The exhibition offers the public the photographic project All Roads lead to Edo by Valentina Giacomini, born from the strong impact that “The 53 Post Stations of the Tōkaidō”, one of the most famous works by the Japanese painter Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) had on her. Freely inspired by his paintings, in the stages of the Tōkaidō, following the route from Tōkyō to Kyōto, she tried to ideally give new life, through her photographic vision, to the atmosphere evoked by the original prints of the time. The project does not intend to compare the present with the past or document the current state of the Tōkaidō, but rather to share the emotions and feelings that these places can inspire today. The Tōkaidō, the “East Sea Road”, ran along the Pacific Ocean and, during the Edo or Tokugawa period (1603-1868), was the main communication route between the political-administrative capital Edo (today’s Tokyo), and the imperial capital Kyōto.
The shogun of the Tokugawa family, in order to maintain strong control over the feudal lords, had established the practice of sankin kōtai, or alternating residence: all the feudal lords (daimyō) of the country were obliged to move to Edo for a few months every year.
