern nanga,

between China and Japan, ancient and
modern, however, makes it a rewarding
subject of inquiry for those seeking to
understand Japanese painting. Many artists
working in the nanga idiom between the late
19th and early 20th centuries also drew on
older, decorative traditions, coalescing with
the broader interest in creating a modern
art that would express Japans cultural and
political autonomy and unity. One such artist
who convincingly united aspects of nativist
painting with nanga was the poet-painter
Fukuda Kodjin (1865-1944).
The concept of nanga was informed largely
by the writings of the Chinese painter and art
historian Dong Qichang (1555-1636). Dong
wrote from a culture with a long history of
distinguishing professional painters, regarded
as mere craftsmen, from amateur artists, many
of whom belonged to the classically educated
class of wenren (men of letters) that typically
supplied the state with civil servants.
Professional
court
painting
was
characteristically detailed, colourful and
highly finished, whereas amateurs, seeking
to distinguish themselves from the former,
worked primarily in ink and cultivated a
spontaneous, nave aesthetic. Preferred literati
subjects were landscapes and auspicious plants
such as bamboo, usually accompanied by a
poetic inscription. The power of brushwork to
express ones personality, moral character, and
erudition was privileged over its descriptive
capacity. Literati paintings typically expressed
a Daoist reverence for nature and yearning
for seclusion. Dong identified these stylistic
streams as the Northern and Southern schools
respectively, in reference to divisions within
Chan Buddhism.
Some understanding of Chinese literati
painting existed in Japan as early as the

12

Muromachi period (1336-1573); however,

it was not broadly adopted by local artists
until the mid 18th century. Woodblockprinted painting treatises and manuals
and artworks were imported from China
via Nagasaki, which became a centre for
Chinese art. Many artists travelled there to
learn from expatriate Chinese artists such
as Yi Fuzhou (Jp.: I Fuky, fl. first half of
18th cent.) and Shen Nanping (Jp.: Shin
Nanbin, 1682-1780). Others learnt from
Chinese monks of the baku sect.
Literati painting underwent various
transitions as it was assimilated into
Japanese culture. Japan lacked a scholarly
class comparable to the Chinese wenren
and its literati painters came from a broad
range of social backgrounds and made
their living from painting and/or related
activities such as teaching. Furthermore,
these Japanese artists did not strictly follow
imported traditions. They were more
eclectic in their choice of subject matter and
genre; for example, colourful paintings of
birds and flowers (kachzu), considered the
domain of professional painters by Chinese
theorists, were accommodated within the
nanga repertoire.
Japanese artists such as Yosa Buson
(1716-1783) and Ike Taiga (1723-1776)
incorporated elements of the nativist,
decorative Rinpa school into their
interpretation of literati painting. Taiga in
particular is known for his exploitation
of the decorative possibilities of brush
strokes which, in many of his landscapes,
are arranged into compelling rhythmic
textures, giving a playful, graphic character
that is closer to that of nativist works
than to the earthy tangibility and depth
of Chinese literati painting. Elsewhere,
Taiga eshewed the firm, dry brushwork
prescribed by Chinese literati masters for a
wet, brushless technique used in Japanese
decorative painting (Stanley-Baker 1992:
105-118).
Nanga underwent further transition
with the modernisation of the art world
from the 1880s. Art was now expected to
embody the cultural identity of the young
nation and edify its audience, a role for
which nanga was deemed unequal, being a
Chinese import concerned more with selfexpression than grand narratives. In 1882,

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

Glowing Pines and Sailboats (1928). Hanging scroll,

ink on paper, 136.5 x 34.0 cm, Clark Center for
Japanese Art & Culture

a lecture given by Ernest Fenollosa (18531908), a leading figure in the formation of a

national style of painting, derided nanga for
its rejection of academic aesthetic principles.
This lecture became the primary reference for
those critical of nanga. Furthermore, nanga
had little value as an export product (Sat
2011: 50, 198).
The art education system reflected this new
consciousness of what was economically and
culturally profitable and nanga was excluded
from the curricula of the Tokyo Institute of
Fine Arts (est. 1887), although it was taught
at Kyoto Prefectural Painting School (1880).
On the other hand, nanga painters such as
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) avoided the new
government sponsored juried exhibitions such
as Bunten and Naikoku Kaiga kyshin kai
(Domestic Painting Competitive Exhibition),
which formed the centre of the Tokyo art
world, perhaps anticipating bias or feeling that
they were antithetical to the Confucian values
upon which literati painting was premised
(Taki 1917: 40). Moreover, aside from skilful
brushwork, literati painting demanded a
level of proficiency in the Chinese classics that
took years to master; far longer than could be
condensed into the five-year bachelor degree
offered at the Tokyo Institute of Fine Arts.
Nonetheless, nanga found a place within the
modern art world. Artists such as Komuro
Suiun (1874-1945) endeavoured to give nanga
a discursive presence through organisations
such as the Nihon Nangain (est. 1921),
which held annual exhibitions modelled
on the official salon, and journals such as
Nanga kansh. Many artists trained in yga
(Western-style painting), including Yorozu
Tetsugor (1885-1927), and nihonga (Japanese
neotraditional painting), like Yokoyama
Taikan (1868-1958), began appropriating the
subject matter and visual language of nanga.
The application of colour, distortion of forms,
and reduction of inscriptions in paintings by
artists who trained as nanga painters, such
as Yano Kyson (1890-1965), demonstrate a
reciprocal interest in developments in yga and
nihonga. The diversity of artworks reproduced
in the Nihon Nangain exhibition catalogues
demonstrates a liberal attitude to what could
be exhibited as nanga. Nanga also benefited
from a renewed interest in Chinese culture
stimulated by Japans colonial activities.
On the fringes of this world was Fukuda
Kodjin (1865-1944). Born in Wakayama,
Kodjin studied painting with Suzuki
Hyakunen (1825-1891) in Kyoto before
moving to Tokyo in the early 1890s where he
became an esteemed follower of the modernist

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

haiku poet Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) and

edited Chinese poetry for Nippon magazine
(Watase 1960, Addiss 2000:1-56). He returned
to Kyoto in 1901. Few works from before
1910 are extant, but those from the following
decade show the emergence of a distinctive
individual style.
In Landscape after Mi Fei (1914), Kodjin
deploys classical techniques and imagery
of literati painting to dramatic effect. The
work is named for its use of heavy Mi-dots,
horizontal ovals made with the side of the
brush associated with the Chinese master Mi
Fei (Mi Fu, 10511107), which Kodjin would
have encountered through painting manuals
and other artists work. The atmospheric
blurring found in paintings connected with
Mi Fei is reduced to loops of cloud through
which grotesque pinnacles thrust. Parallel
ridges are exaggerated to enhance the graphic
vigour of the composition. The sense of chaotic
energy is offset by elements of whimsy, such
as the curiously anthropomorphic trees in the
foreground. A tiny, rounded figure, a common
feature of many of Kodjins landscapes,
meditates on a rocky outcrop. The inscribed
poem reads: The clouds rise and the mountain
screams and scolds; / The spring flows and
the rocks resonate. / I have been living in this
immortals cave for years, / Naturally I cannot
help but to entertain a religious feeling. (Trans.
Masato Nishimura, Paget 2010:30).
A similar approach is taken in Riverside,
Wind, and Moon (c. 1920). The dry brushwork,
spindly trees, and abundance of space
between foreground and horizon refer to the
landscapes of the Chinese painter Ni Zan
(13011374). Where Ni Zan is sombre and
austere, however, Kodjin is playful and
energetic. In the fore- and mid-ground, trees
seem to writhe, while the sparseness of the
composition is tempered by the inclusion of
boats, huts, and small rocks executed in his
distinctive brushwork of uneven thickness
and trembling outline.
In 1919, a Kyoto politician Ezaki Gonichi
arranged an exhibition of his work and an
illustrated catalogue, Kodjin Poetry and
Painting (Kodjin shiga). In 1927, Old Trees Late
Spring (Koboku yoshun), a book reproducing
35 paintings and calligraphic works by
Kodjin, was published. The following year
saw the establishment of a formal patronage
circle, the Kodjin Society (Kodjin-kai),
whose members organised an exhibition at
Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo. A list
quoting impressive prices survives, as well
as the committee prospectus, which notes
that Kodjin created two paintings for the
80th birthday of the former prime minister

13

Abandoning My Oars in the Pure Valley (1930).

Hanging scroll, ink and colours on paper, 132.6 x 32.8 cm,
Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture

Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940). Despite the

apparent success of these events, Kodjin
remained aloof from formal painting societies,
thus forgoing the opportunity to broaden his
audience.
The Kodjin Society included members of
Japans elite, including the Prime Minister
Tanaka Giichi (18641929), the industrialist
Machida Tokunosuke (18661952), and the
Sinologist Nait Konan (18661934). In the
pamphlet for the Mitsukoshi exhibition,
organiser Kokubun Shutoku likens Kodjin
to a phoenix and a unicorn, and a kami
[god] beyond worldly dust (Addiss 2000:40),
suggesting that Kodjin himself represented
something precious and rare for these
wealthy, powerful men, a true literati from
a nobler past. By eliding the reality of her
hostile occupation of China, the Arcadian
vision of China presented in nanga supported
Japans imperialist fantasy. This may be one
reason why Kodjin and his work appealed
so strongly to these leaders in politics and
industry (Tanaka 1993: 13-19; Chiba 2003).
Paintings created by Kodjin from around
the time of the Mitsukoshi exhibition and
after, contain brush techniques and pictorial
effects that are more characteristic of local
than Chinese artists. Plum Blossom Library
(1926) makes extensive use of tarashikomi,
probably derived from broken or splashed
ink, a technique of Chinese and Japanese ink
painting which was a favourite of the nativist
Rinpa school. Here, darker ink is painted
over still-wet washes of light colour, causing
the edges of the ink to blur gently, creating a
languid atmosphere that complements the
poems theme of sake and blossom. A wreath of
cloud partitions background from foreground
without adding depth; a device also favoured
among nativist painters. The subject Plum
Blossom Library (baika shooku) was popular
among Japanese literati artists like Yamamoto
Baiitsu (1783-1856), Tanomura Chikuden
(1777-1835), and Hashimoto Kansetsu (18831945) who all created versions of it.
Glowing Pines and Sailboats (1928) recalls
the ambiguous depiction of space found
in mature works by Taiga such as his series
Mount Fuji in the Twelve Months, itself
drawing from standardised scenes of Japans
decorative landscape painting tradition. The
lake is depicted as if observed from directly
above, while the trees, mountains, buildings,
and sailboats suggest a lateral view. The
houses and boats on the far side of the lake
show no diminishment in size, giving the
work a whimsical aspect. This handling
of perspective functions to animate the
landscape, enveloping the beholder.

14

Abandoning My Oars in the Pure Valley (1930)

is a masterful exercise in the layering of line,
texture and colour. Washes of ink and colour
are brushed over with a profusion of pepper
dots, stipple marks, dry scrubbing, and
wriggling lines. As with Plum Blossom Library,
wet, light colours are broken with diluted
ink in the soft modelling of the mountains,
providing a foil for the textured brushwork
below. Landscape elements, compressed
into a single plane, are encoded in a series
of undulating layers interspersed with cloud
bands embellished with brown, ochre, and
ink, uncoiling playfully across the image in the
manner of Chikuden. These serve to generate
rhythm and prevent the densely patterned
structure from becoming monotonous. The
overall impression is of a landscape in a state
of rapid flux, teeming with primordial energy.
Although nanga would not survive the Second
World War as a broad movement, its last
decades were not characterised by the artistic
exhaustion typically attributed to periods of
decline. Instead, nanga of this period was eclectic
and diverse, as the pictorial conventions and
imagery of literati painting were reconceived
with elements of design favoured by decorative
Japanese-style painting and corresponding
techniques. The complex, visually exciting
structures, expressive patterns and shapes,
and idiosyncratic brushwork of Kodjins
landscapes exemplify this tendency towards
hybridity, and are compelling interpretations
of canonical Chinese sources, their deployment
by 18th and 19th century Japanese, and
contemporary revival of nativist traditions.
Rhiannon Paget is a PhD student of the University of
Sydney and Tokyo University of the Arts. Her research
interests include Japanese woodblock prints and early
20th century painting.

REFERENCES
Addiss, Stephen, 2000. Old Taoist: The Life, Art, and Poetry of
Kodojin (1865-1944), Columbia University Press, New York.
Chiba Kei, 2003. Nihon bijutsu shiso no teikokushugika 1910
20 nendai no nanga saihyoka o meguru ikkosatsu, Bigaku, Vol.
54, no. 1, pp. 56-68.
Paget, Rhiannon, 2010, edited by Marks, Andreas. Luminosity in
Monochrome: Japanese Ink Painting and Calligraphy, Clark Center
for Japanese Art & Culture, Hanford.
Sato, Doshin, 2011, translated by Nara, Hiroshi. Modern Japanese
Art and the Meiji State: The Politics of Beauty, Getty Research
Institute, Los Angeles.
Stanley-Baker, Joan, 1992. The Transmission of Chinese Idealist
Painting to Japan, Center for Japanese Studies, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Taki Seiichi, 1917. Nanga shokan, Chuo bijutsu Vol. 3, no. 6,
pp. 38-40.
Tanaka, Stefan, 1993. Japans Orient: Rendering Pasts into History,
University of California Press, Berkeley.
Watase Ryoun, February 29, 1960. Fukuda Seisho Sensei,
Kumano Shi, Vol. 8, pp. 1-6.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

S H U TTI N G T H E IR E Y E S O N H I S TOR Y: P R E - I S LA M I C H E RITA G E AT T H E

N ATIO N AL M U S E U M O F T H E M ALDI V E S
Ann Proctor
n 9 February this year, a group of
disaffected youths broke into the
National Museum of the Maldives, damaging
some pre-Islamic works from the collection
beyond hope of repair. Such intolerant attacks
on religious images litter human history and
this recent destruction of ancient images was
particularly sad and pointless.

The National Museum of the Maldives is located

on the tiny island capital of Mal. The imposing
building was constructed with Chinese aid
money and opened in July 2010, replacing an
earlier, smaller building that was established by
the first president of the Maldives, Mohamed
Ameen, in 1952. Located on one corner of an
attractive precinct called the Sultans Park, the
museum joins the National Library, National
Art Gallery and Sultans Mosque around the
perimeter of the same city block.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MALDIVES, MAL. PHOTO: ANN PROCTOR

a collection of weapons. There are many

sculptures, most of which are Buddhist, but
some reflect Hindu iconography. I was struck
by the many reliquary caskets, often in the
shape of a stupa, many with inscriptions. One
of the most impressive of these early exhibits is
a large and intricate Buddha footprint carved
from coral stone dated to the 8th century;
similar examples of carved Buddha footprints
are found in Sri Lanka and other Southeast
Asian countries, though most of them are of a
later date. The upper floor houses a collection
of trade ceramics, principally Chinese wares;
lacquer items produced in the Maldives; many
beautiful textiles and accoutrements from the
Islamic courts and an impressive collection
of Qurans. In addition, there is a substantial
collection of early copper plate manuscripts,
as well as a natural history section. A visit to
the museum is certainly richly rewarding.

A catalogue, published to coincide with the

opening of the new building, mentions the
aspiration that improved exhibition spaces
will engender greater pride and knowledge
of Maldivian culture amongst islanders
themselves, as well as providing an enriching
experience for foreign visitors, most of whom
are attracted to this tropical nation for more
hedonistic pursuits - luxury resorts, diving and
surfing. It is also hoped that overseas museums
will be encouraged to lend their works.
The islands are thought to have been originally
settled by people from Sri Lanka several
hundred years BCE. Similarities in language and
script, in addition to geographic proximity, add
credence to this theory. Proximity to Sri Lanka,
to the north east of the Maldives, also makes it
unsurprising that Buddhism flourished there,
although the islands are rarely, if ever, included
in histories of the spread of Buddhism. Indeed it
appears that the islands were the most extreme
south-westerly outpost of early historical
Buddhism. References to the islands are found in
the writings of Pappus of Alexandria at the end
of the 4th century and in those of the Chinese
Buddhist pilgrim, Fa Xian around 412, during
his two year sojourn in nearby Sri Lanka. The
population of the Maldives was subsequently
converted to Islam by visiting traders and this
was officially adopted as the state religion in
1153. (Mohamed and Tholal 2010:15) Today it is
an exclusively Sunni Islamic nation.
The ground floor of the new museum
showcases early Maldivian society and
SIX FACED STELE WITH INSCRIPTIONS, C. 9TH CENTURY. CORAL STONE, 71 X44 X78CM, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MALDIVES.
PHOTO: MICHAEL OSHEA

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

15

BUDDHA HEAD, 6TH-7TH CENTURY. CORAL STONE, 43 X 40 X 51 CM.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MALDIVES. PHOTO: MICHAEL OSHEA

idiosyncratic, that really

fascinated me. Tantric or
Vajrayana Buddhism was
present in Sri Lanka, however
a council of 1160 suppressed
all but Theravadan forms
of
Buddhist
practice
there (Snelling 1990: 29).
Coomaraswarmy noted that
he found no extant examples
of Tantric Buddhist art in
Ceylon (Coomaraswarmy
1985:167). Tantric forms of
Hindu and Buddhist art are
found in Indonesia and other
Southeast Asian societies
although extant examples
are later than those found
in the Maldives. Moreover
the Maldivian examples
seem to be unique in style.
It is believed that Vajrayana
Buddhism was prevalent
there during the 9th and 10th
centuries (Mohamed and
Tholal 2010:3).

Amongst the pre-Islamic works are some

Buddhist and Hindu bronze sculptures
including the image of a seated bronze
Buddha, 12 centimetres in height, found
within a clay jar on Laamu Atoll. The Buddha
is seated in lotus position with hands in a
gesture of meditation. The figure also has
a flaming ushnisha which, along with its
smooth robes and the sash over the left
shoulder, are features reminiscent of 9th
century Anhuradhapura bronzes from Sri
Lanka. The fact that metals are not found on
the Maldives indicates that the Buddha image
was imported and is further verification of the
close connections between the Maldives and
Sri Lanka. Bronze imagery would have been
one way in which Buddhist iconography was
transmitted. However, carvings in coral stone,
Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic, are distinctly
Maldivian productions.
Many of the Buddhist sculptures in the
National Museum collection were excavated
from the atolls of Laamu, Faafu and Thaa,
where remains of Buddhist stupas and
monasteries can still be found. In addition,
there are numerous sculptures, mostly related
to Vajrayana Buddhism, that have been
excavated in Mal during the construction
boom of recent years.
While many sculptures show affinities with
the styles of Sri Lanka and Southern India,
it was the Tantric works, less beautiful in
the conventional sense, but powerful and

16

Some Maldivian sculpture,

principally architectural details, are fashioned
from limestone, however the coral stone media
of many locally produced sculptures makes
them unusual, maybe even unique, within the
Buddhist and Hindu art world. Coral stone was
readily available and the islanders achieved a
high degree of skill working this medium as
can be seen in the decoration around various
mosques in Mal. H.C.P Bell noted in his survey
of the islands: the art of carving in stone has
achieved a high order of skill whether in
intaglio or in bas relief (Bell, 1988:86). The
Sultans Mosque, previously mentioned, shows
exquisite carved coral decoration.
A closer look at two works, one Theravadan
and one Vajrayana, illustrates the two
distinctly different styles of Buddhist
sculpture in coral stone. The earlier piece, a
coral stone Buddha head, is dated to some
time between the 6th and 7th century and is
43 x 40 x 51 cm. Discovered on Thoddu Island
in 1958, the head was part of a seated Buddha
image excavated from within a stupa at a
monastery site tentatively dated to the same
period. At the time of discovery, this idealised
head, with parallels in the sculpture of India
and Sri Lanka, showed vestiges of paint.
Unfortunately the sculpture was vandalised
soon after its discovery, the head was broken
from the body, damaging the earlobes in
the process, and the body was destroyed.
Following this unfortunate incident, the head
was transported to Mal. A coating of lime

plaster which smoothed out the rather porous

coral stone, provided a surface for some of the
sculptures finely carved detail. The hairstyle
has the incised curls of the Buddha and there
is evidence of an ushnisha and long earlobes.
The eyes are large, open and almond shaped,
the brows arch over deep eye sockets, the nose
is straight and the full lips terminate in drilled
corners of the mouth hinting at a subdued smile:
in all the ideal face of a meditating Buddha.
An example of a Tantric work is a six faced
coral stele, dated to the 9th century, 60 x 40
x 33 cm. The stele was found in Mal in the
1960s. Similar to other Maldivian works,
the piece is inscribed with Vajrayana texts
written in an early Maldivian Eveyla Akuru
script. Some other Tantric works, especially
the reliquary caskets, are also decorated with
vajras and other tantric symbols and text.
The faces on this stele are of wrathful beings,
sporting wide upturned moustaches, lolling
tongues and bulging eyes. The hairlines on
the faces have a distinctive double peak and
the elongated earlobes are filled with large
circular discs. Other demonic heads of similar
iconography in the collection have Vajrayana
mantras inscribed on their lips and faces.
The recent vandalism of pre-Islamic works
from the Maldives National Museum collection
is a tragedy with many ramifications. It will
affect the administrations hopes for increased
exhibitions and audiences in this newly
opened building. Historically one laments the
loss of evidence of the spread of Buddhism
and Hinduism to these isolated islands that
offers, though still poorly researched, a wealth
of early epigraphic evidence. Artistically, it is
incredibly sad that examples of the skill and
in some instances the unique vision of the
Maldivian forebears have been lost for ever.
My thanks to Mamduh Waheed, Cultural Minister
in the former Government of the Maldives, and to
Michael OShea for supplying some of the images for
this article (see www.maldivesculture.com).

REFERENCES
http://minivannews.com/society/mob-storms-national-museumdestroys-buddhist-statues-a-significant-part-of-our-heritage-is-lostnow-31813
Bell, H.C.P., 1883. The Mldive Islands: An account of the Physical
Features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade, Colombo.
Coomaraswarmy, A. F., 1985. History of Indian and Indonesian Art,
Dover Publications.
Mohamed, N. & Tholal, A., 2010.The National Museum of the
Maldives.
Snelling, John, 1990. The Elements of Buddhism, Element Books Ltd.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

I N T H E P U B LI C DO M AI N : A T W E L F T H C E N T U R Y S H O K A N N O N B O S A T S U A T T H E N G V
BODHISATTVA (SHO-KANNON BOSATSU), HEIAN PERIOD 12TH
CENTURY, JAPAN, LACQUER, GILT ON CYPRESS (HINOKI), CRYSTAL,

Wayne Crothers

172.0 X 60.0 X 50.0 CM (OVERALL), NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA,

MELBOURNE, PURCHASED WITH FUNDS DONATED BY ALLAN MYERS
AO AND MARIA MYERS AO, 2011

he collection of Japanese Buddhist art at

the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
spans 124 years, with the first work entering
the collection in 1887 and the most recent a
magnificent 12th century Sho-Kannon Bosatsu
acquired in 2011 to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of the Gallery.

Early forms of Buddhism arriving in Japan

during the 6th century from China and Korea
were practices of Mahayana Buddhism (also
known as the Greater Vehicle or Northern
Buddhism). They emphasised the concept of
universal salvation via elaborate rituals and the
worshiping of a complex array of deities that
includes the historical Buddha and his various
incarnations, saints known as Bosatsu, wisdom
kings My and heavenly beings Tembu.
With the spread of Mahayana Buddhism in
Japan during the Nara and Heian periods (710
- 1185) unique sculptural styles of these deities
developed with characteristically Japanese
features of which the NGVs recently acquired
Sho Kannon Bosatsu is a preeminent example.
In particular, the celebrated sculptor Jch
(died 1057) established a new style of Japanese
sculpture. His works such as the 11th century
flying Apsara of Byodo-in Temple near Kyoto
show strong connections in facial expression,
apparel, carving style, period of execution
and historical provenance to the NGV Kannon.
Bodhisattvas (Bosatsu in Japanese) are ranked
in the Buddhist pantheon just below a Buddha
and fulfil a pivotal role in the Mahayana
tradition, which emphasises the possibility
of all beings attaining Buddhahood. Bosatsu
are individuals filled with living compassion
who, rather than enter nirvana after attaining
enlightenment choose to remain in the
life-death cycle to guide and redeem other
unenlightened living souls.
The most popular Bodhisattva in Japan is
Kannon (skt: Avalokitevara) who portrays a
great being of mercy and compassion. Kannon
literally means watchful listening, and is
often translated as the one who sees/hears
all. Originally depicted as male, Kannon was
later modelled as an androgynous figure,
merging both female and male physical
characteristics.
The NGVs recently acquired Kannon figure
stands serene and dignified on a pedestal
that represents a blossoming lotus flower

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

and is surrounded by a halo of swirling lotus

karukusa (floral motif). In Buddhism, the
lotus represents the true nature of humans,
rising through the muddy waters of dayto-day mortality to finally blossom into the
beauty and clarity of enlightenment. At the
top of the halo is a disc inscribed with the
Sanskrit character Sa that refers to saintly
and virtuous qualities. Sho Kannon Bosatsu is
regarded as the most sacred form of Kannon
and is the model for other forms of Kannon.
He is also one of the six manifestations of
Kannon, each protecting people in one of
the six realms of Karmic rebirth (the realms
of hells, demons, hungry ghosts, animals,
humans and heavenly beings). Sho Kannon
Bosatsu is recognised as bringing salvation
to those in the realms of hells or in some
Chinese traditions, to people in the realm of
the hungry ghosts.
In contrast to images of the Buddha (Nyorai),
nearly always in simple monks robes without
ornamentation, representations of Bosatsu
are generally ornate, often depicted wearing
jewellery and princely attire. The NGVs Sho
Kannon Bosatsu follows this conventionalised
style, with the upper half of the torso clad in
a jhaku, a decorative scarf worn by Buddhist
deities and guardian figures, and the lower
torso in an ancient skirt called a kun or mo. The
figure has a ceremonial topknot at the crown
of the head. Below this is an ornamental band,
tenkandai, in gold gilding that consists of a
row of lotus petals topped by a decorative
five leaf motif. This combination along with
the figures tall and well balanced proportion,
back slightly bent forward, and rounded
stomach are all characteristic aesthetics of
Insei era (1087-1192) sculpture and the later
years of the Heian period.
The top knot, crown, well proportioned
face, serene eyes, chiselled nose and softly
pouting mouth display similarities to early
11th and 12th century models of the Amida
Nyrai statue in Jizou-in temple in Kyoto, the
Kannon Bosatsu statue in the Konjiki-dou hall
of Chson-ji temple in Iwate prefecture and
the Kannon Bosatsu of the Joken-ji temple in
Shiga prefecture.
The figure is made with the warihagi split-andjoin technique. It is carved from a single piece
of wood split in half vertically from the profile
view, each piece hollowed out from the centre,
with the front and back halves finally rejoined.

The same procedure is followed when carving

the head, which is joined to the body at the
third crease on the neck. This hollowing
procedure leaves the thickness of the wood
approximately 15mm and makes the overall
sculpture deceptively light in weight. Most
importantly, it also reduces the likelihood of
the wood cracking with ageing, which is a risk
with solid wooden sculptures. The figure is
thought to have been originally finished with
shippaku (coating in fine gold leaf). Today only
traces of the gold leaf remain and the surface
of the sculpture is mostly exposed timber.
This historically significant Buddhist work
will be featured at the entrance to the NGVs
new gallery of Japanese art that is due to open
in the spring of 2012.
I would like to thank Dr. Shiro Ito, director of
Wakayama Prefectural Museum; former agent for the
National Agency for Cultural Affairs and Dr. Uchida
Keiichi, professor, Showa Womens University for
discussions and reports that established some of the
details outlined in this article.
Wayne Crothers is Curator, Asian Art at the National
Gallery of Victoria.

17

T H R E AD S T H AT LI N K W ORLD S
Mary Jose
EMBROIDERER, BHIRIDIARA, KUTCH REGION OF GUJARAT, INDIA. PHOTO: MARY JOSE

The article below is based on a

presentation made at the seminar Threads:
Contemporary textiles & the social fabric
held jointly by TAASA and the Queensland
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) on
1 October, 2011. The seminar accompanied
an exhibition of contemporary Asian
handcrafted textiles.

abric of Life began as a textile conservation

workshop in 1995. After many years
as a textile conservator where my work
was (and still is) mainly related to antique
textiles from museums, galleries and private
collectors, I was keen to work more closely
with living artisans. I began to learn about
different organisations throughout the world
where artisans are still producing textiles of
exquisite quality that express their culture and
traditions while also adapting and changing
to meet new challenges and influences.

India is the home of the best and worst quality

textiles in the world. There are hundreds
of organisations committed to fair trade
principles working with artisans throughout
India. Some are government run, some are
not-for-profit but privately run and some are
profit-making ventures. Their common thread
is that they all respect and nurture cultural
traditions and in addition work to provide
economic stability, education and health
services.
Awareness of the fair trade concept is slowly
growing, but it is still difficult in many cases
to really know the source of a product offered
for sale in Australia and the circumstances in
which it has been made.
Here I discuss three models. The first, Kala
Raksha, is a grassroots social enterprise with
a mission to preserve the traditional crafts
of Kutch. Comprising artisans, community
members and experts in the fields of art,
design, rural management and museums,
Kala Raksha works with around a thousand
artisans from seven different communities.
They produce exquisite hand embroidered
and patch worked garments, accessories, and
home furnishings. Kala Raksha maintains a
research collection of traditional textiles from
communities in this area to use as a reference
tool for artisans when traditional skills or
designs have been lost.

18

In November 2005 Kala Raksha started Kala

Raksha Vidhyalaya, the first design school for
traditional artisans. Generally, these artisans
are not familiar with designs that appeal to
a wider audience. Here they learn to create
works that will be appreciated in new and
distant markets. Confidence increases as the
unique ideas of each artisan designer are
valued, and students and teachers can share
their experiences and develop new ideas.
Hariyaben Bhanani who created the garden
wall hanging in the Threads exhibition in
Brisbane is one of the original Kala Raksha

Trustees. She has a story similar to many heard

from artisans in marginalised communities.
Born in Pakistan, her family came to India
when she was eight years old and for the
next seven years they lived in a refugee camp
in Rajasthan. She had no formal schooling
but she learned all kinds of stitching from
her mother- Suf and Kharek embroidery,
appliqu, and sewing. Her mother sold her
own work for next to nothing to tour guides
and tourists in times of hardship.

Hariyaben sums up the idea of cultural
preservation and identity. She explains

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

DR ISMAIL MOHAMMAD KHATRI MAKING NATURAL DYE FROM

POMEGRANATE FOR BLOCK PRINTING, AJRAKHPUR WORKSHOPS,
KUTCH REGION OF GUJARAT, INDIA. PHOTO: MARY JOSE

To maintain traditions and preserve the dignity

of traditional skills, it is necessary for artisans
to make their work commercially viable. They
use the stitches and traditional designs, such
as those seen in the Rabari dowry bags on
display in the Threads exhibition, to create new
products with commercial potential including
bags, cushions and quilts. The desire for
quality and the resulting financial reward
has promoted refinement in the skills of the
embroiderers and the revival of lost skills.
KMVS members from the tribes of the Kutch
collaborate to set standards of quality while
maintaining their unique traditions. To ensure
equity and to build confidence, decisions
regarding costing, design and organisation
are subject to a vote. The overarching
mission of KMVS is the total empowerment
of rural women, fostering a sustainable
socio-economic transformation in this very
disadvantaged region.
that to her community, artistry is identity
and it is important for them to keep the Suf
identity. When we go out it is how people
know us. Todays girls know Suf technique
but not traditional motifs. We should teach
them so they know. Old work wasnt fine,
she observes, but can become exemplars
of the tradition, offering their many motifs
and colours as inspiration. Artisans are now
making new products, even for dowries. Our
art cant die, she says. We need it for home
and household.
The Kala Raksha organisation has also
taken a step that I am sure will continue
to be replicated more widely. They are
collaborating with Equal Craft, a socially
conscious internet marketplace that provides
customers world-wide with handweaves of
the highest quality, to offer artisans a truly
global market. E-commerce makes it possible
for rural artisans to connect directly with
long distance markets and thus puts them
on an equal footing with, for example, an
embroiderer in Adelaide selling her work on
eBay or Etsy. Equalcraft.com also facilitates
social networking for artisan designers
without literacy or technological skills or
opportunities.
Another group also based in Kutch is following
a similar path. The women of Qasab Kutch
Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) have been
working since 1989 to improve their situation
through workplace initiatives and community
health improvement strategies. Their work is
part of a rural development project designed
to connect distinct tribal communities. It is
one of the most successful co-operatives in the
area, with over 8000 members, 1800 of whom
are embroiderers.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

A third, and different model of support but

with the same goals and outcomes for the
artisans, is found in Sasha, a group based
in West Bengal operating for the last 35
years. Sasha is a not-for-profit marketing
organisation representing a network of over
150 producer groups involving about 7000
artisans and marginal producers 80% of
them women. Sasha deals with a wide crosssection of handcrafted products including
textiles, gourmet spices and teas and body care
products. Sasha has worked to develop craft
communities so that their skills and creativity
find expression and recognition. In addition
the Sasha team provides help in many areas
including health, education, organisation
and financial management, environmental
management and health and safety through
camps, meetings & workshops.
One of the many problems faced by artisans
is that while they have significant skills
they dont have the money to purchase the
materials they need to make their products.
When Fabric of Life orders through Sasha all
of the materials are paid for up front so that
the artisan is not out of pocket. A second
payment is made when the work is completed
and ready to be shipped. This is one of the
principles of fair trade. For a business like
Fabric of Life, Sasha is a perfect partner: it
facilitates access to a range of products from
one central organisation while providing an
outlet for artisans to a broad market from
their often remote locations.
The final group I want to include is a privately
owned business, Kashmir Loom Company.
Kashmir Loom is a company created by Jenny
Housego and her Kashmiri partners, brothers

Hamid, Zahid, and Asaf Ali, and their family

in Srinagar, Kashmir. Jenny is an English
textile historian, at one time a member of the
Textile Department at the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London. She has lived in Delhi
for the past 20 years, and spends much of her
time in Kashmir, working with her business
partners and their talented team of craftsmen.
The company develops designs and weaves
in its own workshops in Kashmir. Its aim is
to work towards the revival of traditional
Kashmir shawl weaving, kani or tapestry
woven shawls. These are made with fine
pashmina yarn that can only be spun by
hand. Such shawls are extremely expensive;
it takes two weavers over a year to complete
one shawl, each detail painstakingly worked
by hand with this extraordinarily fine yarn.
They also produce hand embroidered shawls.
The sheer artistry that craftsmen bring to
their work and their ability to adapt to new
ideas while remaining true to their ancient
traditions, whether in weaving or embroidery,
is astounding.
In discussions with Asaf Ali I have gained
a sense that he feels that Kashmir needs all
the help it can get to protect and maintain its
crafts and its craftspeople. Life goes on in the
region in spite of terrible unrest and economic
depression. In this insecure environment, it is
very encouraging to see young men increasingly
coming into the business. This is because master
craftsmen are still highly respected, and even
now, a good livelihood can be made.
Kashmir Looms goal of keeping the
traditions alive through finding new markets
and encouraging innovation in its products
is what I find so inspiring. Employing
around 200 workers, Kashmir Looms annual
turnover has grown to 5.5 million rupees or
1.5 million US dollars.
The great pleasure I gain from my work is
being part of a process that tells the story of
the artisan. There are many ways we can grow
to understand and respect other cultures
and the artistry that is an important part of
that process. If we can love a quilt that was
made in a remote Indian village from fabric
printed in the village next door then perhaps
we can learn a little about this life and feel a
connection to the artist through these ties. The
artists are giving us the gift of their culture
while also forging a future for themselves. All
of our lives are richer for this.
Mary Jose is Director of Adelaide based Fabric of Life,
providing textile conservation services to museums
and collectors as well as selling handmade textiles
from around the world.

19

A N ID E N TIT Y R E - F OR G E D I N M ILD S T E E L : T H E W OR K O F K E N S U K E TODO

Olivia Meehan
KENSUKE TODO IN THE STUDIO, 2010. PHOTO: KENSUKE TODO

or just over a decade, Japanese-born artist

Kensuke Todo (b.1975) has based his
practice in Australias national capital. The
distance from his homeland affords Todo the
luxury of quiet contemplation of the cultural
differences, and obvious contradictions,
between the two countries. At the same time
the similarity between the Canberra and
Kyoto natural landscapes is inescapable, both
cities cradled by hills and mountains.
Todos upbringing in Kyoto was far from
ordinary. His father a designer and his
mother a concert pianist and teacher, they
early introduced Todo to the world of
European thought and aesthetics. He was
encouraged not to conform to the demands
of Japanese society, but to explore an alternate
path. Todos home environment fostered
the pursuit of individual achievement and
creativity, qualities that some might suggest
buck Japanese tradition. Initially Todo had
enrolled to study architecture at university.
Then he encountered the sculptural work of
Isamu Noguchi, and subsequently made the
decision to focus on sculpture and objectbased art in his Bachelor of Arts (Visual Art)
degree at Kyoto Seika University.
Noguchi remains an inspiration to Todo, as
do American minimalist sculptor Richard
Serra and British sculptor Antony Gormley.
Perhaps most significantly, though, Todos
development as an artist has been informed
by the stimulus which living aboard has
provided for his work. From afar he is able
to consider the contemporary cultural space
of Japan, to be critical, and to ask the tough
questions. During his first stay in Australia on
a student exchange in 1999, he became more
aware of the rare circumstances of his cultural
upbringing in Japan.
In 2002 he returned to undertake a Master of
Arts (Visual Art) at the Canberra School of Art,
ANU, and began to investigate his cultural
heritage through the medium of mild steel.
Contemplating the notion of self-negation to
self-acceptance and the relationship between
human emotions and constructed spaces,
Todos interrogation of these ideas resulted in
the sculpture works presented in two group
shows Oxygen: O2 and later Horizons. The
human component in the work is undeniable,
as the large steel objects are hollow cast from
the artists body. In subsequent series he has
explored the connections and increasingly

20

obvious disconnections between Japanese

and Western architectural forms.
Japan-ness is a term coined by the Japanese
architect Arata Isozaki who discusses the
problematic of the external gaze in relation
to Japan from the edge of the lapping
ocean (Isozaki 2011:3). Todo admits it is a
problematic he faces. Observing Japan from a
distance, he experiences this sense of Japanness: yet he also views Japan through his own
memories and experience. The manifestos
which accompany his solo exhibitions
demonstrate an ability to communicate
this layered, complex experience, as well as
articulating the depth of his intentions and
objectives as an artist.
In his solo exhibition Gradient (2008), Todos
interest in the difference between Japanese and
western space comes to the fore. The works
reveal an understanding of the principles of
Japanese space, drawn on a horizontal axis,
and the western preoccupation with the
vertical. Todo has constructed impressive
freestanding staircases that lead nowhere,
and escalators that double up and cross over
each other. These passageways are rendered
in steel with a radiant black finish. The work
presents a series of blocked corridors and
aisles which are out of context and void of
human presence. The objects are reminiscent
of the many staircases found in high-rise
apartment blocks, and evoke the upwards
and downwards motion of the escalators
found in department stores and train stations

throughout Japan. In this series we find a

powerful commentary on the unfulfilled
climbing and spiralling now associated with
everyday life.
Time Distance Speed (2010) took its inspiration
from a trip to Japan in which Todo was
struck by the changes in the environment
immediately surrounding his home town. New
expressways now intersected the cityscape,
producing a heightened need to interrogate
this sense of interruption and disturbance.
On his return to Australia he began work on a
series of steel expressways in various sections;
some with bridges, some with ramps. Todo
discontinues each section of road at the very
moment when a sense of momentum has been
gained. The horizontal lines draw attention
to his understanding of the sacred axis and
its ongoing presence in Japanese design. The
scale of the works is intriguing: Todo does not
replicate the overbearing dimensions of a real
expressway, instead he has created sculptural
works that comfortably fit within an interior
space. This series is the perfect representation
of Todos ability to generate imagined
and dynamic worlds from an otherwise
indestructible and cold material.
Anyone entering Todos studio space encounters
a sense of theatre which only a Japanese
understanding of display (kazari) can provide.
On one side against the luminescent white
walls, the sleek black steel forms dominate the
scene; on the other are the robust workshop
tools and materials of his art, and in the centre

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

INDEFINITE, KENSUKE TODO, 2008, MILD STEEL,106.6 X 79 X 54 CM.

PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID PATERSON

is a poignantly placed makeshift table, on its

surface a blue and white floral table-cloth.
Evidence of the artist at work is found around
the studio; overalls are neatly placed on the back
of a 1950s chrome kitchen chair, while a pair of
steel-cap boots at the foot of the chair complete
the uniform. A plaster mould lies on the large
worktable and beside it a metal sheet in the
early stages of transformation.
Located in Canberras light industrial estate
of Mitchell, Kensuke Todos studio is part
of a complex of purpose-built studios that
belong to the artist-run initiative called
ANCA (Australian National Capital Artists).
Here a community of artists create an intense
environment of artistic expression. Todos
world within this world is completely
absorbing. Working drawings (in charcoal)
are pinned to the walls near the completed
sculptural piece, and indicate the various
stages of process. A spectacular view of
Eucalyptus tree-tops can be seen from the
high windows; natural light and a soft breeze
drift down to the floor of the studio where
larger works rest side by side. An impromptu
exhibition from past shows combined with
the evidence of a new series in development,
decorate the space.
Todo approaches his practice systematically.
Certainly the works produced over the past
five years demonstrate an increased precision
and a unique understanding of the material
he works with. During the conceptual stage
of a new series Todo will make many designs;
these comprise mostly of drawings in charcoal
and lead. He then proceeds to make plaster
models to scale and from there begins to work

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

HANGING FUTON, KENSUKE TODO, 2011. MILD STEEL,17.5 X 29.6 X 6.4 CM. PHOTOGRAPH: MICHAEL BRADFIELD

in mild steel, the material properties of which

are perfect for Todos creations. The steel is
delicately beaten into shape (by hand) and then
brushed and smoothed into sleek, glossy, clean
perfection. Todo is the consummate craftsman,
slowly and carefully coaxing a large sheet of
metal into three dimensional form.
Visiting the studio allows a privileged
insight into the artists working methods
and technique, but at the same time there
remains something appropriately sacred and
mysterious about the process. When Isamu
Noguchi first approached Brancusi about
an apprenticeship in his workshop in Paris,
Brancusi said he was of the belief that the
artist should work alone, declaring: An artist
should always do his own choresa sculptors
toil is slow and solitary. (Duus 2004:114).
Eventually Noguchi did manage to work in
Brancusis studio: it proved that there can be
a meeting point between artist and craftsman.
Todos most recent project focuses on a
traditional Japanese object familiar to most
the futon mattress. Admittedly Todo did not
grow up sleeping on a futon mattress, though
he vividly recalls helping his grandmother fold
up her futon, neatly placing it in a cupboard
until evening when the ritual was reversed.
In Japan, strictly during daylight hours only,
futons may be seen hanging out to air over
concrete balconies. That these rather heavy
objects are moved daily indicates the routine
transformation of traditional Japanese interior
space which thrives on the multipurpose room.
Once again Todo inadvertently intersects the
tangible with the intangible; he opts to create
sculptural works that resemble something

familiar and everyday but unfailingly suggest a

more complex reading. In this series, the effect
of the mild steel is compelling. The shiny black
objects of art appear so cold and uninviting, in
total contrast with the function of their real-life
models which are the soft, warm sites of sleep
and dreams. Perhaps it is best to reserve full
interpretation until the completion of the series.
Kensuke Todos artistic practice is unique.
Here we find a sculptor whose work demands
a tough materiality, but whose imagination
draws on both a powerful birth-culture and a
highly stimulating adopted environment: his
is an identity re-forged in mild steel.
Dr Olivia Meehan is Assistant Curator in Asian Art at
the National Gallery of Australia.

REFERENCES
Roelants, Altair. 2011. Experiences of Space in Australian Art
Review, November 22, 2011.
Isozaki, Arata. 2011. Japan-ness in Architecture, trans. From
Japanese by Sabu kohso, MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.
Haynes, Peter. 2010. Time, distance, speed, exhibition catalogue,
King Street Gallery, Sydney.
Todo, Kensuke. 2008. Gradient, exhibition catalogue, King Street
Gallery, Sydney.
Japan Links, 2006. Exhibition catalogue, Australian National
University, Canberra.
Duus, Masayo. 2004. The Life of Isamu Noguchi: Journey without
Borders, trans. from the Japanese by Peter Duus, Princeton
University Press, Princeton.
Horizons: the Australian National University School of Art graduate
Program in Visual Arts, 2004. Exhibition catalogue, ANU, National
Institute of the Arts, School of Art, Canberra.
Oxygen: O2: the School of Art graduate season, 2002, exhibition
catalogue, ANU, National Institute of the Arts, School of Art, Canberra.
Torres, Ana Maria. 2000. Isamu Noguchi: A Study of Space, The
Monacelli Press, New York.

21

S U D J O J O N O : P RI V AT E F A C E A N D P U B LI C P E R S O N A
Matt Cox
SUDJOJONO, PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WITH SELF PORTRAIT, MID 1930S, FROM S. SUDJOJONO VISIBLE SOUL BY AMIR SIDHARTA

o date, the history of Indonesian modern

art has been largely recounted within
a model of anthropocentrism in which
the biographical details of artists lives
are invoked as representative of national
successes. Frequently the biographical details
of the artists lives, etched retrospectively, do
not match with the narrative content of the
works of art produced by them at the time.
Krauss very convincingly argues against art
historians insistence on using biographical
data to explain artists production (Krauss
1988, 23-40).

A similar criticism of overtly anthropological

and ethnographical approaches to art
history is also currently gaining currency in
discourses of contemporary Southeast Asian
art. Some critics argue that the expectation
that artists are representative of national or
regional cultures oversimplifies the formal
developments of art history, ignores the
materiality of the art work and is unrealistic
(Kee 2011: 379-380). More than elsewhere
this occurs in art historical studies of other
cultures where there exists the very real
potential of misinterpretation and misuse
(Pinney 2003).
In the Indonesian case, artists lives,
when closely examined, do not always
correlate with the public perception, either
contemporaneously or historically. Similarly,
their self-portraits do not necessarily
correspond with their public image. There
exists a compromise or a negotiation between
personal and public face. The life and work of
Sudjojono are case in point.
Sindudarsono Sudjojono shot to the fore of
the Indonesian art scene in the mid 1930s
with the formation of the Persatuan Ahli Ahli
Gambar Indonesia or PERSAGI, the Association
of Indonesian Artists. His career was forged
by a stream of powerful paintings that
invoked a growing national consciousness
enraged by social injustice. The publication
of his seminal text on Indonesian art, Seni
Loekis, Kesenian dan Seniman (Sudjojono 1946)
cemented his position in Indonesian art
history. His ties with the communist party
and President Sukarno further enhanced
his reputation as both painter and political
activist.
Since then, Sudjojono has received much
acclaim within Indonesia and abroad as a

22

pioneer of a socially conscious art with a

nationalist agenda, he has even been touted as
the Father of Indonesian Modern Art. These
claims have been integral to the consistent
presentation of Sudjojono as painter political
agitator. But beyond the occasional thematic
exhibition catalogue or government endorsed
art history text there has remained an absence
of any serious study of the painters life or
his work.
Two relatively recent publications have
begun the task of untying the strings which
bind Sudjojonos art to a life enveloped by
political turmoil and nationalist stirrings.
Told in a familiar and uncomplicated style
by Sudjojonos first wife Mia Bustam,
Sudjojono dan Aku (Sudjojono and I) offers
personal insight (Bustam 2006). Replete with
memories of a life with Sudjojono, Bustams
account reveals details of Sudjojonos most
intimate and difficult challenges in and out
of the studio. The second book, S. Sudjojono
Visible Soul, authored by the Director of the
Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan and
art auctioneer Amir Sidharta, draws deeply
on interviews and information provided by
Sudjojonos second wife Rose Padang Wangi
and their children (Sidharta 2006).
Through these publications, the events of
Sudjojonos life unfold into two distinct
chronologies imbedded in his two marriages.
Although written about the one life, they

present very different accounts informed by

personal encounter and remembrance that
place them at a crossing between monograph,
biography and memoir. Free from the traces
of cumbersome post-colonial efforts to
mythologise Sudjojono as a revolutionary
hero, they offer what might be described
as alternative narratives, stories that reject
the prescribed histories of Indonesian
painting and instead focus on individual
interpretation. Both books shy away from
grand narratives in favour of personal
recollections that tell us what painting meant
for Sudjojono. In particular, they help us
understand why he painted the ordinary
rather than the spectacular.
We learn that sometime in April 1949, in
the last days of Indonesias independence
struggle against the Dutch, Sudjojono,
Bustam and their children were forced to flee
from their home near Jogjakarta. Many of
Sudjojonos paintings were left behind and
destroyed. Bustam tells us that at that time
Sudjojono felt that losing his paintings was
like losing his Jiwo Katon, the visualisation
of his soul (Bustam 2006: 154). Shortly
after, in the mid 1950s, Sudjojono began a
relationship with Rosalina Rose Wilhelmin
Poppeck who was to become his second wife.
In 1958 Sudjojono resigned from his positions
in the Communist Party and Lembaga
Kebudyan Rakyat (The Peoples Cultural

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

SELF PORTRAIT, OIL ON CANVAS, 1959, 71 X 56 CM

SELF PORTRAIT, OIL ON CANVAS, 1969, 63 X 54 CM FROM

SELF PORTRAIT, CRAYON, 1980, 63 X 48 CM

FROM S.SUDJOJONO VISIBLE SOUL BY AMIR SIDHARTA

S.SUDJOJONO VISIBLE SOUL BY AMIR SIDHARTA

FROM S.SUDJOJONO VISIBLE SOUL BY AMIR SIDHARTA

League), and, encouraged by Rose Padang

Wangi, focused on his artistic career.

painters tendency to generate his own

narrative in the simultaneous use of paint
and text. Sudjojono is writing his life in paint,
articulating a complex narrative of personal
challenges that contests the reductive rhetoric
of cultural and nationalist rationales.

The later half of his life spent with Rose is

represented in the second book by history
painting, landscape, still life and introspective
portraits of her, his children and himself.
If we accept that portraiture operates on a
similar level to biography in its capacity not
only to reveal but also to construct a narrative
of the self, then we can make some comparisons
between Sudjojonos narration of his own life
through painting and that expressed by these
two more recent biographies. Furthermore we
are able to investigate to what degree his selfportraits match with the public perception of
his career.
Looking at the photograph of Sudjojono
standing alongside his self- portrait there is an
uncanny sense that he is pointing to his painted
self in a gesture of affirmation: Yes, this is me!.
Made in the mid 1930s at the very beginnings
of his artistic career Sudjojono is quite clearly
fashioning himself as Modern Artist. We see
a young man engaging in a discourse of selfrepresentation, not as a nationalist or even an
Indonesian but as a painter.
In his self -portrait of 1959 Sudjojono seems a
little less confident. A ghostly presence floats
over a heavily inscribed surface. His body,
unsure of itself, is pieced together by written
narrative. The outline of his face remains yet
his signature wavers in the top corner like a
ruffled flag not intent on brandishing itself.
By 1969 we begin to a see some consistency
in Sudjojonos imagining of himself. His face
never depicted in profile or three quarter view,
Sudjojonos self-image always stares back at
him directly. These portraits exhibit early 20th
century painters interest in psycho-analysis
and introspection. Equally they reveal the

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

By 1980, in his self -portrait in crayon,

Sudjojonos memories seem to overwhelm
him, obscuring his vision of himself. The
narration of his life is privileged above the
presence of the man. Just five years before
his death, we find Sudjojono in a moment of
reflective contemplation.

REFERENCES
Bustam, Mia. 2006. Sudjojono dan Aku, Pustaka utan Kayu,
Jakarta.
Kee, Joan. 2011. Introduction Contemporary Southeast Asian Art.
The Right Kind of Trouble, Third Text 25, (4), pp 371-381.
Krauss, R., E. 1988. In the Name of Picasso, The Originality of
the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths, MIT Press.
Pinney, Christopher. 2003. Photographys Other Histories, Duke
University Press.
Sidharta, A. 2006. S.Sudjojono Visible Soul. Jakarta, Museum S.
Sudjojono.
Sudjojono, S.1946. Seni Loekis, Kesenian dan Seniman, Jogjakarta.

From these self-portraits, Sudjojono is

revealed as a man intent on presenting a visible
soul less focused on the political and more
absorbed in the challenge of giving meaning
to his own existence through painting. Like
the biographies, they express a more nuanced
understanding of his life as an artist, one
enveloped in personal formation rather than
one reduced to his public persona. However
unlike the biographies written retrospectively,
in each self-portrait we find a momentary
act of self-constitution. There is evidence of
a negotiation between the public image of
himself and his own capacity to remember
and reproduce himself. Sudjojonos self
portraits then can be said to confirm that in
painting the self, the self is constituted.
Matt Cox is Study Room Coordinator at the Art Gallery
of New South Wales, TAASA committee member and
a PhD Candidate at the University of Sydney where
he is completing research on 20th century portraiture
in Indonesia.
The author and TAASA would like to thank the
S.Sudjojono Centre in Jakarta for use of images in this
article.

23

B OO K R E V I E W: B A L I A G A V I L L A G E S - D O C U M E N T S A S A R T

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT

AND BEYOND
29 October 15 November 2012
Angkors timeless grandeur is unmissable.
Yet Cambodia offers a host of other important
cultural and travel experiences: outstanding
ancient, vernacular and French colonial
architecture; spectacular riverine environments;
a revitalising urban capital in Phnom Penh;
interesting cuisine and beautiful countryside. Gill
Green, President of TAASA, art historian and author
specialising in Cambodian culture; and Darryl
Collins, prominent Australian expatriate university
lecturer, museum curator, and author who has lived
and worked in Cambodia for over twenty years,
have designed and co-host this annual program.
Land Only cost per person
twinshare ex Phnom Penh $4600

ISAN: THAILANDS ANCIENT

KHMER CONNECTION
07 February 25 February 2013
Isan is the least visited part of Thailand. But
this north-eastern region has a distinctive identity
and, in many ways, is the Kingdoms heartland.
Here older Thai customs remain more intact
and sites of historical and archaeological
significance abound. Darryl Collins and Gill Green
(see above) expertly host this new journey which
includes spectacular Khmer temples such as
Prasat Phimai, Phanom Rung, Prasat Meung Tam,
and Ban Chiang (the most important prehistoric
settlement so far discovered in Southeast Asia).
Other inclusions, including a sidetrip across the
mighty Mekong into Laos to explore Wat Phu
Champasak, are also scheduled.
Land Only cost per person
twinshare ex Bangkok $4500

INSIDE BURMA:
THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE
15 February 06 March 2013
Burma is undergoing unprecedented change and
publicity. Few people have immersed themselves as
deeply here as TAASA contributor Dr Bob Hudson.
His longstanding annual Burma program features
extended stays in medieval Mrauk U, capital of the
lost ancient kingdom of Arakan (now Rakhine State)
and Bagan, rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast
Asias richest archaeological precinct. Exciting
experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay
and a private cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady
are also included. Limited places available.
Land Only cost per person
twinshare ex Yangon $3990
To register your interest, reserve a place or for
further information contact Ray Boniface

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N S
N AT U R E B U I L D I N G S P E O P L E T R AV E L L E R S

PO Box U237
University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia
p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129
e: heritagedest@bigpond.com
ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

24

Adrian Vickers

the living conditions of Balinese villagers at the

time. Some are artistically-framed, drawing
attention to the patterns of rounded mudbricks or deteriorating plaster, others capture
spontaneous moments of meeting with
temple priests and villagers, or negotiating
the pigs and dogs on pebble paths.

Bali Aga Villages: fieldwork in the 1980s

Carole Muller
Walsh Bay Press, Sydney, 2011
rrp: US$100 for hardcover book;
ebook US$6.99 for ipad or iphone

Balinese I know like to spend time surfing

the internet for colonial photographs and
film of their island, eager to see how much
it has changed in the last century or so. The
publication of Carole Mullers fantastic
collection of photographs of Bali Aga or
Original Balinese villages, taken in the
1980s, will serve as a sharp reminder to
critical Balinese audiences that the most rapid
changes to the island have come in the last
two or three decades.
Carole Mullers book began life as a fieldwork record from her unpublished research
as a student, mainly at the Australian National
University, but also at the University of
Sydney. In other circumstances a few of these
photographs might have seen the light of
day in a thesis that only a few people would
be able to read in a university library, but the
vicissitudes of the authors life as a designer,
heritage researcher and traveller meant that
this was not to be their fate. Rather, Carole
Muller has published as complete a record as
possible of the villages she visited, a collection
of images that are at once documentary and art.

Bali Aga are not a single group, but rather a

category of Balinese who define themselves in
opposition to the Javanese-influenced culture
that followed Majapahit domination of the
island in the 13th century. The villages are best
defined as archaic Balinese, in that they have
the feel, and some of the organising principles,
of villages in the islands to the east. They are
not, as is sometimes erroneously presented,
pre-Hindu, but rather represent variations
of the mainstream Hindu-Buddhist practices
of Bali. In recent years, as Muller observes in
the introduction, there have been attempts
to homogenise Bali along these mainstream
lines. For the Bali Aga villages this has meant
loss of unique orientation and the building
of standardised temple forms, something
that the anthropologist Thomas Reuter has
documented in some depth in his writing.
Perhaps it is wrong to feel nostalgic for the
Bali that now exists only in these photographs,
since its uniqueness was preserved by poverty
and isolation, and the health and wellbeing
of these villagers has improved markedly
with better roads and market access. Yet for
me the distinctive and elegant simplicity
of the villages captured in this book cannot
but evoke nostalgia for a less pretentiously
beautiful style of Balinese life. This record of
Bali deserves a wider audience, not least to
provoke discussion among Balinese about
their changing culture.
Adrian Vickers is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies
and Director of the Australian Centre for Asian Art

The quality of this book is mixed, but when

you know why it has been produced with a
sense of urgency, then the few typographical
errors and inconsistencies with Balinese
spellings can be overlooked. Carole Mullers
eyesight was deteriorating, and she was
determined to review and present her
photographs while still able to do so. Being
documentary photographs, their quality is
somewhat uneven: but that adds to the charm
of the book, since we get the sense that they
have not been slickly reconditioned or heavily
edited, but rather give a set of impressions of

and Archaeology, University of Sydney.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

R E C E N T TAA S A E V E N T S

TAA S A M E M B E R S DIAR Y
JUNE AUGUST 2012

Josefa Green
SUSAN SCOLLAY INTRODUCING THE LOVE AND DEVOTION
EXHIBITION TO TAASA MEMBERS. PHOTO: GILL GREEN

Special TAASA Viewing of Love and

Devotion: From Persia and Beyond at the
State Library of Victoria, 11 April.
SLV Conference Love and Devotion: Persian
Cultural Crossroads, 12-14 April.
Over 40 TAASA members, mostly from
Victoria but joined by a strong interstate
contingent, enjoyed meeting over drinks
and canaps at SLVs smart Mr Tulks caf
where Susan Scollay (co-curator of the SLV
exhibition) gave an introductory talk about
this exhibition. This was followed by a
private viewing of this exquisite collection of
manuscript paintings, mainly on loan from
the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford,
where Susan and other expert guides were
available to answer questions.
For those of us who were lucky enough to
be able to attend the conference held on the
following days at the SLV, this truly offered
an immersion in the rich legacy of Persian
poets and writers, beautifully presented in
illustrated manuscripts produced in Iran itself
and in the wider Persianate world, especially
from the 15th to 18th centuries.
The conference was launched by an opening
keynote address on Thursday evening by
Dr Charles Melville, Professor of Persian
History at University of Cambridge. This was
attended by an astounding 500 or so people.
Dr Melville provided an overview of some
of the main themes of Persian literature
epics, histories and romances which explore
various manifestations of earthly and divine
love and how these themes evolved over
time and were enthusiastically taken up in
the neighbouring lands of Central Asia, the
Indian subcontinent and Ottoman Turkey.
On the following two days, a series of
keynote addresses and shorter papers
provided in depth talks on specific significant
manuscripts, or followed particular legends
or themes in the Persian literary tradition,
such as the story of Layla and Majnun and
Firdausis Shahnama or Book of the kings, as
they evolved over time or were re-imagined
in other places.
The conference however, did not just concern
itself with classic Persian literature, and the
arts of the physical books in which these
vivid stories and poems were conveyed. It

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

also explored themes such as the depiction of

women in well known stories such as Yusuf
and Zulaykha, and the role of women in
Islamic Sufism (specifically Rumis spiritual
circle). Another strand explored east/ west
interaction including European perspectives
on Persia in the 17th century, the influence
of Persian mythology on the Irish political
writer Thomas Moore and the complex
transformation of Hafizs poetry in Goethes
poetic text West-Eastern divan (1819).
A really welcome component of the conference
on Saturday was the inclusion of talks on
the contemporary legacy of Persian cultural
traditions. Hossein Valamanesh talked
about the influence of Rumis poetry on his
work, directly referenced, for example, in his
installation The Lover circles his own heart (1993)
currently on show in the newly renovated
MCA in Sydney. We also enjoyed talks on the
use of ghazal, a classical Persian poetic form,
by contemporary Australian poets; depiction
of love in contemporary Iranian cinema, and
the legacy of Persian poetry in contemporary
Iranian music including pop, rock and fusion.
The presentations themselves, drawing on
a range of local and overseas scholars, were
often lively and amusing and the evident
pleasure many of the speakers felt in reading
some of their favourite Persian poems - in
English, and more lyrically in their original
Farsi - was infectious.
The SLV is to be congratulated for its
commitment to this project and for the
meticulous way in which the TAASA viewing
and conference was organised.

Members Visit: Private Sydney Collection

of Iranian Arts
Saturday 23 June 2012
Ceramics, textiles, dress items, metal ware
and furnishings have been amassed over
many visits to Iran by the collector, who has
16 years experience as a guide at the V&A
London. Mint tea and Persian cakes will
be served.
There will be two sessions 10.30 12.00 and
1.30 3.00 and members need to nominate
which they wish to attend.
TAASA members only. $20 per person.
Numbers are limited so please book early. For
bookings and further information, including
venue address, contact Gill Green: 02 9331
1810 or email gillians@ozemail.com.au.
Lesley Pullen Illustrated Talk - Dressed
to Impress: Textiles carved in relief on the
Sculptures of East Java: 13th and 14th century.
Sydney: 6.30pm Tuesday 10 July.
Lesley Pullen is researching this topic,
exploring how these textiles relate to earlier
Indic dress traditions. Lesley has a Masters
in the History of Art and Archaeology and
is a scholar and teaching fellow at the School
of Oriental and African Studies, University
of London.
Venue details to be announced
This will be a repeat of a talk presented on
6 July at the NGA in Canberra.

TAASA Symposium: Japanese Decorative Arts
Saturday 4 August 2012, Domain Theatre
AGNSW.
This full day symposium is being held by
TAASA, in conjunction with the AGNSW,
to coincide with the AGNSW exhibition
Kamisaka Sekka: Dawn of Modern Japanese
Design which runs from 22 June to 26
August (see article on pp 4-6). Speakers
include Dr Khanh Trinh (exhibition curator),
Dale Gluckman (ex-Los Angeles County
Museum of Art), Lesley Kehoe, (a leading
specialist Japanese art dealer), Dr Chiaki
Ajioka (Independent scholar) and Dr Olivia
Meehan (Assistant Curator Asian Art,
NGA). Members will be sent more detailed
information but put this date in your diary.

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B OO K R E V I E W : I N D O N E S I A N G O L D J E W E L L E R Y
Gill Green

It is the images of the gold artefacts that have

pride of place in this publication and the full
colour used throughout emphasises the lavish
presentation. And what images they are. The
quality of Jorg Sundermanns photography is
superb. Many of the artefacts have a page to
themselves with sharp detail heightened on
an uncluttered dark background. The choice
to put this much effort into the production
of the images sets a gold standard of
photography unmatched by any previous
book on this subject.

Gold Jewellery of the Indonesian Archipelago

Anne Richter and Bruce W Carpenter
Editions Didier Millet, Singapore, 2011
rrp $ US 110.00

This 480 page tome documents the extensive

and comprehensive collection of gold
jewellery and ritual items from the Indonesian
archipelago held by Singapores Mandala
Foundation. Rare examples date from the midfirst millennium CE but the majority date to
the 19-20th century. Artefacts from the perhaps
more familiar traditions of Bali and Java are not
included in this volume. TAASA members will
recall co-author Anne Richters article in the
TAASA Review on Magic, Myth & Microcosms
in Southeast Asian Jewellery (Sept. 2009:46).

26

in the context of Austronesian cosmological

belief systems.
Essays on the specific features and traditions
of each region introduce succeeding chapters.
Southeast Maluku is discussed first as Bruce
Carpenter remarks that the gold items from
Southeast Maluku are exceedingly rare and
belong in a class of [their] own. Chapters on
Timor, Sumba, Flores, Sulawesi, South and
West Sumatra, the Peranakan Chinese, Batak,
Nias and Aceh complete the text.

The sheer number of artefacts illustrated - well

over a thousand - as well as their variety are
astonishing. There are necklaces, headpieces,
rings, pendants, pectorals, bracelets, anklets,
earrings and ear pendants, belt buckles, wrist
cuffs, chains, bags, diadems, crowns, belts,
combs, betel boxes, pillow ends, childrens
modesty plaques, and even a gold necklace for
a buffalo. In their form, design and imagery
examples range from archaic indigenous
artefacts to those of the newer traditions of
Islam and of the Peranakan Chinese that
penetrated the region from the 15th century
to the present.

Finally in a segment named Methodology,

Carpenter provides a clear-eyed guide to
a topic that is always in the back of the
minds of collectors and curators - that of
authenticity. He addresses this issue in four
short but succinct appendices under the titles
Authentic but of Limited Age; Fantasies
and Fakes; Old but Reconstructed and
Pending. This is a scholarly book written by
renowned researchers in the field with just the
right amount of information which informs
without overwhelming the impact of the
jewellery itself.

Introductory essays on the importance of

gold in the communities that produced these
artefacts delve into historical, cultural and
anthropological sources. The symbolism of
archaic motifs such as the tree of life, boats,
birds and the ubiquitous naga are discussed

Associate in the Department of Art History and Film

Gill Green is President of TAASA and an Honorary

Studies, University of Sydney.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

W H AT S O N I N A U S TRALIA : J U N E - A U G U S T 2 0 1 2
A SELECTIVE ROUNDUP OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Compiled by Tina Burge
ACT
Travelling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to
the Modern World
National Museum of Australia, Canberra
31 March 29 July 2012

This exhibition from the AmericanMuseum

of Natural History explores the concept of
the Silk Road by focusing on four ancient
cities along the routes paths: Xian, Turfan,
Samarkand and Baghdad. In recognition
that the various Silk Roads also included
sea routes, one of the exhibition highlights
is a huge replica of the prow of a dhow - an
Arabian sailing ship.
On 15 June from 6.30 - 9.30pm there will
be a Night Market Festival where visitors
can sample the sights, smells, tastes and
sounds of the Silk Road with market stalls,
artist demonstrations, and music and dance
performances.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O. 2

There will be a conversation between Ken

Parry, ancient history scholar and Joyce
Morgan, co-author of Journeys on the Silk
Road, about the Silk Road from the time
of Genghis Khan to today, on 22 June at
12.15pm.
For bookings and more information about
the exhibition go to www.nma.gov.au

how these textile designs are reflected in

the development of a Malay aesthetic as
evidenced in contemporary textile production.
For further information go to:nga.gov.au
NSW
2012 Arts of Asia lecture series: Love
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Dressed to Impress: Textiles carved

On Tuesdays from 6 March, 1-2pm

in relief on the sculptures of East Java:

13th & 14th century
The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Asian Textile Talk by Lesley Pullen
6 July at 12.45pm

Lesley Pullen from the School of Oriental and

African Studies, University of London will
present an illustrated talk on the significance
of the textiles carved in relief on East Javan
sculptures from the 13th and 14th centuries.
She will explore how these sculptures might
inform us about the transfer of earlier Indic
dress traditions, and concludes by reviewing

The uplifting and transformative experience

of love is the theme for the 2012 Arts of Asia
lecture series. The lectures will offer fresh
insights into the interpretation of love in the
religious, literary and artistic worlds. The
first lecture of Term 2 will be by Tibetan
scholar David Templeman from Monash
University on Tibetan depictions of love: men,
women and the divine.
For further information go to:
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/artsasia-lecture-2012/

27