The Orient in Wood and Metal

Approximately 1,500 visitors explore this exhibit every day. In fact, it was decided to extend the gallery’s hours to accommodate visitors’ needs. The exposition is part of the project Dialogue of Cultures, organized by Oleksandr Feldman, president of the Union of National-Cultural Associations of Ukraine. Practically every item on display was borrowed from private collections in Kharkiv and none had been previously exhibited in public. Critics explain the inclusion in the exhibit of Oriental cultural artifacts dating mostly from the 18th-19th centuries by the fact that Western Europe and America discovered the Orient on a large scale sometime in the early nineteenth century, precisely when collecting became the vogue. Kharkiv’s current exposition boasts some 300 fascinating works by old Japanese and Chinese artisans from different eras. Among them are Netsuke and Okimono figures, engravings, ornamental swords, and kimonos.

Incidentally, the organizers should be given credit for providing guides who can explain to visitors the difference between Netsuke and Okimono, for example. Okimono means “a standing thing.” The Japanese used them to decorate their homes and these figurines are often mistaken for Netsuke, which is absolutely wrong, because Netsuke figurines were carved from ivory or wood. Ordinary Japanese tied them to their kimono belts and were very proud to wear them, because these ivory decorations were they only ones the were permitted — they were not allowed to dress up. Needless to say, the collection of famous Oriental swords attracts special attention. The longest sword measures almost two meters.