Sumo
Sporties is my graduation project as part of my Academie Minerva illustration degree. In my project I relive historical sports and illustrate the characters that used to play them. My fascination starts with the rapid development of Sports in human culture, in the last 100 years or so. What used to be a way of recreation became a business and a culture of it's own. With the social development came the visual development of Sports. Jersey design, sport accessories, stadiums, televisions and marketing captured the sports we love to play and watch. But what about sports before the fame and glory?
In the 16th century, Japan was split into many small municipalities, each governed by a powerful warlord. There was an emperor of the country, but power was mainly spread locally. Each year, the best fighters and wrestlers from each province would go to the imperial court to test their skills against each other. This was done as a ritual from the Shinto religion, which aims to entertain the gods. According to the mythology of Sumo, it was originally practiced by the gods and then handed down to the humans, 2000 years ago. Popularity grew through 16th Century social media – woodblock prints and talking, and the matches had large numbers of spectators. What is interesting and super rare about sumo is that it almost did not change for five centuries as it is still played nowadays and most of the traditions are still strictly kept. The rules of the bout itself are fairly simple – in order to win get your opponent out of the ring or toss him to the ground.
The Sumo Champion belt is wore by the Yokozuna, or the highest ranked fighter in Japan. It usually has colourfull illustrations from the house he was trained at, as well as a belt with ornaments.
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