Nomadic and itinerant, with works by eight authors, the exhibition takes place until 11 June at the Japan House, from where it travels to the United States
of the pioneer sony walkman until the very end Toyota Prius, the world’s best-selling electric and combustion-powered tailgate hybrid car. From the poetic paper lamps by Isamu Noguchi to the Butterfly bench by Sori Yanagi. Not to mention fully active designers such as Tokujin Yoshioka and Oki Sato, names now contested by nine out of ten brands of the very first team on the international market. When we think of Japanese culture, one of the first references that comes up is design. Surprisingly, however, there is still no museum dedicated solely to this topic in Japan.
“Our exhibition plays the role of bringing together different objects present in Japanese daily life, from the point of view of eight renowned creators, from different areas, demonstrating that a curious look is enough to find design in almost everything around us,” says Kyoko Kuramori, chief producer of NHK’s international service – a Japanese public media organization with outstanding performance in television, radio and the internet – and curator of the exhibition Design Museum Japan: Investigating Japanese Design, on view at Japan House São Paulo, until to 11 June.
The curator’s proposal to compose what would be an embryo-exhibition of a future design museum in Japan is also curious: instead of touch-sensitive displays, excavated polystyrene blocks. Instead of ultra-technological objects on display, artifacts in natural fibers, most often rudimentary. Ready to be packed and shipped to Los Angeles and London – the next stops of the exhibition – the first Museum of Design in Japan is nomadic and itinerant. More related to the timeless aspects of life, history and landscape of the land of the rising sun than to its future. “The concept of design, coming from European culture, is very new to us. There is still a lot of confusion about what art, design, craftsmanship are,” says architect Tsuyoshi Tane, who, in addition to being a guest designer, signs the exhibition display.
TIMELINE. “Our idea was to lengthen the timeline. Starting not from modern design, but from objects of ancestral production, in which we can recognize what we consider design today”, explains Tane, for whom the culture of design has yet to be democratized in Japan. “Only in this way do I believe that one day we will have a museum dedicated to the subject,” she warns.
“Fostering the recognition and perception of design in everyday life is a way to highlight local production. Furthermore, the possibility for the public to discover these hidden treasures in Japan is truly unique,” Kyoko points out. Most of the creators have even been the subject of individual exhibitions or had their work exhibited at Japan House São Paulo – such as Reiko Sudo, Akira Minagawa, Kunihiko Morinaga and Kenya Hara, as well as Tane himself.
He did his research in Iwate Prefecture, where archaeological research has made great strides, from which he investigated the existing design in ceramic objects created about 10,000 years ago. “They were produced in the period in which human beings ceased to be nomadic and settled in one place, around the fire. From the point of view of museology, these pieces are already historically and scientifically classified. In this case, I am interested propose a look from the point of view of design. How, after all, to shape clay, light a fire, share meals, identify ceremonial objects?”, he summarizes.
The survey conducted by graphic designer Kenya Hara was conducted in his hometown in Okayama province. He visited a company that produces propellers for ships, up to 8 meters in diameter, but with the finishing touches to the curvature performed by craftsmen working on a millimeter scale.
“It surprised me to see that the work that determines the precision of something so enormous is done by the human hand,” says Hara, who is moved by the thought that an object made to perform a purely mechanical function – transforming rotational force into propulsion – could show such a beautiful shape.
TAPESTRY. Finally, in another noteworthy talk, designer Akira Minagawa decided to turn her attention to the thick hand-woven tapestry known as “dantsu,” produced in Yamagata province. This region of Japan is covered in snow during the winter, which has led its inhabitants to sharpen their knowledge of the Chinese textile industry to adapt their carpets to the Japanese custom of going barefoot. “The quality of handwork is not just what you see, but something you feel,” reflects Minagawa.
Interesting from an investigative and documentary point of view, the Design Museum Japan has even more ambitious goals. Just between us, right from the opening day of the exhibition in São Paulo, an interactive panel with a map of Brazil, fixed on one of the walls at the exit of the exhibition, invited visitors – as will happen in the other venues – to point out centers of design production in the country, even if unknown or little publicized. And the result could not have been more promising. Until last Friday, the date of our visit, there was no Brazilian region that was not marked
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
