Out and About Club

On Thursday afternoons, Annie and a small group of students from the ISC go out and about in Oxford, to discover all of the cultural delights the city has to offer.

Recently they all went to The Ashmoleon Museum to visit the Kabuki Art Exhibition featuring work by Japanese artists Kunisada and Kunichika.

Kabuki is a popular theatre from Japan, which has been captivating audiences since the early 1600s. Kabuki theatre involves singing, dancing and colourful costumes. It has often been considered as being rather ‘bizarre’ and ‘avant-garde’.

Kabuki artists Kunisada and Kunichika have brought the sense of this theatre to life by portraying the famous actors in their elaborate costumes and make-up.  The woodblock prints are brilliantly coloured, and really capture a sense of the main characteristics of each persona. The fine differences between characters are defined by the contrast in the tonality of colours used, as well as the diversity of clothing and especially their facial expressions.

ISC student Jack Hu decided that his favourite print was The Catfish Priest by Kunisada (1852)

Another favourite was 'The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as a fisherman' (below).

ISC Student Dasha Zhukova writes:

"'The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as a fisherman' shows an amazing actor who could play any role whether a villain or brave man or even beautiful heroines. This print expresses all Shikan’s roles, his eyes glow abnormally, and the picture presents us with the actor and helps us to be involved in this play. The print is a half-length portrait, not a traditionally full-length portrait. Its background is black, the artist shows us just the shoulders and the head of the actor. This print shows the best way of expressing the actor’s performances and also these new-format prints brought fans much closer to their favourite stars. "