In the 400th anniversary year of Japanese-British relations, David Blandy’s new exhibition will creatively explore the mythology, legacy and socio-cultural connotations of William Adams, the first Englishman to set foot in Japan in 1600 and the only officially recognised Western Samurai.
Encompassing a new series of animated films set within an immersive installation, Anjin 1600: Edo Wonderpark has its aesthetic starting point in wood block prints of the Japanese Edo period – a halcyon era within Japan’s governance that was characterised by great artistic and cultural growth.
Drawing on these existing historical references, Blandy is working with a Japanese animator from the prestigious Tokyo Geidai animation school to combine traditional artistic techniques and methods of storytelling with contemporary anime. The results will be a 21st century reimagination of the sea-faring Adams’s story with Homeric inferences that muse on the notion of place and self within contemporary globalised culture.