Art Gallery of South Australia: Turning Japanese

~ Located on North Terrace, Adelaide’s ‘cultural boulevard’, the Art Gallery of South Australia is a veritable treasure house holding one of the country’s greatest art collections in one of the state’s most beautiful buildings.

Visit the Gallery daily to explore the best of Australian art. From colonial and indigenous, through to modern and cutting-edge contemporary, you can wander through the Art Gallery’s extensive displays of European, decorative arts, Middle Eastern and Asian works.

The Golden Journey
Currently, the Art Gallery of South Australia is featuring a major exhibition called, The Golden Journey: Japanese Art from Australian Collections.

Billed as “a stunning display of almost three hundred diverse objects”, the exhibition reveals the rich heritage of Japanese art held in Australia's major public and private collections. The exhibition, the first of its kind in Australia, tells the story of Japanese art from prehistoric times until Japan opened its doors to the West at the start of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

The exhibition features serene Buddhist sculptures, spectacular painted screens, miniature netsuke talismans, colourful Ukiyo-e images of the ‘floating world’, costumes, masks, armour and flamboyant export art created for Australia’s late nineteenth-century international exhibitions. This is in celebration of the profound lyricism and sophisticated eloquence of Japanese aesthetics.

Guided Tours

Try to arrange your visit to coincide with the free guided tours that take place…
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12 noon, or
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays at 12 noon and 2.30pm

Exhibition runs 6 March to 31 May, 2009
Entry: Adult, $12; Concession, $10; Members & Students 16 and over, $8; Child under 12, Free.
Open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Location: North Terrace, Adelaide

Visit the Art Gallery of South Australia website here…

IMAGE: Courtesy Art Gallery of South Australia

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In Review: Vacation (2008)

Another day, another Australian Premier screening at the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, this time the film, Vacation, the latest work from Japanese director, Hajime Kadoi.

If you had to describe the way the Japanese live based on what is depicted in their films, one word would have to sum it up. Spartan.

Vacation is more spartan than most Japanese films. Much of the drama unfolds inside the confines of the tiny cell of a prison inmate. In deed, Kaneda, the prisoner, is on death row for a crime that is never mentioned or explained. We learn nothing about what the man is thinking beyond the fact that he spends every day drawing landscapes in a large sketch book.

As the drama unfolds, we are introduced to Hirai, a prison guard who is marrying a beautiful young woman with a six year old son. His only means of getting time off for a honeymoon is to act as a “supporter” at Kaneda’s execution. Again, we learn little about the woman and her child apart from the fact that her husband has apparently died.

Or has he?

Why does the little boy spend almost all of his time drawing in a large sketch book? And why does the Hirai, the guard say “Sorry” to the boy following the execution of Kaneda, the prisoner? Could it possibly be because the woman was Kaneda’s wife, and the boy his son?

We can only guess at the answers. Like Three Monkeys, this too is a darkly sombre film – understandable given the subject matter – filled with long silences, and beautifully framed shots.

According to the program notes, Vacation was a “break-out success” when it was released in Japan last year. This is director Kadoi’s second feature film and it bodes well for the future of his career, and for Japanese film.

Three and a half stars
Image courtesy of 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

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