Japan is a country where diverse notions that shape its national identity come together: the spirituality of the Shinto, the Buddhist traditions and their ancestral artisanal tradition converge with the technological avant-garde of today.
This exhibition, through a hundred design objects, offers a very particular vision of Japanese work and contemporary life.
The intention of the curatorial approach, carried out by Hiroshi KASHIWAGI, Masafumi FUKAGAWA, Shû HAGIWARA, Noriko KAWAKAMI, Torafu Architects and Hideyuki YAMANO, was to avoid clichés or common places that are held about Japanese culture. The exhibition presents design products, which in addition to being aesthetically and technologically innovative, are inserted into specific aspects of Japanese daily life. It shows various concerns and solutions to emerging problems of contemporary Japanese culture. Some of these solutions can be considered very particular to the context where they occur, but others can be easily applied to other scenarios. The objects propose answers to situations as complex as natural disasters or sustainable development, as well as everyday situations like the use of leisure time. Many reflect an important respect for tradition or spirituality, always recognizing the value of aesthetics and traditional production techniques.
The exhibition was presented from April 15 to June 15, 2015.
