The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens announces Ghosts, Goblin, and Gods: The Supernatural in Japanese Art, an exhibition on view May 22 – September 16, 2012.
The Morikami Museum
The tenets of Shintō, Japan’s native religion are based on the belief that spirits inhabit the natural world, both animate and inanimate objects including rocks, mountains, trees, rivers and lakes. Some of these gods are regarded as guardian spirits while others are harmful tricksters, deceiving humans and coaxing them into foolish, reckless behavior. This exhibition comprises an array of paintings, colorful woodblock prints, sculptures, masks and other objects depicting a host of legendary ghosts, gods, and other-worldly beings. Among the mythical tricksters on view are tengu, half-man, half-bird forest creatures with long noses that are said to abduct children and the magical foxes and badgers that transform themselves into human form. Featured also are representation of the Japanese gods of good fortune, wisdom, and long life, including Ebisu, the god of fishermen, Daikoku, the god of agriculture, Fukurokuju, the god of wisdom and long life, Hotei, the god of happiness, and his feminine equivalent, Okame, the plump-cheeked cheerful goddess of mirth. Lastly, the exhibit would not be complete without including some fuzzy goblins from the popular Pokemon series, which have contributed to making monsters a popular theme in Japanese culture today!
The mission of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is to provide authentic Japanese cultural experiences that entertain, educate, and inspire.
Since its opening in 1977, The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens has been a center for Japanese arts and culture in South Florida, with rotating exhibitions in its galleries, tea ceremonies performed monthly in its Seishin-an tea house, an educational outreach program with local schools and organizations, and Japanese traditional festivals celebrated for the public several times a year.
The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens
4000 Morikami Park Road Delray Beach, Fl 33446
561-495-0233
[email protected]
www.morikami.org