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"World of Kabuki"

On December 11, 2017, a unique exhibition of Japanese prints "World of Kabuki" was opened in the premises of the regional art museum, which became another manifestation of its fruitful cooperation with the National Museum of Art of Ukraine, presenting an amazing world of the art of a mysterious country, "in which the sun rises," and getting to know not only with the magnificent works of Japanese engravers, but also with such little-known to ordinary Ukrainian phenomenon of Japanese culture as the traditional Japanese theater - Kabuki.

It is immediately necessary to point out to potential critics of such exotic that such exhibitions have not only enormous cognitive value, but also serve for us, Ukrainians, a vivid example of how to preserve and respect their national traditions and artistic achievements, actively propagating them outside their homeland.

Especially since the Japanese Kabuki Theater is a phenomenon, without exaggeration, impressive. His story begins in 1603, when the power in the country captures the Tokugawa clan and in the history of Japan begins the so-called Edo period. At first, theater played both men and women (in particular - courtesans!), But after the special law of 1629, only adults were allowed to take part in the performances. It was then that a special actor's caste appeared, specializing exclusively in the performance of women's roles. Numerous attempts to return women to the theater were unsuccessful, as Japanese conservatism is a well-known phenomenon. And the proof, in particular, is the fact that the popularity of the Kabuki theater in modern Japan is only increasing and its performances are regularly held at the National Theater in Tokyo.

The very name, derived from the word "deviate", emphasizes the remarkable character of the theater and its ability to shock. Indeed, the versatile mix of music, dance and pantomime in a stylized manner, original production, exotic costumes and special theatrical makeup have always had a great impression on the noisy crowd of fans who simply love their idols. The actors of the Kabuki theater traditionally have a tremendous influence on the fashion and style of behavior in society. Their names are known even to those who are hard to call theater. Therefore, it is not surprising that one of the manifestations of the crazy love of the Japanese to the actors of the Kabuki Theater was that the latter devoted a separate genre of engraving - ukio-e.

This school of Japanese engraving developed in the seventeenth century at the crossroads of the ancient traditions of national art and the aesthetic tastes of a new social group that arose as a result of the birth and development of cities. Masters of this school turned in their work to the beauty of simple routine, the environment, ordinary human feelings, women's eyes, individual holidays, which can be safely attributed to the theatrical performance. Often in their work engravers embodied the images of their homeland or dedicated them to their compatriots - residents of cities, beautiful women, actors, sumo fighters. Popularity and mass distribution of engravings contributed to their cheapness as a guarantee of the availability of this work of art. In addition, the specifics of engineering and materials allowed the engraving to be flat, decorative and ornamented, which fully corresponded to traditional Japanese art.

The presentation at the regional art museum of the wonderful exhibition of Japanese prints "World of Kabuki" became possible due to the fact that in 1997 the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine made our country a truly priceless gift by handing over to the National Art Museum of Ukraine a collection of ukio-e works. Under the agreement with the Japanese side, part of the works in 1998-1999 fell to the National Museum of Arts named after Bogdan and Varvara Khanenko, the Poltava Art Museum and the Sevastopol Art Museum. But even then, in the National Art Museum of Ukraine, there are 167 works by the masters of the Utagawa school, the main school of masters of ukio-e in Japan of the nineteenth century, which included several dozen masters, the most famous of which were Utagava Hiroshig (1797-1858), Utagawa Kunisada (1786 -1865), Utagawa Kunikiosi (1798-1861). As we see, the pupils of this school necessarily added to their name the surname of its founder - Utagavi Toyoharu (1735-1814).

It should be noted that with the world of Japanese art guests and residents of our city were able to get acquainted in September 2008 (the exhibition "Japanese calligraphy") and in January 2009 (exhibition "Japanese engraving of the nineteenth century."). These exhibitions from the stock collection of the National Art Museum were also presented at the Kirovograd Regional Art Museum.

At the World of Kabuki show, 70 engravings by the masters of the Utagawa school, which give us the opportunity to enjoy the highly professional works of Japanese engravers, and even - at least partially open for themselves a sufficiently closed and to the end never unraveled Japan, to try to comprehend its deep national- artistic traditions, to understand the specifics of the Japanese worldview, philosophy, etc.

The lion's share of the exhibition's work belongs to Utahavi Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), which is still considered one of the best masters who worked on the images of the actors of the kabuki theater and the last great master of ukio-e. Among his students was Utagava Kunyasi (1794-1832), whose works are still very few and Utagawa Yoshio (1833-1904), who became famous not only as a master but also as a famous cartoonist who worked in the first newspapers of the Meiji period (1868 -1912), the custom - a unique era in the history of Japan, which turned the backward agrarian country into one of the world's leaders.

The exhibition also features works by Utagava Kunisady (1786-1865) - the most fruitful and financially successful artist of the Utagava school, as well as his student - Toyohari Kunitiki (1835-1900). Admittedly, the latter is the only one of the school's representatives who did not take the name of its founder, since at first he studied at another master - Toyohari Tikanobu and, according to the Japanese tradition, took his name.

An interesting part of the exhibition was the illustrative information material, which complements the atmosphere of Eastern exoticism, in particular, the albums "Modern Japanese Calligraphy", transmitted in 2008 by the National Art Museum of Ukraine on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition "Japanese calligraphy" in the regional art museum.

Thus, the exhibition World of Kabuki, which, incidentally, opens in addition to Kyiv, in Chernihiv, Lviv, and Kherson, presents two important components of Japanese culture, which are very organically intertwined, enriching and nurturing each other, since the artistic style and images of the Japanese engraving were formed under the influence of aesthetics and ideas of the kabuki theater. Therefore, on engraving we see no specific people, but rather the actor's theatrical role, the faces of actors are similar to theatrical masks, and their poses and gestures are rather conditional. The similarities of the engraving with the theater adds that, as in the theatrical scene, the space in the engraving is clearly delineated, and all the figures and objects of the second plan are very similar to theatrical scenery. Another specificity of the Japanese engraving is that all the elements depicted on it, whether it be a person, a plant, a certain ornament, etc., create a complete harmony, which is also very symbolic, because it is the achievement of harmony, first of all - in soul and mind, is the basis of the Japanese worldview, philosophy of life, psychology, culture, etc.

A separate unit of the exhibition is a photo of Japanese-style photographs, copyright of which is the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine. This photo project, implemented with the assistance of the Department of Culture, Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration, introduces Ukrainians to the culture, traditions and history of Japan and will continue a series of events to mark the Year of Japan in Ukraine.

With the opening of a unique exhibition, the guests were greeted by Vadym Kolos, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Kirovograd Regional State Administration, who emphasized that "World of Kabuki" became a peculiar result of the celebration of the Year of Japan in Ukraine, and its knowledge about the mysterious country, "where the sun goes down "was freely shared by the candidate of historical sciences, associate professor of the Department of World History of the Volodymyr Vynnychenko Central Ukrainian State Pedagogical University Oleksandr Kovalkov.

The atmosphere of Japanese exoticism and uniqueness with elements of costume theatrical performance created students of the Kirovohrad professional lyceum of the sphere of services, and the musical choreographic composition "Oriental fan" performed by the soloists of the choreographic ensemble "Florens" of the Kirovograd Music School № 4 under the direction of Valentin Konchakov became a real artistic present for visitors, which caused a flurry of positive emotions. The apotheosis of the feast has become an incredible show of the aikido section pupils under the direction of the coach, master Aikido Aikikai 4th Dann, Honorary President of the Kirovohrad Regional Aikido Aikikai Valeriya Stakhnika, who impressed those present not only with the methods of struggle, but also an interesting accompanying story about the specifics of Japanese martial arts.