Essay :

The building in which the exhibition took place was originally built for the vi-
sit of the Emperor Showa in 1933. During that time, the Kyoto town office was
expecting a lot of visitors hence the construction of several buildings.
During that time the Japanese architects had to juggle between the Occi-
dental and Japanese aesthetic. For exemple, the concept of an exhibition
was in reality an occidental concept that had to be integrated in the Ja-
panese’s Arts and Crafts. Before the Arts and Crafts were kept home, not
confronting the artist between them making it difficult to share the skills
and style. Henceforth the building had to be built considering the artists and
craftmen’ expectation for the exhibiting of their Art. It was a cycle of conti-
nuous influence : the architect was making the building for the Artists and
the Artists were changing their Art to adapt it to where it would be exhi-
bited. That’s why when conceiving the museum, it was truly important for the
architect to have the opinion not only of the contemporary artists but also of
the citizens of Kyoto, them who would now be receiving the Art.
Originally the building was made of a wooden structure but ever since the
1923 earthquake, the architects had to rethink the building, introducing mo-
dern architecture to adapt to the influenced Art. Starting from that point
there were several rooms, a modern one where the new contemporary Art
would be presented and a more traditionnal, machiya styl, one where the
scrolls would be stored.

During that time, the Japanese society experienced a lot of changes, may it
be the development of public transportation infrastructure, occidental and
traditionnal buildings rising from the ground or even the role of women who
could now get jobs. This exhibition was a true depiction of the evolution of
the Japanese society when confronted to Occidental culture. We can see
through out the rooms the evolution of the subjects, the medium and the
techniques of the differents artists exhibiting.

In the first room, we can see very occidental pieces, with a wooden frame,
symbol a classic Art in Europe, even the style are very similar to the one in
Europe. And just in front, on the right, it is quite the opposite, these are silk
screens on which are painted very similar to traditionnal stamps style art.
The modernity of these pieces resides more in the subject than in the way of
expressing the Art.
The second room is an ode to «Moga», the modern Japanese woman of that
time, who would cut there hair the ame way as the women during the 1st
World War 2, dressed also in an european style.
The third room is an entire new medium of Art, for it is displaying an en-
semble of Art Deco style furniture. The art of ceramics is well reknown wor-
lwide and the craft being this way influenced shows to me how deeply so-
ciety has changed throughout this period. I believe that the most stricking
room for me has been this one when knowing how the craft is being passed