Happy New Year 2023: Totoya Hokkei
Mekari Shinji at the Mekari Shrine in Japan is an annual ritual of cutting wakame seaweed—symbolizing wealth and good fortune—from the ocean at low tide on New Year’s day of the old ...
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Curator's Corner
Ghosts for Halloween
Ghosts, a big part of Halloween, are elements of mystery and curiosity in many cultures. There are great differences in the ways ghosts are perceived around the world, from abject terror to sympa ...
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Curator's Corner
Gems of the Month: Aizuri-e
This month, I’m celebrating aizuri-e, or “blue prints,” from Japan’s ukiyo-e style that flourished during the Edo Period (ca. 1615–1868). The color Prussian blue was intr ...
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Curator's Corner
Romance Awareness Month 2021 I
I was not aware of the association of romance with the month of August, but I think it’s refreshing. On one website that explains national month days, it said that “February isn’t th ...
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Curator's Corner
Kimono Patterns and Ukiyo-e Prints
The Worcester Art Museum is hosting a fascinating exhibit tying kimono design and its importance in the ukiyo-e print aesthetic. Ukiyo-e, meaning “images of the floating (i.e. transient physical ...
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Curator's Corner
National Garden Month 2021
It's National Garden Month and National Landscape Architecture Month. But I’ll deal with the landscape gardening later. I just want to show gorgeous art that may be slightly different than what ...
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Curator's Corner
Kittens and Bunnies
It’s been a crazy year with this awful pandemic going on, and an equally crazy last two weeks with this nutty election. I think we all need some kittens and bunnies to recoup our mental health. ...
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Curator's Corner
Fuji (Wisteria) Matsuri
In Japan, April 21 to May 6 is the time of the Fuji Matsuri, or “Wisteria Festival.” During the festival, traditional music and dance are performed at the Kameido Tenjin shrine on the outs ...
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Curator's Corner
Daylight Saving Time Gone: Dusk in Art
Daylight Saving Time ended this past weekend. Everyone is moaning about leaving work when it’s dark. I’m here to prove that there is beauty in the early onset of darkness…with ...
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