Art Calendar - 27. February 2022

Culture Gate to Japan -

contemporary artworks in Tokyo airport and international cruise terminal.

second edition - January 19, 2022 until spring 2022.

© Sayaka Shimada

Since travel is still unsafe, the artworks can also be seen virtually on the Culture Gate to Japan website.

Japanese culture is more diverse than you might think. Contemporary artists and cultural practitioners are interpreting Japan's many diverse cultures - from the world of the Ainu in the north to the history of the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southern islands of Okinawa - expressed in on innovative media.

For the second edition of Culture Gate to Japan digital artworks combining technology and traditional Japanese culture will be installed at Haneda International Airport and the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. They will later be seen at other airports. The installations hope to inspire international visitors to delve further into the country's rich history and tradition. Culture Gate Japan is sponsored by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

The task of the artists and creatives was to create artworks that interpret Japan's rich cultural history in innovative, contemporary ways using media art, music, technology, animation and manga.

The exhibition consists of three exhibits by a total of 10 artists.

NEO-KAKEJIKU

Marketplace on 2nd floor of Terminal 2, Haneda Airport, Tokyo 

Maneki-neko lucky cat by AC-bu at Tokio airport

©NEO KAKEJIKU

NEO-KAKEJIKU

The installation NEO-KAKEJIKU interprets the classic Japanese kakejiku scrolls. Kakejiku scrolls are usually displayed in tokonoma niches and can be found, for example, in tea ceremony rooms or in the most important room of the house. Near the kakejiku are often other items such as ikebana flower arrangements, bonsai, katana swords, or ornamental dolls. Hanging scrolls were brought to Japan by Buddhist missionaries from China in the Heian period (794-1185) and continue to flourish as a work of art in modern Japan.

A key aspect of the kakejiku is that it is not meant to be hung permanently. It is changed frequently depending on the occasion, guests and seasons. For example, cherry blossoms in spring, peonies in early summer, or calligraphy 風 (kaze literally: wind) in summer to evoke thoughts of a cool breeze.

The featured artworks at the NEO-KAKEJIKU artwork at Tokyo Airport are:

Iruka-kun, Maneki-neko by AC-bu. The animation team AC-bu created the popular dolphin character Iruka-kun in 2010. In this artwork, the character embodies a Maneki-neko lucky cat that welcomes people to Japan. This work was created in the hope that visitors who see him will be relieved of their travel fatigue. 

NEO-KAKEJIKU installation at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport 

The  Tale of the Bamboo Cutter by MIYAZAKI Natsujikei

Into the Bamboo by MIYAZAKI Natsujikei – is a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Japanese folk story The  Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which a mysterious princess comes from the moon and is discovered as a tiny baby inside the stalk of a bamboo plant. A pile of  vending machine capsule toys is pictured at the bottom of the frame. The floating girl is inspired by the princess. MIYAZAKI dreams about the layers sheltering thegirl - the bamboo grove, shoji screens, the regal, twelve-layered robe, and secretly imagines what she might be wearing underneath. The artist sees this as a reflection of the daily life we now live, with our private expressions hidden behind masks.

Fireworks for Another World That Never Came

by SHIMADA Sayaka

located on the 2nd floor of Terminal 2, Haneda Airport, Tokyo.

Fireworks for Another World That Never Came

©Sayaka Shimada

Fireworks for Another World That Never Came

The installation Fireworks for Another World That Never Came by SHIMADA Sayaka is located on the 2nd floor of Terminal 2, Haneda Airport, Tokyo.

In Japan, the fleeting beauty of fireworks is the summertime equivalent of seeing cherry blossoms in the spring. Each year, 1,000 to 1,500 fireworks festivals are held in Japan. Hanabi (花火) literally means "flower fire" and is watched in the sky while eating, drinking and spending time with friends and family.

The first public fireworks display in Japan dates back to 1733, when fireworks were set off around the Sumida River in Tokyo to commemorate the nearly one million people who had died the year before due to extreme poverty and an epidemic. To this day, Japanese fireworks are symbols of hope, the transience of life, fleeting beauty and a requiem for departed souls.



Artist and pyrotechnician SHIMADA Sayaka gathered information on the locations where some 1,300 fireworks festivals in Japan were canceled in 2020 due to the influence of the corona virus. Based on this data, SHIMADA designed a fireworks show, set it off, and captured it in a single aerial photograph.

He then simulated the explosions on a large-scale map of Japan as a requiem for the canceled fireworks. The empty fireworks tubes used in the simulation are part of the installation.

This exhibition takes you into the spirit of the sea

+A+ at Tokyo International Cruise Terminal, 3rd floor - Currently only online only due to Corona policy.

+A+ represents the process of cultural and artistic activities in which the artists want to express the interaction between the existence of the port and the sea and its importance in Japanese culture.

The three artists whose works are exhibited capture this relationship between the human spirit and the sea as a world related to itself. They invite you to a view that touches the spirit and mark time, which are represented as rolling waves. The curator of this artwork is TAKEKAWA Junichi, creative director of the electronic music and digital art festival MUTEK.JP.

Explore all the artworks at:

culture-gate.jp/exhibition/

Culture Gate to Japan

The exhibition is organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.


Exhibition venues so far: Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) & Tokyo International Cruise Terminal*. 

Date: 19 January - late March 2022, with possibility of extension

Instagram @japan_media_arts_festival

#CULTUREGATEtoJAPAN #japaneseculture #mediaarts 

By Lizzie M. 27 February 2022