The Print Room

This subject provides an introduction to Japanese art and cultural history through a survey of the Japanese woodblock print from its emergence in the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Visits to University’s Baillieu Library, the Ian Potter Museum, and the NGV and first-hand viewing will form a key part of the subject. Technical developments, major genres, and master designers are explored within the context of Japanese and East Asian pictorial traditions, the publishing industry, and urban culture. Topics for consideration include aesthetic discourse, consumerism, materiality of prints, censorship, erotica, the construction of class and social identities in relation to printed media.