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Paper short abstract

This paper frames Edo-period vernacular exhibition practices as autonomous and theoretically generative systems of presentation, bearing epistemic, performative, and sociological significance. Drawing on printed media, it examines exhibition modalities governing object and audience relations.

Paper long abstract

Through the examination of printed media, including travelogues, diaries, and a variety of picture books, this paper frames vernacular exhibition practices of the Edo period (1603–1868) as autonomous and theoretically generative systems of presentation. By focusing on culturally distinctive environments and locations such as kaichō 開帳 (temporary unveilings of religious objects), misemono 見世物 (popular street festivals, attractions and performances), shop windows, or even bathhouses, the paper advances a theory of vernacular display that both expands on the conceptual frameworks of museum studies and emphasises the cultural dimensions of exhibition in a global context. In exploring these matters, it provides a reconceptualisation of Edo-period attitudes toward exhibition, presentation, and display, highlighting its epistemic, performative, and sociological significance, much prior to Japan's later self-induced national modernisation projects and the establishment of the first and Western-modelled museums. Subsequently, it addresses critical and largely unresolved questions, encompassing the nature of the objects exhibited, the manner in which their inherent object status is temporarily conditioned by their presentation, and, crucially, the recurring exhibition modalities implemented in their display. Particular attention is devoted to practices that incorporate presentation media such as elevations or fabric-covered platforms, as well as spatial organisational strategies that govern object proximity or audience flow.

The paper links art historical examinations with urban, social and anthropological research by demonstrating how these exhibition practices functioned in conjunction with their vernacular environments. This examination highlights the epistemic and performative significance of presentation, emphasising how space itself, and in its modified state, can function as a medium through which objects, images or ideas can be showcased and staged. Within this framework, the objects on display, ranging from utilitarian items and commodities to ritual artefacts, become carriers of relational signification if their presentation is intended as such. Finally, it intervenes in global exhibition studies by challenging narratives that privilege Western models, emphasising the intricacy and agency of Edo-period Japan’s vernacular modalities of display.