Japanese Kabuki images in Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. From the collection of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts

7 March – 27 April 2025

With this exhibition, the Lithuanian National Museum of Art continues its presentation of a series of exhibitions dedicated to protecting Ukraine’s art museum collections that have been evacuated to Lithuania while the country is at war. This time art lovers will receive the opportunity to see a rare and unique collection of Japanese ukiyo-e colour woodblock prints depicting the stimulating world of kabuki, evacuated from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv. For the most part, it consists of a collection the museum’s founders, Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko, bought at an auction of Japanese graphic art held at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1912. It was also supplemented with collections acquired from other institutions, receiving works as gifts and by purchases from private owners.

 

The museum’s ukiyo-e collection consists of works by famous masters representing a variety of schools, such as Torii, Katsukawa, Kitagawa and Utagawa whose works make up the bulk of the collection. Captured in these prints is the dynamic energy of kabuki actors’ movement and dances, their striking facial expressions and special make-up, elaborate and richly decorated costumes and dramatic scenes that enchanted Japanese audiences in the 18th–19th centuries. Kabuki theatre of the Edo period (1603–1868) was reminiscent of Ancient Greek theatre, which attracted audiences not just for the staged event but also for the chance to chat and partake of food and drinks. Far from being the theatre we know today, indulging in respectful silence from the audience, kabuki was more like a bristling space for socialisation and entertainment, where the actors on the stage (although kabuki was created by female dancers in the early 17th century, from 1629 even female roles were to be performed exclusively by males) would have to do their best to capture the attention of the already buoyant public. The performance would have to be exceptional and sensational in every regard – everything from its acting and sounds, facial expressions, make-up and stunning costumes, special dances, and of course, the stories themselves. As in today’s entertainment industry, themes of war and death, love and infidelity (even the simultaneous suicide of lovers), revenge, deception and betrayal prevailed, there were miracles, and also ghosts and monsters to scare the audience. Famous kabuki actors were the popular culture stars of their times, something of a precursor to the Hollywood actors’ cult of today. Emerging in the Edo period, almost synchronously, kabuki and ukiyo-e woodblock prints are closely intertwined. One could even say that our knowledge of historic kabuki comes to us mostly from ukiyo-e prints in which famous kabuki actors and the most distinctive historic plays dominated. Among the many works exhibited here in this exhibition, I must mention the portraits of 35 actors by one of the most famous ukiyo-e artists Utagawa Kunisada, and the theatricalised presentation of a favourite ancient Japanese story about the revenge of the Soga brothers by another ukiyo-e master, Ando Hiroshige. It is indicative that Hiroshige, best known for his stunning landscapes that influenced even Vincent van Gogh, also created kabuki-themed prints. These works are testimony not only of the artistic impact of ukiyo-e – images of the floating world – but also of the resilience of cultural heritage in a time of crisis. Carefully salvaged by our colleagues, Ukraine’s museum personnel, and now evacuated to the safety of Lithuania’s territory due to the war, these artworks symbolise both fragility and endurance. They demonstrate the long-term links Ukraine has with world art traditions and the urgent necessity of preserving cultural objects of value before they’re destroyed.

 

With this exhibition we pay respect to the impressive kabuki and ukiyo-e graphic art legacy, while also inviting the public to think about the challenges of cultural heritage protection in difficult times.

Dr Arūnas Gelūnas Director General of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art

 

 

The project is organized under the auspices of the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Šarūnas Birutis, and the Minister of Cultural and Strategic Communication of Ukraine, Mykola Tochytskyi.  

 

Project leaders: Director General of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Dr Arūnas Gelūnas, Director General of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv, Yuliya Vaganova

Exhibition curators and coordinators: Sigita Bagužaitė-Talačkienė, Оlha Hоncharenko, Regina Makauskienė, Skaistis Mikulionis, Оlha Novikova

Exhibition designer Dovilė Valužytė

Project partners: Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine, Ukrainian Embassy in the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, Customs of the Republic of Lithuania, Ukrainian Patrol Police Department, State Customs Service of Ukraine, State Boarder Guard Service of Ukraine

General supporter BTA Baltic Insurance Company

Information support by Palanga Tourism Information Centre

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17 Vytauto st, LT-00101, Palanga, Lithuania
(+370 460) 30314
gintaro.muziejus@lndm.lt

See also

Exhibition opening

The Magic of Kabuki Theatre: Japanese woodblock prints from Kyiv collection at Palanga Amber Museum