Crossing the Valley in Sedan Chairs Possibly 1853 - 1858

Curator: Looking at this composition, I'm immediately struck by its precarious beauty, that juxtaposition of the seeming calm of nature with the somewhat crude construction of the transport system. It highlights how humans attempt to navigate and dominate landscapes. Editor: That's a perfect initial reading. This is "Crossing the Valley in Sedan Chairs," a woodblock print, possibly created between 1853 and 1858 by Utagawa Hiroshige. It's currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. What I see are vibrant colours describing complex, dangerous transport. Curator: The colors are undeniably vivid. It's fascinating to consider how that intensity might have been perceived then compared to today, now saturated in digital colors. What I’m most intrigued by are the societal implications of sedan chairs being pulled across what looks like a very challenging expanse. The exploitation of labor, both human and natural, screams from the design. Editor: Agreed. And looking at the practicalities, you can almost hear the groaning of the ropes and feel the tension of the laborers pulling the chair. The medium itself – the woodblock – speaks to a system of production, carving, and printing, involving layers of skilled work. The act of moving materials to make more materials – a history of intense production! Curator: Precisely. The entire image pulses with labour. There's an undeniable tension in the depiction, capturing this moment of overcoming geographical boundaries via this physical work that further creates socio-economic boundaries, too. How complicit is Hiroshige being, in his documentation of labour practice? Editor: That’s a sharp observation. The artist, embedded in his own socio-economic circumstances, documents the method, maybe oblivious, maybe not, to the broader implications of the sedan chair economy, to labor and privilege. Curator: It really makes me reflect on who has the power to overcome literal chasms while others bear the burden. How does this echo through society even today? Editor: It’s powerful, isn't it? Art as artifact of process as much as a pretty picture—offering clues to material circumstances, labour conditions and social hierarchy! Curator: Absolutely. It's in interrogating these pieces that we uncover so much of our shared history. Editor: And reveal a few unsettling realities about how we make things and who makes them.