View of Ise Divers Processing Abalone (Ise no ama nagaawabi tsukuri no zu) 

Editor: Here we have Utagawa Kunisada's "View of Ise Divers Processing Abalone" at the Harvard Art Museums. The divers are beautifully rendered, and the abalone harvest seems plentiful. What can you tell me about this woodblock print? Curator: Notice how Kunisada depicts the labor involved in abalone harvesting. We must consider the material reality, the diving, the collecting, the sorting – all intensive labor. How do the materials used in the printmaking process itself—wood, ink, paper—reflect the social context of production and consumption in Edo-period Japan? Editor: That's a great point. I hadn't considered the labor involved in creating the print itself, beyond the divers' work. Curator: Exactly. It blurs the boundaries between art and craft, prompting us to reflect on the social hierarchy and the value assigned to different forms of labor. What have you discovered? Editor: Thinking about the labor and materials involved definitely gives me a deeper appreciation for both the print and the divers' work.