KOKESHI: FROM FOLK ART TO ART TOY EXHIBIT TO CLOSE OCT. 4

The unique exhibition, Kokeshi: From Folk Art to Art Toy, will end its installation at the Japanese American National Museum on Sunday, October 4, which included over 200 Japanese dolls from a private collection alongside of the works of custom and contemporary artists.

The exhibition, developed in collaboration between the National Museum and the Los Angeles Toy, Doll, and Amusements (LATDA) Museum, presents a brief overview of the history of the traditional Japanese kokeshi doll and 200 examples, both large and small, from different regions of Japan, from the private collection of Itske and Anthony Stern.

The traditional is then contrasted with the contemporary, as artists such as Nicole DeLeon, Sachiho Hino Lee, Emi Motokawa, Joji Okazaki, James Watts, Phoebe Washer, and David and Kazumi Kobayashi Svenson display their kokeshi-inspired art. These works include metal, painting, crochet and wood as the media.

The final section of the exhibition, curated by Christine Conway, brings together the works of over 100 well known artists who all start with same kokeshi figure and then customize the piece in their own unique way. Artists include David Horvath & Sun-Min Kim, APAK, Kozyndan, Hine Mizushima, Amy Sol, and Tara McPherson.

This exhibition was presented in collaboration with the Los Angeles Toy, Doll & Amusements Museum and the Japanese American National Museum. It is sponsored in part by Daruma Asset Management, UCLA Paul I. & Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, and Aratani Foundation. Media sponsors include LA18 KSCI-TV and The Rafu Shimpo. Sponsors for the opening reception are Kirin Beer and Hakutsuru Sake.

The show concludes with a special public program on Sunday, October 4, beginning at 2 p.m. with East Asian scholar and author Alan Pate discussing the history and evolution of Hina-Matsuri or Girls’ Day dolls in Japan. Pate will explain the difference between how dolls are used and perceived in Japan versus the United States. For more information, or to make a reservation, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 830-5648 or go to rsvp@janm.org.