September 21 (Wed)
6pm - 7pm (Doors open 5:30pm) Art Gallery of NSW (Centenary Auditorium, Lower Level 1)

Yoshitoshi’s oeuvre of ukiyo-e prints is widely varied in content and theme. The One Hundred Aspects of the Moon series features designs based on narratives from Chinese and Japanese history, folklore and literature. Created when modernisation was gaining momentum in Japan, these images would have evoked a nostalgic world of the past for the public of the time. But not all of Yoshitoshi’s prints were designed to inspire these sentiments: he was drawn to gory and violent images, and developed a reputation for carnage as exemplified by his 100 Warriors in Battle series, or prints depicting the sexualised bondage of women. Even so, Yoshitoshi also worked with the traditional ukiyo-e theme of bijin-ga (‘images of beautiful women’), as in his 32 Aspects of Daily Life series. This talk focuses on the composition and design of selected Yoshitoshi prints from across his broad oeuvre, demonstrating how his masterful imagination and use of design heightens our visual experience of images and narratives.

September 28 (Wed)
7pm - 8pm (Doors open 6:45pm) Art Gallery of NSW (Centenary Auditorium, Lower Level 1)

David Bell, University of Otago (NZ)
Delve into the stories behind some of Yoshitoshi’s prints

Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon embraces an astonishing range of motifs from the Japanese imaginary: samurai warriors, beautiful women, flora and fauna, legend and literature, Noh and kabuki theatre and the supernatural. This talk explores three of the themes running through the series. The first examines folk narratives through Yoshitoshi’s composition of Monkey King (Songokū) and Jade Rabbit (Gyokuto) that are still relevant and popular today. The second introduces the tragic tale of the doomed hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune and his stalwart follower Benkei as it exemplifies values much celebrated by Yoshitoshi’s public. The third explains how the Heian court or Tokugawa ‘floating world’ motif of the beautiful woman, together with the unifying image of the moon, illustrates deeper sensitivities to the ephemerality of youth, beauty and love that permeate the whole of this series. These sentiments reveal much about Yoshitoshi’s own feelings as he lived through a period of rapid change in the Japanese cultural world.

September 30 (Fri)
6:30pm - 8pm (Doors open 6pm) The Japan Foundation, Sydney

Featuring Horisumi (Kian Forreal), Authentink Studio
Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World

Join us for the opening of Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World. The evening will feature a video message from curator and tattoo artist Takahiro (Ryudaibori) Kitamura and an opening message by Sydney-based Horisumi (Kian Forreal), the only western-born tattoo artist in Australia to have received a tattoo title from a Japanese master. See works by Horisumi, modelled by his clients.

About the exhibition>>

October 5 (Wed)
6pm - 7pm (Doors open 5:30pm) Art Gallery of NSW (Centenary Auditorium, Lower Level 1)

Kip Fulbeck, Perseverance photographer and exhibition designer / University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
Explore the links between these two traditional art forms

Traditional Japanese tattooing is revered as a fine art form throughout the world, yet still stigmatized in Japan. This talk will explore the common ancestry that Japanese tattooing shares with the more universally accepted ukiyo-e, showing how both art forms stem from the same traditions, folklore, mythologies, and belief systems. It will also discuss tattooing’s contemporary place in Japan and abroad.

October 6 (Thu)
5:45pm – 6:15pm (Doors open 5:15pm) The Japan Foundation, Sydney

Kip Fulbeck, Perseverance photographer and exhibition designer / University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
Hear the stories behind the photos of Perseverance

Kip Fulbeck is the creator, designer and photographer of Perseverance. In this intimate gallery talk, he will share stories about particular images and the exhibition itself—from cultural mistranslations and technical breakdowns to the realities of interacting with a wide variety of clientele. This rare talk provides participants a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse into a private world. (Max. 25 people)

October 6 (Thu)
6:30pm – 7:30pm (Doors open 6pm) The Japan Foundation, Sydney

Kip Fulbeck, Perseverance photographer and exhibition designer / University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
Highlights the unseen work of bridging the gap between museums and tattoo

While Kip Fulbeck is an award-winning university professor, author, and artist, he also is a heavily tattooed client and aficionado of Japanese tattooing, with extensive work by Horitomo, Ryudaibori and Yokohama Horiken. Creating Perseverance required bringing together these two very different worlds—the formal world of museum & university, and the more insular, even clandestine, world of Japanese tattooing—both with an inherent distrust and suspicion of the other. In this personal talk, Kip Fulbeck discusses the hidden battles, barriers and negotiations he undertook to produce this amazing exhibition.

October 12 (Wed)
6:30pm – 7pm Art Gallery of NSW (Entrance Court, Ground Level)

Canadian-born tattoo artist Horisumi (Kian Forreal) specialises in traditional Japanese tattooing. Currently living in Sydney, he has been tattooing worldwide for more than two decades and in the Japanese style for the last 15 years. In 2013, he was given the name ‘Horisumi’ by Japanese tattoo master Horiyoshi III. In this talk, Horisumi opens up to television and radio presenter Yumi Stynes about his love of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and their influence on his practise.

October 14 (Fri)
6:30pm – 7:30pm (Doors open 6pm) The Japan Foundation, Sydney

Tattoo artist Horisumi (Kian Forreal) practices the wabori style of Japanese tattoo, which combines the old-world style of hand-made inks and needles hand-soldered into specific configurations with the speed and accuracy of machine tattooing. Horisumi will first spend some time introducing some of the tools and techniques of his trade before showing them in action with a live wabori tattooing demo.

October 21 (Fri)
6:30pm – 7:30pm (Doors open 6pm) The Japan Foundation, Sydney

While the Japanese tattoo tradition is well-known and well-respected around the world, it has a vexed relationship with its home country. Japanese society is not open to tattoos, and this is often a point of consternation for tourists visiting Japan from overseas. It is also a source of problems as tattooed tourists are often refused entry to hot springs and bathhouses. Earlier this year, with the aim of promoting greater acceptance, the Japan Tourism Agency released an official framework for handling overseas visitors with tattoos at hotels and bathhouses. Interestingly, however, it appears that the agency is not seeking a rule change for tattooed Japanese, but only for foreign visitors. Looking at history, society and aesthetic ideals in Japan from the late 19th century to the present, this talk unravels the reasons behind the tattoo bans in bathhouses, why the Japan Tourism Agency is taking the contradictory stance of relaxing the rules for foreigners but not for Japanese, and why Japanese society treats tattoos as something to be kept secret.