Visions of the Floating World: Macau Ukiyo-e Exhibition
Ukiyo-e is the quintessential Japanese art form of the Edo period (1603-1868), literally meaning “paintings depicting the world of the floating world.” It serves as a visual symbol of Edo’s civic culture, emerging against the backdrop of Japan’s dramatic social changes, particularly with the rise of the merchant class under the Tokugawa Shogunate and the flourishing Chonin culture (townspeople’s culture). This led to the development of “Ukiyo-e Aesthetics,” which centered on entertainment and consumerism—an attitude…