Saltimbanques au Japon" exhibition

For centuries, acrobats have held a singular place in the cultural and visual history of Japan. Jugglers, acrobats, tightrope walkers, monkey-walkers, illusionists and other craftsmen enliven public squares, the outskirts of shrines, show districts and seasonal festivals.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), urban society was booming and popular entertainment was enjoying a golden age. The public, eager for images and stories, was fascinated by street performances. The painters of ukiyo-e, "images of the floating world", seized on these emblematic figures and immortalized them through the art of printmaking.

With the Meiji era (1868-1912), the modernization of cities and the opening up of Japan to the world transformed practices. In the newly opened ports, circuses from the West amazed audiences, while Japanese acrobats set off on their own adventures in the other direction, with equal success.

The exhibition explores this constellation of itinerant artists through over 70 prints from the Jeanne-Yvonne & Gérard Borg collection, museums and private collections.