Bunraku Backstage Graphics

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Japan Society, New York City, 2024

Clients: Japan Society

Curator: Dr. Michele Bambling – Senior Gallery Director

Research: Naomi Kuromiya – Senior Research Associate

Exhibition Logistics: Stefani Oh – Gallery Associate

Fabrication: Miles Huston, Sebastijan Jemec, Meris Rosenberg

Installation & Art Handling: WittsART

Vinyl Installation: DaSign Guy

Bunraku, one of Japan’s foremost forms of traditional theater, emerged around 1600 through the convergence of three itinerant folk arts: puppetry, narrative recitation, and music performed on the shamisen.

Literally translatable as “delight in the literary arts,” bunraku brings real and imaginary stories to life, captivating audiences with historical narratives, war epics, and tragic love stories.

For this exhibition, a series of graphic materials was developed to accommodate a wide range of formats and applications— from the 6-meter banner installed on 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan to the digital assets created for social media and the newsletter.

The graphic identity was informed by a close study of the exhibition’s content, featuring stylized interpretations of the puppets’ heads as its central visual motif.