祇園祭は疫病退散を祈る神事として1200年続いてきました。楽譜はなく口伝によるお囃子は鉾の上から鼓、鉦、笛で奏でられ、豪華絢爛な懸装品で飾られた34基の山や鉾が市内を巡行する様は祭りの中でも一番の見所です。
祭りの中で随所にみられる木工・織物・彫金などの工芸品は、日本の気候風土と感性により培われてきた技であり、私たちが守るべき宝物です。
木版画の世界も和紙や彫り摺りの技術の高さで世界に誇る作品が生まれてきましたが、近年は後継者がいなくなり、「このままでは技術が途絶える」と憂えた井堂雅夫は手元で育てた若い彫師と摺師とともに6年がかりで浮世絵京都百景を完成させました。
今月の作品はその百景の中から「祇園祭」です。
“Gion Festival”
The Gion Festival has been held for 1,200
years as a Shinto ritual to pray for the eradication of plague. The main attraction
of the festival is the parade of 34 floats decorated with gorgeous costumes
through the city.
The woodworking, textiles, carving, and
other crafts seen throughout the festival are skills cultivated in the Japanese
climate and sensibilities, and are treasures that we should protect.
The world of woodblock prints has also
produced world-class works thanks to the high level of Japanese paper and
engraving and printing techniques, but in recent years there have been no
successors, and Masao Ido, worried that the technique would die out if nothing
was done, spent six years completing Ukiyo-e Kyoto Hyakkei with a young
engraver and printer he had trained at home.
This month's work is "Gion Matsuri
(Gion Festival)" from the Hyakkei(100views) series.
