A New Year's Dance 

Editor: Here we have Kitao Shigemasa’s *A New Year’s Dance*, a lovely woodblock print. I'm drawn to the flat planes of color and the way the figures seem to float on the paper. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Notice the materiality of the paper, its fibers, and the layering of inks achieved through the woodblock process. The print itself was a commodity, part of a larger system of production and consumption in Edo period Japan. How does understanding its creation change your view? Editor: That's interesting. It makes me think about the labor involved and how these images were distributed. I hadn't considered the economic aspect so much. Curator: Exactly. The beautiful scene is also a product of social forces and economic exchange, not just artistic inspiration. Editor: Thanks, that really gives me a new appreciation for the artwork.