The green shadow of the banana tree
"The green shadow of the banana tree" Theoretical-practical workshop on Haiku and Sumi-e Luciana Rago and Carla Padín
Starting with Matsuo Bashou 松尾 芭蕉 (1644-1694), a Japanese painter and poet, we study the relationship between haiku and sumi-e. Bashou, the creator of haiku, takes his name from the tree (banana in Japanese is bashou). Letting themselves be baptized by nature is what defines these artists who paint and write about the world. Through haiku and sumi-e we take a journey in time and space to discover where they – the masters – looked from to see the colors of the shadows.
On the first day, with theoretical lessons and projection of images, we covered the history, characteristics and main representatives of the two disciplines and included individual and group activities that enabled us to practice writing. On the second day we practiced sumi-e, through the study of the brushstrokes that define the banana in the different schools.
