Seaweed Gatherers at Omori

Gathering Seaweed

Woman Chopping Seaweed

Stilleven met poppetjes

Ōmori, from the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital

The Seaweed Gatherer

Seaweed Gatherers

The Seaweed Gatherers

Gathering Seaweed at Omori

Gathering Seaweed at Omori in Shinagawa (Shinagawa, Omori, meisan nori tori), section of sheet no. 1 from the series "Cutout Pictures of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido harimaze zue)"

Shinto priest performing the seaweed-gathering ritual

Woman gathering seaweed

The Seaweed-gathering Ritual in Nagato Province (Nagato mekari no shinji), from the series "Famous Places in the Provinces (Shokoku meisho)"

Mensen verzamelen zeewier aan de duinkust

Zeewier verzamelen aan de duinkust

Dried Sardines, Tablet of Sea-Weed and Nuts

Gathering Sea-Weed

Seaweed Food and Kitchen Utensils

Cakes and Food Made of Seaweed

Fish Slice

Oyster Plate

Boat-Shaped Bowl with Plovers

Kozuka with Seaweed and Sake Cup

Study for "Seaweed Gatherers, Yport"

Seaweed Gatherers, Yport

Seaweed has been gathered as well as cultivated for food where oceans and seas meet human habitation. In our collection, printmakers from Japan, France, and Belgium depict seaweed gatherers and cultivators wading in water on foot and harvesting from boats. They are seen collecting seaweed using hands, chopsticks, baskets, wheelbarrows, and horse drawn carts. In Japan seaweed is an important source of food—there is a Shinto ritual where priests harvest the first seaweed on New Year's Eve. In prints by the Japanese artist Hokkei, we see the priests running to escape the incoming tide after collecting seaweed. Another print shows two women in a skiff collecting seaweed from cultivation beds for nori. Multiple beds recede far into the distance evidencing how nori cultivation was economically valuable in Japan. Other artworks in this collection also depict how seaweed was packaged, prepared, presented for dinner, and used as a decorative motif on utensils, bowls, and dishes used for seafood. In addition, North American artists like the photographer Edward Curtis documented North Pacific Indigenous people at least thrice as seaweed collectors, as a matter of record, but also arguably as an romanticizing move.1, 2 —— 1. For more information on Edward S. Curtis's photo of a seaweed gatherer in Curationist's partner archive see E. Curtis, "The Seaweed Gatherer," Northwestern University Library, <a href="https://dc.library.northwestern.edu/items/288058a7-a6bc-4902-acc0-78742461b924">https://dc.library.northwestern.edu/items/288058a7-a6bc-4902-acc0-78742461b924</a>. For a second photo by Curtis of the same person stooping to gather seaweed at the same location, see E. Curtis, "Gathering Seaweed," The Getty Collection. <a href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108Q3R">https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108Q3R</a>. For another photograph by Curtis of Clayoquot Indigenous people collecting seaweed, see E. Curtis, "Gathering Seaweed—Clayoquot," The Library of Congress, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/96501860">https://www.loc.gov/item/96501860</a>. Accessed 28 January 2025. 2. For Curtis's collection of photographs taken over four decades documenting Indigenous North Americans, see the Northwestern University Library Collection "Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian," <a href="https://dc.library.northwestern.edu/collections/55ff2504-dd53-4943-b2cb-aeea46e77bc3">https://dc.library.northwestern.edu/collections/55ff2504-dd53-4943-b2cb-aeea46e77bc3</a>. Accessed 28 January 2025.

Seaweed Gatherers

About this Collection

Make a curated collection.