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Downtown Asian gallery set to host a netsuke night
Iwasawa Oriental Art, a downtown Los Gatos gallery filled with Asian art, crafts and cultural items from the distant past to the present, invites the community to attend Netsuke Night: World Within a Square Inch on May 22 at 6 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Japan Society and the Consulate General of Japan, the event celebrates the ancient Japanese art form of netsuke. Carved in minute detail from pieces of ivory, wood, bone or animal horn, netsukes are three-dimensional, button-like toggles that secure the purses or pouches suspended on a cord from the sash of a kimono.
The evening will feature a presentation by Frances Bushell on Takarabukuro, the book on netsuke written by her husband, the late Raymond Bushell. Also scheduled is a presentation on seal netsuke by Phil Hart and an introduction to the Netsuke Research Center Online Project by Kinji Yamasaki and gallery owner Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas.
The nerve center of the online project will be housed in a building--constructed in authentic Japanese style--to be built behind the existing Iwasawa Oriental Art. Iwasawa Vadas says the architectural plans have been approved by the town of Los Gatos; she is currently seeking bids from contractors.
Iwasawa Oriental Art is located at 75 University Ave. Admission to Netsuke Night, which includes a reception, is $12 for Japan Society members and $20 for the general public. Proceeds will help fund the construction of the Netsuke Research Center Online Project. For more information, call 408.395.2339 or email iwasawaart@aol.com.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
