INKING YUGYO
【 INKING YUGYO / 現墨遊行 】
鎌倉時代に水墨画が日本に伝来してきた当初、水墨画を描いていたのは画僧と呼ばれる仏教禅宗の僧侶達であり、彼らにとって水墨画を描くことは修行の一環だった。
仏教禅宗の僧侶の修行で、遊行（行脚）と呼ばれるものがある。
それは広く仏道の師友を求め、また教化のために、一定の寺院にとどまることなく諸国を遍歴する旅の修行。一所にとどまらず自由に諸国を遍歴して良き師を求め歩く姿は、[ 行 雲 流 水 ] の略で、雲水と呼ばれた。
雲水達の遊行の末、水墨画は禅の教えとともに全国に広がっていった。
《 INKING YUGYO / 現墨遊行 》とは当時の禅僧さながら、バックパッカースタイルで世界各地を放浪し出会う人々から学びを得ることを目的とした活動記録であり、滞在した国や地域で水墨画ワークショップや路上水墨画パフォーマンスを行なうなど、水墨画を広めるための啓蒙活動記録でもある。
この活動は現代を生きる水墨画家による遊行の再解釈とその実践である。
[ INKING YUGYO ]
When ink and wash painting was first introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), it was Buddhist Zen monks, known as 'Gasou', who painted ink and wash pictures, and for them painting ink and wash pictures was part of their training.
Buddhist Zen monks practised a form of asceticism known as Yugyo.
It is a traveling practice in which monks do not stay in a certain temple but itinerate through various countries in order to seek Buddhist teachers and friends and for the purpose of teaching.
The way in which they freely traveled from one place to another in search of a good teacher was known as 'Unsui', short for 'Koun-ryusui' (a 'flow of clouds and water').
As a result of their pilgrimages, ink and wash paintings spread throughout the country along with Zen teachings.
"INKING YUGYO" is a record of his activities, in the style of the Zen monks of the time, wandering around the world backpacking and learning from the people he met, as well as his educational activities to promote Suiboku-ga by holding Suiboku-ga workshops and street performances in the countries and regions where he stayed. It is also a record of awareness-raising activities to promote Suiboku-ga, such as workshops and street performances.
This activity is a reinterpretation of yugyo and its practice by ink painters living in the present day.