Nakamura Tomijuro I as a Female Fox in the Scene from the Play, Chigo Torii Tobiiri Gitsune (Nakamura Tomijuro no Hyuga no kuni Ubagatake no megitsune) 1777

Curator: Let's explore this captivating woodblock print from 1777. It's titled "Nakamura Tomijuro I as a Female Fox in the Scene from the Play, Chigo Torii Tobiiri Gitsune" by Torii Kiyonaga. Editor: The details in her robe and the surrounding setting are striking. There's a stillness, almost a melancholy, to her pose. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see a fascinating intersection of gender, identity, and performance. Here we have a male actor, Nakamura Tomijuro I, embodying a female fox spirit from a Kabuki play. Consider what it means to represent a marginalized being – the fox – through another layer of societal role play and masking of identity. Think about the performative aspects of identity, especially within historical and social contexts. Editor: It sounds complex! I was initially focused on the visual aspects. The kimono designs, the architecture in the background… Curator: Exactly, and those details are far from neutral. Kimonos were not just clothing; they conveyed social status, affiliations, and messages. Similarly, the architectural setting speaks volumes about the character’s environment, constraints, and possibilities. How does the interplay of artifice and nature contribute to the message? Editor: That's a really good point, I never really thought of that! Nature behind the spirit as opposed to man made constructs surrounding it. I guess thinking of the spirit as being trapped in an inauthentic world. So the context influences everything, right? Curator: Precisely! By interrogating these cultural and historical contexts, we can unearth the work’s complex layers. The artwork encourages us to investigate identity. What have you learned from this? Editor: I learned to look beyond the immediate aesthetics. To analyze all the different angles, that every object and gesture tells its own historical and sociological narrative.