Kazari

The Japanese term kazari, which has been defined by the scholar and pioneer of kazari studies Tsuji Nobuo as the 'will to decorate', is used to suggest the process that transforms the ordinary object into something extraordinary. It refers not only to the object but to its use in context as well. It can be understood as the act of viewing, using or adorning an object. Kazari evokes a sensory experience that is subsumed through the active participation of imagination or memory. This sumptuous catalogue will show how this dynamic works in six specific Japanese artistic and social contexts: the Shogunal taste of the 15th-16th centuries; the taste of the newly emerged military elite and wealthy merchant culture c. 1580-1640; merchant tastes in the Kyoto area in the late 17th-18th century; the floating world in the later Edo period, late 18th-19th centuries, and finally the spectacle of festival processions. With contributions by leading scholars in the field, the book will make a significant contribution to the appreciation and understanding of traditional Japanese arts. A selection of remarkable and often unexpected objects from major collections in Britain, Japan and the United State