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5 July 2018
LEIDEN – The rare screen of the room of the Japanese artist Kawahara Keiga drew public attention the first day it was presented at the Volkenkunde Museum. Before being restored long, he will first be exposed to Leiden for two weeks. Among the visitors, there are also many Japanese who came to watch.
This makes the folding screen the most recent centerpiece of the Museum of Ethnology collection. The artwork of almost 5 meters wide and almost 2 meters high is unique to Kawahara Keiga. As far as we know now, it is the only screen of his hand.
The work went unnoticed for a long time. For the owners, it was clear that it was a painting of the Japanese Nagasaki Bay and the Dutch Deshima Island. But over a century that the family owned, he tasted in the dark at its origin. An expert has solved the mystery and now the Volkenkunde Museum is the proud owner.
The Dutch Island of Deshima
The conservative Daan Kok is convinced that the painting was commissioned by a Dutchman. Who they dare to say, but they have a hint. Kok: "The central focal point is the artificial island of Deshima, where the Dutch lived and traded. The Netherlands was the only Western country to gain a foothold in Japan in the 19th century. "
The screen is therefore also a key element of the Japanese collection of the Museum of Ethnology.Kok:" This ties our entire collection together.We can almost connect our entire Japanese collection. "It will still be visible both next few weeks, after which it will be restored. And this is really necessary because it will take about two years: "What is usual for the Japanese tradition is to remove the paintings from the screen and reassemble them. In this case, the panels must also be completely reassembled. It's a job that takes a lot of time. "
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