Bangkok
(The Nation/ANN) - The Japan Foundation is mostly grown men steeped in business
and foreign trade - but they play with dolls. Their "hobby" is
readily forgiven, though, because the 80 examples on view in the exhibition
"The Dolls of Japan" are quite fascinating, and certainly not toys.
The show at Bangkok's Crystal Design Centre
this month and then moving on to other Thai cities, is in fact an art
exhibition, a fine survey of Japan's rich culture and creativity.
Most of the dolls are miniature samurai,
geisha, sumo wrestlers and Kabuki and Noh actors, painted and dressed in minute
detail, and there are also simplistic but lovely Kokeshi wooden figures.
The Japanese admiration of dolls as an art
form more than playthings is fostered by annual gatherings like Hina Matsuri
(the Girl's Festival) and Gogatsu Ningy (the Boy's Festival), where
craftsmanship rules the proceedings.
Japanese dolls are characterised by their
serene facial expressions, achieved by carefully sculpting the outer layer of
pulverised oyster shell, and the beautiful colours of their costumes, which
hark back to eras of pomp and pageantry.
Not to be missed in the exhibition is a pair
of dolls made for the Girl's Festival - an emperor holding his baton and an
empress with a fan, posed in front of a golden screen and lamp stands. Their
outfits evoke the courtly robes of the Heian period of 794-1185.
The Girl's Festival, culminating each year on
March 3, dates back a millennium. Families traditionally display their Hina
dolls as a form of prayer for the happiness of their daughters. If the dolls
remain on display past March 4, it's believed, the daughters will wait a long
time to marry.
"This set of dolls was meticulously
crafted by more than 10 artisans using complicated tools," says Masaru
Aoki of Yoshitoku, Tokyo's oldest doll-making company. "Each artisan
employs his own particular skill - whether it's making the eyes or the ears or
nose or hair or the costume.
"There aren't a lot of these artisan
groups anymore, and most of the members are elderly," Aoki laments.
"The younger generation always neglects artistic craftsmanship."
Yoshitoku has been making and selling dolls
for 300 years but continually struggles to preserve the craftsmanship. At the
same time it reaches out to the young with modern variations, like the Darth
Vader samurai doll it made for the Boy's Festival.
The festival for boys peaks on May 5 each
year, this time the families with sons displaying splendid warriors in armour
in the hope that the lads will grow up strong and healthy. Common themes
include the young warrior going off to his first battle and heroes of popular
folktales, such as Kintaro and Momotaro.
Ichimatsu dolls are realistic depictions of
children, both in proportions and skin tone, and even feature glass eyes. The
most important figure in this category is Torei Ningyo Utsushi Ichimatsu
Nyngyo, who's dressed in an elaborate kimono. It's a reproduction of the doll
that Japan gave to the US in 1927 as a sign of friendship.
Noh theatre, with its masks and elaborate
costumes, is a natural resource for the doll makers. They have their characters
posed in the midst of famous scenes from Noh, as well as Bunraku and Kabuki
productions.
Then there's the simple but intricately
crafted Gosho Nigyo - the Imperial Palace doll - which is customarily a naked
child with large head, inflated round body and brilliant white skin. Its
inspiration was the "crawler doll" that members of the nobility once
presented at the birth of a child.
The exhibition also has the figure of a child
wearing a gold crown, sitting erect on folded legs and holding a huge sea
bream, a fish regarded as auspicious. This doll was always made for
celebrations.
The many Kokeshi dolls on view - basic in
design, brilliant in colour - were made by wood turning. There are two types:
traditional and creative.
"Traditional Kokeshi is practised in the
northeast of Japan, where each province has its own characteristic style and
motif," Aoki explains. "Since World War II the artists have been far
less restrained in their creativity. These are widely appreciated as unique
works of art."
Oshie Hagoita are "Battledores with
raised pictures", meaning badminton racquets decorated in elegantly cut
thick paper and silk or other fabric to form a figurative image. You can see
why doll exhibitions are so competitive in Japan, with craftsmen showing off
startlingly refined techniques to win prizes.
One-of-a-kind creations by one modern
craftsman include a girl doll holding a paper doll in the form of a kimono-clad
woman, and a boy beaming with triumph as he catches a spinning top in his palm.
Still another depicts a noblewoman holding a
komatsu - a pine shoot - in her hand. People used to go out on New Year's Day
and pull up a komatsu, roots and all, and wish for a long life.
"The Dolls of Japan" exhibition
continues until October 29 at the Crystal Design Centre on Ram Indra-Ekamai
Road. Pop by from 10 to 8 on weekdays or 10 to 9 on weekends.
The centre's concurrent Japanese Festival
has free workshops every Saturday.
The exhibition moves to Chiang Mai
University from November 4 to 30, Nakhon Si Thammarat's Muang Khon Contemporary
Art Gallery from December 9 to January 14 and the University of Phayao from
February 8 to March 7.
Khetsirin Pholdhampalit in Bangkok/The Nation
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