"BIOMBO: Japan Heritage as Legend of Gold" Exhibition

Osaka Municipal Museum of Art

This event has ended.

This exhibition features about 100 Byobu (folding screens) including two national treasures, 22 cultural properties and 18 pieces returning to Japan from foreign countries. The 10 Byobu that were originally sent as gifts to Holland by the Edo Shogunate will return to Japan for the first time, and other works that are part of the collection in foreign museums will also be on display.
In the interior space, the Byobu prevents the wind and one's gaze with its decorative surface painted in ink. When necessary, it can be folded compactly and transported easily. Hence, the Byobu has played an important role at imperial families such as during an imperial succession and the Shogun made new Byobu as furniture for a newly married couple. "Shiro-e Byobu" were set up in rooms where babies were born, and the "Sakasa-Byobu" were set upside-down before one's death. The traditional Japanese "Kinbyobu (golden folding screen)" were sent as gifts to China, Korea and Western countries and played a part in cultural exchange. In Europe, Byobu has been referred to as "Biombo" and remains a word used in Portuguese and Spanish.
In this exhibition, the beauty and function of Byobu will be explored.

Lectures:
November 10th (Sat) "Byobu in Oversea" Satoru Sakakibara
November 17th (Sat) "Byobu Aspects in Images" Hiroshi Asaka
November 24th (Sat) "Waka and Story in Byobu" Masayuki Kawada
December 1st (Sat) "Mica, Gold and Silver to Decorate Byobu" Mari Izumi
December 8th (Sat) "Modern European Art and Japanese Art, Byobu Japonism" Tomoko Ogawa
13:30-15:00 at 1F Lecture Hall

[Image: "Kamo Keiba Zubyo-bu (Kamo Horse Racing Screens)" (Left wing) (1856) Courtesy of National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, Holland]