Viewpoints: A New Hybrid? (excerpt)
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Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash
Originally published in Sukiya Living: The Journal of Japanes Gardening, Jul/Aug 2023, Issue 154.
Note: This is an excerpt from the article with my response to the question posed to seven experts.
While the patrons and overseers of Japanese gardens in the West almost always express a desire to be “authentically Japanese,” Prof. Kendall Brown argues that Western versions are not really Japanese gardens at all. He argues, instead, that they are a whole new hybrid genre that represents Western attempts to adapt the Japanese tradition to a new place and with entirely new purpose. He calls this genre Japanese-style gardens. We asked some experts about this. Here’s what they had to say when we asked them.
J. SKUBA:
Are Japanese gardens in Western countries an entirely new genre? No, they’re not. They’re recognizable derivatives of an old one.
The Japanese garden, being a unique aesthetic expression created by skilled artisans, distilled their insights through perceptive observations of Nature. These insights have cultural signatures, but they can also be applied universally. The core Japanese principles are thus mere tools that can be adapted for use by anyone, anywhere.
Ideas can and do cross-pollinate, expanding boundaries. As an artist, I can assure you that the borrowing of signature characteristics is a totally legitimate act that recognizes and honors their cultural origins.
When Japanese garden characteristics are exported, the resulting fusions will always be adaptations “in the style of.” Seeking some kind of “authentic-real-genuine” result is usually just hype. But striving for an attributable “Japanese-style” garden is certainly do-able and generally acceptable.
—J. Skuba is an artist, and garden designer/builder in the Chicago-North Shore area.