Thursday, April 29, 2004FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APR 20, 2004
"Black Ships and Samurai: Facing East, Facing West" Exhibit Commemorates 150th Anniversary of Commodore Matthew Perry[base ']s Journey To Japan and the Beginning of US-Japan Relations
The Japan Society of Boston, The Consulate General of Japan in Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will present "Black Ships and Samurai: Facing East, Facing West," an exhibit of Japanese and Western art created during Commodore Matthew Perry[base ']s journey to Japan in 1853 that resulted in official governmental relations between Japan and the U.S and signing of the Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. The exhibition will be installed in the Huntington Arcade Winter Garden at the Prudential Center in Boston May 2-15. The goal of the exhibit is to increase awareness of US-Japan relations by the general public, educational and cultural organizations. Created by MIT professors, John Dower, Pulitzer Prize winning author, historian and the Elting T. Morison Professor of History at MIT, and Shigeru Miyagawa, Professor of Linguistics and the Kochi-Manjiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture, the exhibit includes reproductions of scenic drawings and graphics representing three aspects of Perry[base ']s mission in 1853-54: the Black Ships, Encounters, and Portraits as seen through the eyes of both Western and Japanese artists. ("Black Ships" was the term the Japanese gave to Perry[base ']s steam powered paddle wheelers. This was their first encounter with this technology).
The materials in "Facing East, Facing West" include two scrolls by the Newport Naval Historical Center; two lithographs from the Newport Historical Society by William Heine, the young German artist who documented Perry[base ']s mission and a 30-foot horizontal scroll digitally displayed on a large plasma screen. The scroll is a Japanese record of Americans in their midst.
"This is a little gem of an exhibition, a wonderful innovative way to illustrate the complexity of differences in esthetics and entertainment values between Americans and Japanese, people who were deeply curious about each other," Dower told MIT News in July, 2003. "One pair of images that gives a stunning sense of [OE]same but different[base '] is the official American portrait of Perry[base ']s steamship, charged with [OE][base ']Carrying God and Gospel to the Heathen.[base '] It hangs opposite a Japanese imaginary portrait showing Perry[base ']s ship as demonic. It[base ']s immediately clear: one person[base ']s God is another person[base ']s demon."
"The scroll is entertaining and very, very witty, especially in contrast with the sober, official American graphics. The Japanese graphics were done by scores of people and were widely distributed, almost like tabloids."
Ellen Sebring, co-curator with colleague, Scott Shunk, describes the exhibit as "a balance between art and information. Printed on soft material, the large reproductions have a gentle movement and can be rolled like scrolls for travel. Digital animations allow viewers to see details not viewable in any other way. Text is interwoven throughout."
The 150th anniversary of US-Japan relations that resulted from Commodore Perry[base ']s journey is being observed throughout 2004 with international events commemorating this historic meeting of East and West. A special Charlie Rose program on March 11 (www.charlierose.org) reviewed past and current relationships in the areas of economics, politics and culture.
This event is part of the Japan Society of Boston[base ']s Centennial Celebration which kicked off January 1 and will continue through 2005 with dozens of special programs including Kabuki Theatre at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, an exhibition and symposium on John Manjiro, the first Japanese person to live in America, exhibitions of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Children[base ']s Museum and Peabody Essex Museum, conferences and presentations at Harvard, Tufts, Wellesley and MIT, film retrospectives, sporting events and many more explorations of Japanese culture. For more information, visit www.us-japan.org/boston.
The Japan Society of Boston is a tax-exempt American organization whose mission is to promote cultural and economic ties and active interchange between Japanese and Americans for mutual understanding, benefit and enjoyment. As the oldest Japan Society in the United States, it serves as a bridge for a network of individuals, cultural and academic institutions and business and financial firms that are linked together by a strong interest in Japan and a shared recognition of the importance of the US-Japan relationship.
For more information on the exhibit "Black Ships and Samurai: Facing East, Facing West," and the 150th anniversary of US-Japan relations, see the following websites: www.blackshipsandsamurai.com www.japanus150.org www.us-japan.org/boston www.prudentialcenter.com/events For additional information on the exhibit and the Japan Society of Boston, contact Dawn Singh at 857-544-0739 or dawn@dawnsinghpublicity.com.
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