The exhibition “The wabi of Raku and the yūgen of Noh: the aesthetics of form” has opened today at the Raku Museum in Kyoto. The exhibition displays tea bowls made according to the raku tradition of pottery and noh masks from various collections. Among the items on display are some ancient masks belonging to the Kongō Iemoto collection. See a list (in English) of the works on display here.
The wabi of Raku and the yūgen of Noh: the aesthetics of form
Saturday 17 March – Sunday 24 June 2018
Noh masks by Otsuki Kōkun and costumes of the Orinasu-kan collection are being displayed at the Orinasu-kan in Kyoto until February 25th (see map below). The event is a follow-up of the successful exhibition at the Portland Japanese Garden in December 2017.
The 16th edition of the Men-no-kai exhibition celebrates Udaka Michishige’s 70th birthday and will feature masks by him as well as several by his students. Michishige’s masks have been published in The Secrets of Noh Masks (Kodansha International) and The Way of Noh (Casadeilibri).
Place: Kyoto Prefectural Center for Arts and Culture 2nd Floor
Kawaramachi Hironokoji-sagaru, Kamigyo-ku (across from the Prefectural Hospital)
Time: January 6th-8th 2017, from 10:00 to 18:00 (closes at 17:30 on the 8th.
On Saturday 7th from 13:30 Udaka Michishige will demonstrate the noh costuming process.
Access information (in Japanese) http://www.bungei.jp/map/access.html
— Diego Pellecchia
Czech carved a Ko-omote, one of the most popular Noh masks outside. It is also the first Noh masks that is carved by beginners. Despite its apparent simplicity, the Ko-omote is a very difficult mask to carve, and mask carvers often come back to it later in their mastery. Ko-omote (lit. ‘small face’) is used for main or secondary roles when the character is a young girl or, in some cases, a supernatural being. The face of Ko-omote is inspired by the aesthetic canons of the Heian period (794-1185), regarded as a golden-age of cultural sophistication and refinement. The face is painted in white, eyebrows…
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From the Ohio State University website:
The Japanese Noh Theatre in Woodblock: The Smethurst Collection of Prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927)
The Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute, Japanese Studies, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures collaborated to host an exhibition in the Special Collections Gallery of Japanese Noh theatre woodblock prints on loan from collectors Richard and Mae Smethurst. Richard Smethurst gave an accompanying lectured on the artist Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927) in Thompson 165.
Someone just posted info about this exhibition at Portland Art Museum on the AAP mailing list.
This special exhibition presents a selection of traditional masks, costumes, and musical instruments that evoke the solemnity and celebratory splendor of Noh, while woodblock prints illustrate the performance on stage.
is the theme of this year’s UDAKA Michishige Men-no-Kai Noh mask exhibition. The 14th edition of the exhibition will feature works of Master-Actor UDAKA Michishige, possibly the only Noh actor who is also a professional mask carver, as well as several masks carved by his students. the exhibition will open tomorrow Tuesday 27th November and close on Thursday 28th November. Wednesday at 13:30 it will be possible to attend a talk by UDAKA Michishige and a Noh costuming demonstration. See below for more details and access information.
UDAKA Michishige’s work as Noh mask carver has been collected in various picture books, among which The Secrets of Noh Masks published by Kodansha International.
At the Kyoto Prefectural Center for Arts and Culture 2nd Floor
Kawaramachi Hironokoji-sagaru, Kamigyo-ku (across from the Prefectural Hospital)
10:00 a.m.~6:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. on the 28th)
28th （Wednesday）1:30 p.m. Talk and Costuming Demonstration by UDAKA Michishige
Access information (in Japanese) http://www.bungei.jp/map/access.html
The Noh Diaries 