Paper Palaces: The World’s Fair in Japan

Led by Raluca Iancu, Art and Visual Culture, and Emily Morgan, Art and Visual Culture

This semester-long interdisciplinary and innovative course will combine studio and art history. The class will examine the history of the World’s Fair, with a focus on the World’s Fair in Japan. Students will create print-based work (2D and 3D) in response to the role of print media in regard to presentation and advertising, representation, and building identity. The course will conclude with a 15-day travel abroad to Japan, at the end of May. Students will have the opportunity to experience the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, and learn more about contemporary and traditional Japanese printmaking during a 3-day mokuhanga (Japanese water-based woodblock printing) workshop in Echizen, Fukui.

Course objectives:

• be familiar with the basic history of World’s Fairs and International Expositions from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century.
• be able to articulate, both verbally and in writing, how goods, ideas, and innovations were displayed at World’s Fairs and international exhibitions.
• be able to articulate, both verbally and in writing, how displays expressed deeper ideologies related to international relations and to the national identities of the various nations involved.
• understand and be able to articulate how the art and culture of Japan were displayed at International Expositions.
• be able to carve and print relief blocks in both western and Japanese styles.
• be able to use paper as a design element, both flat and sculptural.
• design, think through, and execute paper sculpture works, both individually and collaboratively.
• be able to analyze their own work and the work of their peers through class discussions and critiques.
• develop verbal communication skills related to the evaluation of prints and visual images.