Actor Iwai Hanshirō 4th AS OTANI 

Editor: This is Katsukawa Shunko’s ‘Actor Iwai Hanshirō 4th as Otani’. The stripes and patterns are amazing! What can you tell me about this woodblock print? Curator: Consider the labor involved in its creation. Each color, each line, painstakingly carved into separate blocks. The very material of the wood and the ink reflect a complex network of artisans, publishers and consumers. Editor: So it's not just about the actor depicted? Curator: Not at all. It is also about the system of production, the distribution of this image, and the consumption of art in Edo period Japan. We can examine the materials, the labor and the social context. Editor: I never thought of it that way. It gives me a lot to think about.