Grande Prairie to be first-ever western Canada stop for popular Japanese art exhibit

A rare exhibit that has only stopped in Canada twice before will soon be on display at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie.
 
It is called What Do The Mountain Spirits Ponder? and was created by the late Japanese textile artist Itchiku Kubota.
 
The display is made up of kimonos, but Art Gallery Executive Director Jeff Erbach says these are not the kind you wear.
 
“Itchiku Kubota, the Japanese master, created a few fashion kimono, but really, dominantly, he created decorative kimono. They’re actually one-and-a-half times larger than the typical human being would be, which gives them a really impressive sense of scale when you start displaying them.”
 
Erbach says the 45 items in the exhibit came here in seven wooden crates. They had to stay inside those crates for a few days to get used to the weather and conditions here.
 
“We had to insure the kimono for up to $10-million. We’ve been saying they are really priceless and irreplaceable, which is the truth. Itchiku spent a lifetime creating these pieces.”
 
Itchiku Kubota lived from 1917 to 2003.
 
Erbach adds this exhibit has broken records wherever it has been. It drew 100,000 people when it stopped in Ohio and 60,000 over two weeks in St. Petersburg, Russia. People have already been calling the Grande Prairie gallery from places like New York and Florida wanting to buy a souvenir program, but those don’t go on sale until the exhibit opens.
 
Besides being the third Canadian stop for this exhibit, it will be the first in western Canada.
 
The exhibit will be up from November 22 to February 20. There is no admission charge for the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie.
 
A special kick-off event called When East Comes West: A Celebration of Japanese Culture is planned for November 6, where the first kimono will be unveiled to the public. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.ca