This season’s Collection Exhibitions showcase works selected around the themes of refreshing coolness and merriment.
　Bamboo! Only Bamboo! in Gallery 1 features items from our collection either made of bamboo or depicting bamboo. Bamboo grows across Asia, Africa and South America. As a supple yet difficult-to-break material, it is used in a wide range of crafts. Bamboo has also been an important motif in Chinese, Korean and Japanese painting due to its symbolic qualities. Its fast-growing nature conjures up images of prosperity and growth, for example, while its pliancy has come to symbolize perservance. It is also associated with long life and immortality owing to the fact it remains verdant even in winter, while its upright, knotted appearance reminds people to remain steadfast and exercise moderation, even in times of trouble. Bamboo sprouts up from subterranean roots to become moistened by the rain, covered by snow and blown about by wind. Perhaps the refreshing coolness of bamboo can help carry us through the sweltering summer months.
　The Ogura Yuki Corner will present a chronological overview of Ogura’s artistic life and works throughout FY2026. The retrospective will kick off this season with a selection of works from the 1920s to the 1940s, from the start of Ogura’s painting career to directly after the war. These will be accompanied by photographic materials documenting her activities during that time. We hope you can get a feel for that era as you appreciate the paintings on display.
　Please enjoy the richly diverse charms of the SMoA Collection*.

*SMoA is the abbreviated name for the Shiga Museum of Art.