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Utagawa Hiroshige, Asakusa Rice-fields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series ‘One Hundred (Image: YMT)
The Great Wave is a well-known piece, showing the dramatic lift of a blue ocean wave carrying a vessel through clumsy currents and natural forces. We trust the crew to keep the boat on course and to maintain stability through the rough weather but can’t help being awed by the majesty of the incomprehensible depths and their power. Another race of people from times gone by would have also known a few things about this kind of travel. The Vikings were also a sea-faring people, and they would travel across Northern Europe in longboats often traversing weather much like that shown in the Japanese woodprint of the Great Wave.
The art of Japanese woodblock printing, or mokuhanga (木版画), originated in the 6-7th Century. A group of inventive Buddhists began utilising the printing ability of carved wood to reproduce sacred symbols and little texts. This was long before the European printing press had emerged as a world defining force. By the early 7th Century, the art of mokuhanga had spread from industrious religious practices to a more mainstream activity. At first they were used to reproduce books and other texts much in the same way that modern printing worked up into the 20th century when magnetic processes began to take shape. Artists began turning their attention to the process to discover what they could achieve much later in the history of woodblock printing. This began to take prominence during the 17th Century in the form of Ukiyo-e (浮世絵). Images of the Floating World are a specific type of woodblock print that didn’t only depict boats and floating objects, but landscapes, dramatic social scenes, portraits, and buildings. The postcard effect of set scenes with emotional connection gave rise to an entire new fashion in the Japanese art world. During the 18th and 19th Century the artform expanded in scope and ideal, evolving into a much-loved past-time with far reaching traditional roots. It’s images from this period that became famous for their impact and early use of pop art. Visitors to York Art Gallery can discover a wealth of Japanese woodblock printing specimens plus hundreds of other artefacts from the period and culture. You’ll be able to see real-life examples of Japanese armour and costume along with printing materials, of course there will be a huge selection of prints to admire too. Exploring the history of progression of the art form through artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kitagawa Utamaro, the exhibit that runs from February 27th to August 30th 2026 will inspire and educate anyone with a passion for iconic image design. The York Art Gallery will also have an outside element; the Japanese Garden has been carefully curated by Garden Manager Steve Williams and will showcase a breadth of Japanese foliage and design ethic that will be repurposed around the wider garden once the exhibition is over. Along with a series of workshops, talks, and interactive experiences, the showcase is expected to attract a mix of people from many corners of the art lover world and bring them together into a once in a lifetime clash of culture. 
Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave. c.1829-32 (Image Maidstone Museum)
A buffalo-shaped bronze vessel unearthed at the Yinxu Ruins in Anyang, Henan province (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The bronze revolution didn’t happen overnight. Gradually, as blacksmiths and artisans experimented with various ores, the copper and tin formula for bronze was uncovered. Traditionally around 90% copper and 10% tin, the alloy could even have been made accidentally by using impure ingredients. A sharper and harder metal than copper, bronze is famous for enabling civilisations to improve their crafting, hunting, and fighting. The material had intrinsic value, thanks to its usefulness, and it soon became associated with wealth and prosperity. Even now, new technology is helping to reveal even more about this ancient practice.
To make bronze, copper must be smelted at over 1000 degrees Celsius, which allows the metal to melt and separate from the rock where it’s found. Tin melts at a much lower temperature, under 300 degrees, meaning that tin smelting could have been invented before copper. Producing a fire that reaches such high energy levels requires a firm understanding of the furnace and the principles of heat containment. By combining the burning properties of charcoal, wood that has been burned in a low oxygen environment, and the fire-giving properties of bellows, ancient metalworkers found that reaching the required heat was possible even with simple ovens. Casting bronze requires a mould. The liquid metal is poured into a negative image which then allows it to set in the required shape. Things like blades and spearheads, rods, and other simple designs came first. However, when the artists began to experiment, things got very interesting. Bronze age art is famous around the world, with various clever designs still around that defy our understanding of what was possible at the time. Intricate shapes and seemingly illogical casting patterns have given rise to some extremely beautiful specimens, no doubt reserved for top ranking society. A famous example is a Chinese bronze buffalo. Known for their extensive ritual pieces, often different to weapons or armour, Chinese bronzes are generally associated with status and social influence. From the late Neolithic period, the animal design is so well-made that even today it’s difficult to say how it was made. A one-off piece, the casting process would have been unique to the design and involved a one-use mould that allowed the shape to take form. With no thermometers, specialist tools, understanding of thermodynamics or fluid mechanics, exquisite forms continue to inspire and show the tenacity of these ancient artisans. The buffalo has been examined and was shown to have a unique pouring device that allowed it to form without imperfections. How did they know how to create the device for this bespoke creation? There wasn’t writing in books to explain it, there wasn’t a scientific understanding of what was happening on the chemical level, they just had the right idea. It must have involved a long road of trial and error for the casting to come out so perfectly. The buffalo bronze is thought to be a wine decanter, completely different to modern glasses and bottles, the metal vessel shows how even in ancient times, beauty and purpose went hand in hand. The fantastic evenness of the pour gives the entire piece a uniform thickness of 0.12 inches, something that modern bronzesmiths would agree is a good weight. Making the mould and knowing how to pour, remove bubbles, and give even cooling, all required an intensive understanding of the entire process. Now with new scanning technology, the entire piece has been probed to determine how the liquid flowed and cooled inside its container. The data showed that the pour must have come from the right hind leg for the evenness to correlate. It’s astonishing that something so trivial can become so important when considering the fact it was the most efficient way. Now that we have a better view on the skills involved with ancient metalwork, down to flow dynamics and pouring positions, we can perhaps better appreciate the level of thought that was required to make these breakthrough discoveries all those years ago. Via China Daily / The Independent 
Björk. Photo courtesy of Reykjavík Arts Festival.
The National Gallery of Iceland will be host to a Björk exhibition next year. Along with a museum exhibition by mask-maker James Merry, a first for the craftsman who makes many of Bjork’s face and head coverings, the Echolalia display will comprise four rooms dedicated to the artist’s work. The galleries will showcase work that draws on album concepts from her new record, so far untitled, and some previous work that still resonates with firm creative influence.
Two galleries designed from Björk’s 2022 album Fossora are presented. The first room is about life and nature’s ever moving cycles. Called Ancestress, the room carries imagery of sweeping landscapes and crimson dancers lamenting across them. With gongs and synchronised movement, the choreograph explores deep emotion and nature as related. A second design dives into a nine-piece choral work that Bjork produced to celebrate the life of her mother. Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir was an environmental activist who died in 2018. The music, called Sorrowful Soul, projects each chorister's voice into an individual speaker which combines in a group to produce the ensemble of nine. Coinciding with the Reykjavik Arts Festival 2026, the Björk exhibition at the National Gallery of Iceland will be available from 30th of May to 20th of September. With a fantastic career that spans five decades, the multimedia artist reveals infinite depths to her inventiveness and character. It’s certainly the case that there won’t be anything else like it. |
CategoriesAuthorAlternative Fruit by Rowan B. Colver 
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January 2026
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