Exhibition open through Sunday, September 26, 2010
The culture of figurines in Japan has broken out of the otaku subculture and gained acclaim on the global art scene.
Looking back at the past, the culture of making and loving human-shaped sculptures has a long history and is not something that suddenly appeared. The traditional dogu (clay figures) of Japan, the pottery dolls that grace the Japanese living room, the Licca fashion doll we played with as children, and the ‘Robot’ dolls, a figurine hugely popular with young as well as adult ‘boys’, they all developed in a doll culture leading up to current figurines.
This exhibition provides an overview of this Japanese doll culture, positions contemporary figurine culture on its historical timeline, considers its historicization and uniqueness, and introduces the products of Kaiyodo, which is almost synonymous with contemporary figurine culture. Figurines are a genre that is intrinsically linked with manga.
www.kyotomm.jp