We are pleased to welcome you to the special exhibition, Rakugo Makes You Say　“Aaa…!…art?!” They Can’t Be Serious: A Collaboration Between Rakugo and Art, which will feature various artworks from the perspective of rakugo. This exhibition was prompted by rakugo master Sanyutei Wanjo’s 2024 promotion (ahead of 16 other performers! ) as the first Shiga-born “Shin’uchi,” the highest rank of performer in Edo-style rakugo. It was also prompted by the fact that there are Shiga-related rakugo stories, such as “The Eight Views of Omi ”.
Rakugo is a storytelling art that dates back to the Edo period. It is a simple yet profound form of art in which a lone rakugo performer tells various stories with a theatrical flair, while sitting on a cushion on the stage, using only a fan and a hand towel. Among numerous rakugo stories, this exhibition features 23 stories that are considered to resonate with the museum’s collection. They include long classic stories, such as “The Pumpkin Vendor”, relatively new stories, such as “The Zoo”, and a new rakugo story, “The Rainbow”. The artworks on display include about 70 paintings, crafts, and sculptures from the museum’ s collection, as well as four special works not in our collection, but deeply related to rakugo. We have chosen works that have some relation to the rakugo stories, but some of them may seem to be far-fetched. In such cases, please poke fun at them, and we hope you enjoy this exhibition in a way that is different from our usual exhibitions. Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Sanyutei Wanjo for willingly supervising the rakugo for this exhibition, including the introduction of each story featured. We also appreciate Katsura Sando from Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, for the brilliant uggestion to have Katsura Niyo draw a “Kamishibai” (paper theater) to accompany his new story “The Rainbow”. We truly appreciate their contribution.
The exhibition features the Ido-style tea bowl (“Ido-style tea bowl, named Amagumo” ), after which a popular long rakugo story was named, thanks to the generous cooperation of the Kitamura Museum, known for its collection of tea ceremony utensils. Furthermore, “ Mt. Head” , a masterpiece of nonsense stories, is presented as an animated film, one of the representative works of Director Yamamura Koji and the first Japanese film to win the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Thank you very much for your cooperation.
We would also like to express our deepest appreciation to the Museum of Shiga Prefecture Biwako-Bunkakan for loaning their precious works, to Katsura Yuyu from Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, for planning fun workshops, to the Ritsumeikan University Rakugo Society for their Saturday rakugo performances, to FM-KYOTO Inc. for their support, and to all those involved for their kindness and generosity.
Well then, it looks like it’ s time to wrap things up. Please enjoy this rather unusual exhibition!