Bamboo exhibits mix form and function

By Virginia Wageman
Advertiser Art Critic

Bamboo — quick-growing, strong, flexible and graceful — is interwoven with Japanese daily life and integrated into the arts of Japan as both motif and material. By a happy coincidence, two Honolulu institutions are venues for exhibitions devoted to Japanese bamboo traditions, and a third has an installation utilizing bamboo.

There are objects made of bamboo, including baskets, tea and cooking implements, containers for floral arrangements, calligraphy implements, slippers, toys and musical instruments. In addition, there are objects decorated with bamboo motifs, among them hanging scrolls, ceramics, kimono and exquisite textiles.

The textiles are extraordinary, but it is the baskets that steal the show. They are intricately woven in a variety of shapes. Some are stained or richly lacquered. They vary in size from small cages for holding singing crickets to large storage containers.

The objects are beautifully displayed, but unfortunately there are no labels to identify them or indicate age or provenance. This is a serious omission, making it impossible for visitors to learn much from the show about Japanese craft traditions.

There is a group of fascinating framed pictures, one a lightbox, incorporating cutout designs of bamboo motifs. Some appear to be made from paper mounted on a fine screen. Not having seen this kind of work before, I would have welcomed an explanation of the technique and some information about the artists.

Nevertheless, the show provides an in-depth view of the many and varied uses of bamboo in Japanese culture. And the pieces selected for the exhibition — lent by its organizer, Nancy Moore Bess, and by Hawai'i collectors and the Honolulu Academy of Arts — are truly delightful examples.

Bess, a resident of Massachusetts, has written an illustrated book on bamboo that is being published by Kodansha. Press proofs are in the gallery.

At the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Sogetsu-school bamboo sculptures are displayed on the front lawn as well as in the Asian and Garden courtyards.

The pieces at the corner of Beretania and Ward are lit for dramatic nighttime display. They are all marvelous examples of a little-known art form.

The sculptures were constructed by members of the Hawai'i branch of the Sogetsu Society, under the direction of Japanese master Toshiyuki Ohki of Sogetsu headquarters in Tokyo. He brought with him his assistant and others from Japan to help install the large sculptures, done in two days earlier this week.

Yosh Taura and Herb Kawakami from Honolulu were instrumental in creating the monumental pieces on the front lawn, though they say their designs were critiqued by the master before installation.

The Sogetsu school derives from the art of ikebana flower arranging, which relies on bamboo constructions as containers for floral arrangements.

An avant-garde offshoot of ikebana, the Sogetsu school is known for its striking bamboo installations. The school was founded in the mid-20th century by Sofu Teshigahara. The Honolulu exhibition honors him with its title, "Current Breezes of Sofu," which translates as "blue wind."

The ability of bamboo to transform sound and space is explored in an installation devised by University of Hawai'i architecture students. The second-floor courtyard of the Architecture Building has been transformed into a conceptual bamboo forest, with bamboo and steel cable for the structural elements.

The installation will be up at least through the end of the semester and until the end of the year if fund-raising is successful.

Visitors may go to the school at any time; Sundays are advised for visits to campus, as well as to the East-West Center, because there is on-campus visitor parking.

Virginia Wageman can be reached at VWageman@aol.com.