“Floating,” adj. 1. buoyant or suspended in water or air; 2. not settled in a definite place; fluctuating or variable.

How does one remain buoyant or resilient in an unsettled or fluctuating world? Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” not only captured, but also actively participated in promoting the momentary pleasures of such a world in Edo Japan (1603–1868). Largely regarded as ephemera during their time, many of the prints, produced from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, were first collected outside of Japan. Depicting actors and beautiful women, the woodblock prints required the collaborative efforts of designers, carvers, printers, and publishers to produce multiples of exquisitely-colored prints that eventually littered the streets of early modern, urban Japan.

Similarly, the glass fishing floats on display here show a craftsmanship engaged to keep large commercial fishing nets from drifting away. Freed, these floats, on occasion, wash up on the shores of the Pacific coastline, but millions, presumably, are still afloat at sea. Some with netting still intact, these floats, made of recycled glass, have become sought-after beachcomber’s treasures, the largest ones especially rare. Nowadays, however, one can easily find decorative reproductions online or in tourist shops.

Staying Afloat in a Floating World is a ‘teaching exhibition’ where students from a cross-listed Art History and Asian Studies course on Japanese prints will conduct research on these works through the 2021 spring semester. We encourage visitors to the exhibition to return to the gallery and online for subsequent publications of the students’ findings about collecting practices, pertinent subject matter, production processes, and distinguished artistic styles – established ways of staying afloat.

-Oh Mee Lee, Guest Curator & Instructor of Art History

-Laurel Lamb, Guest Curator & Curator of Education and Engagement at the UARK Museum

-Students from ARHS 4993/5993 and AIST 390V, Exhibition Contributors