Surveying a Region (Chihō sokuryō no zu) 1848

Editor: Hokusai's "Surveying a Region," seems like a landscape study but also a snapshot of labor. What do you see in this piece, considering its context? Curator: This print invites us to consider the relationship between labor, landscape, and power in Edo-period Japan. Who benefits from this surveying? And how does this act of measurement shape the landscape itself? Editor: So, it’s not just about the beauty of the scene, but about the power dynamics involved in defining and controlling territory? Curator: Precisely. Think about how the act of surveying transforms the land into a commodity, paving the way for resource extraction and control. Does this change your perspective? Editor: It does. I see it now as a political statement about land and authority. Curator: Exactly, and that tension between art and social practice is where its meaning truly resides.