An inspiring evening out for me visiting the wonderful new exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints Beneath the Great Wave at the Manchester Whitworth Gallery. It's an exploration of Hokusai & Hiroshige's art prints from the Edo era of Japan with a special feature given to the artwork now known as the Great Wave which has become a global icon seen across design, fashion and popular culture.
It's lovely to see examples of the crafted wooden print blocks and imagine how they might have been used. I also loved the inclusion of delicately embroidered kimonos from the era. Noticeably the collection is made from natural pigments available at the time - without any artificial brash colour now seen in modern times it offers a calming and inviting vibe interestingly at odds with it sometimes full on imagery of volcanos, tsunamis, fireworks and the like. The beautiful collection is on show until November 15th, open late on a Thursday with a wonderful gift shop full of beautiful Japanese print items. Pair your visit as we did with a stop by Bundobust on Oxford road and a slow stroll down to the gallery through the universities.
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| BENEATH THE GREAT WAVE | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA |
above clockwise from the top left: katsushika hokusai's under the wave off kanagawa (the great wave) 1760-1849 arguablely the most famous image of japanese woodblock prints - it is thought just 100 copies survive today, snap of the 'how to read japanese prints' info, utagawa hiroshige's plum garden at kamata 1798-1858 i brought home a copy of this - love pink tree blossom, katsukawa shunsen 1762-1830 woman of the yoshiwara - the layers of patternwork in this print are wonderful, close up of the intricate floral embroidery on a kimono 1890-99, a view of the main gallery at the whitworth exhibition, me! with the great wave
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KARIKA NOVA NEWSLETTER
latest in the karika studio, notes in brief:
- reading the wild robot a lovely story by peter brown
- listening to the eurovision 2026 playlist! per sempre sì is the front runner in our house
- enjoying the second series of amandaland which brilliantly pokes a little fun at instagram culture
