Taisho Chic
Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco

22 May - 3 August 2008
Asian Gallery, Ground Level

Japan in the early part of the 20th century was a place of great change and challenge, nowhere more evident than in the arts of the Greater Taisho period (1910-1930). Western-oriented ideologues championed the avant-garde tastes from Europe and America. In turn, nativists sought an antidote to western materialism in the values of the Japanese past. The crucial question of the day was: how could one be both Japanese and modern at the same time when modernity was defined as Western?

Featuring about 70 paintings, prints, textile and decorative arts, the exhibition Taisho Chic - Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco encapsulates the clash and embrace of Western modernity and traditional Japan in this transitional period. The paintings and prints in the exhibition focus on the image of women in a changing society,  showcasing on the one hand the alluring ‘modern girl’, modaan garu or moga, symbol of westernised modernity, liberation from convention and sexual freedom, and on the other hand the ‘good wife, wise mother’ –type, standard bearer of traditional values and beauty ideals. The dichotomy between modernity and tradition becomes further apparent in the field of fashion and design, as the decorative items and textiles reflect the inclination towards the international Art Deco motif while re-interpreting traditional forms and patterns.

Taisho Chic - Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco has been organised from the collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and has successfully toured the U.S. and Japan. In Australia, Sydney is the only venue for this exciting show.