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Article: Ancestor-worship chic: do cramped New Yorkers want the spirits of their departed forebears as roommates?(Intelligencer)
- Article from:
- New York
- Article date:
- July 31, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 New York Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NOT LONG AGO, Yagiken Co., an Osaka-based manufacturer of traditional Japanese Buddhist altars (known as butsudan) for home-based ancestor worship (known as kuyo), opened a showroom called Gallery Memoria on West 26th Street. Brochures declare, "Kuyo; always stay connected to the loved ones you've lost." It's operated by Nana Onishi, an artist whose work appeared in the 2001 Venice Biennale, who compares the altars to sushi: "You have California rolls here, but they weren't invented in Japan." In the same way, she says, Americans can take what aspects they like from kuyo and adapt the concept to fit their lifestyles and preferences. In order to get people thinking, ...