The Niwaka Festival in the New Yoshiwara (Shin Yoshiwara Niwaka no zu), from the series Famous Places in Edo (Edo meisho) 

Editor: Here we have Utagawa Hiroshige's "The Niwaka Festival in the New Yoshiwara," part of the "Famous Places in Edo" series. The crowds and lanterns create such a vibrant atmosphere. What can you tell me about the materiality and context of this work? Curator: Notice how the woodblock printmaking process allows for mass production. These images were made for consumption, depicting a specific social event—a festival in the Yoshiwara pleasure district. What does the labor of production and the context of leisure tell us about Edo society? Editor: It makes me think about the accessibility of art and entertainment for different social classes. Curator: Exactly! The very act of creating and circulating these prints speaks volumes about the interplay between art, labor, and the consumer culture of the time.