Submissions welcome! Japan-related event in London to add? Just click the green ‘+ Post Your Event’ button. It’s free, & easy to do.
Kimono x Komono
きもの x こもの
by MIYABI & PETIT KIMONO
7-13 June 2018
The history of kimono, the national costume of Japan, dates back to ancient times, and techniques such as spinning a cocoon, dyeing and weaving have been passed on from time immemorial. Unfortunately nowadays kimonos are used only during special events.
MIYABI and PETIT KIMONO transformed, stitch by stitch, the kimonos that belonged to their ancestors generation after generation into small cute objects and mini-kimono, inspired by Japanese seasons, Japanese food and Japanese traditions.
They have successfully exhibited in Japan and in Paris, and this is their first solo exhibition in the UK.
ABOUT MIYABI (Masako Ishihara・mother)
She has been teaching for 35 years, as a ‘kimono coordinator’, kimono-making techniques, kimono tailoring and classes on how to put a kimono on.
MIYABI decided to use the kimono and Japanese fabrics that she had in a drawer, in order to introduce a piece of Japanese tradition to the world.
ABOUT PETIT KIMONO (Tazuko Ishihara・daughter)
Since she was little, she has always been surrounded by kimono and silk fabrics. She can combine different colours to make miniature ‘kawaii’ (cute) Japanese objects.
FREE ENTRY
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday 7th June 6pm – 8pm
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 11am – 7pm
Saturday (9 June only) 12pm – 6pm
Sunday closed
Image by Ken Adlard c Tatsuo Miyajima Courtesy Lisson Gallery
16 June to 23 September 2018
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am – 5pm; free
Tatsuo Miyajima is one of Japan’s foremost contemporary artists. Through his work he explores the concept of time, incorporating original material made around the establishment of Greenwich Mean Time in 1884 with his trademark “Miyajima numbers”. For his latest work, Miyajima has collaborated with William Morris, using his iconic Bird fabric from 1878 to create a new work in the series.
An exhibition on the Story Lounge (first floor landing).
Supported by the Japan Foundation
“Creating architecture is like planting seeds of the future” ‒ Sou Fujimoto
‘SOU FUJIMOTO: FUTURES OF THE FUTURE’, is an exhibition held in collaboration with Tokyo’s TOTO GALLERY・MA. Seen for the first time in the UK, the exhibition explores the innovative works of one of Japan’s most influential contemporary architects. Fujimoto’s vision of the future is not a fully imagined set of assumptions but is to plant the seeds of inspiration and potential. This exhibition looks at not only current projects but also Fujimoto’s architectural experiments for the future asking the visitor to share in imagining a variety of futures of the future.
Accompanying the exhibition is a lecture by Sou Fujimoto on 12 June, at the Design Museum, entitled ‘Sou Fujimoto: Futures of the Future’, followed by a session in conversation with The Guardian’s architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright.
In addition, Fujimoto also presents ‘Architecture is Everywhere’ which illustrates the concept of discovering architecture within the forms of everyday objects: the serendipity of finding numerous possibilities for new architecture.
Sou Fujimoto
Born in Hokkaido in 1971 and a graduate of the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture, Sou Fujimoto established Sou Fujimoto Architects in 2000. Some of his most notable works include Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013, House NA (2011), Musashino Art University Museum & Library (2010), Final Wooden House (2008) and House N (2008).
In collaboration with TOTO GALLERY·MA, Tokyo and a part of the London Festival of Architecture
London Okinawa Sanshinkai is back at Spitalfields this summer for Okinawa Day!
This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Okinawa Day with special guests from Japan xx
Join us to celebrate Okinawan classical & folk music, Eisa dancing, karate, food, drinks & much more!
When: Saturday 23th June 2018
Time: 10am-6pm
Where: Spitalfields, London E1 6AA
Admission Free
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/londonsanshin/okinawa-day
Follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/okinawadayinlondon
Programme:
10:00~ Stalls Opening
10:50~ Opening Speech: Mr. Hironobu Nara (JNTO)
11:00~ Opening Ceremony: Ryukyuan Classical “Kajadifu Bushi”
11:07~ Amami Music feat. Tamukai Miharu
11:30~ Okinawan Folk Music: “Champuru” Set
12:05~ Traditional Tea Ceremony & Ryukyuan Classical Music
12:25~ Tsugaru Shamisen feat. Ichikawa Hibiki
12:40~ Okinawan Music feat. Horiuchi Kanako
13:15~ Traditional “Eisa” Dancing
13:45~ Okinawan Karate & Kobudo
14:20~ Yaeyama Folk Music
14:45~ Miyako Folk Music feat. Yogi Masaki
15:10~ Ukulele Music
15:25~ Okinawan Karate & Kobudo
16:00~ Okinawan Folk Music: “Mo Ashibi” Set
16:30~ Amami Music feat. Tamukai Miharu
16:53~ Okinawan Music feat. Horiuchi Kanako
17:28~ Traditional “Eisa” Dancing & Grand Finale!
Thu.28th /June – Mon.16th /July 2018
Private view Thursday 28th / June 18:00 – 20:00 Please rsvp: https://bit.ly/2IvUPTo
*Stencil Workshop on Saturday 30th / June from 11:00 till 14:00
70-72 Old Street, London, EC1V 9AN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7637 1700
Opening hours: Mon – Fri. 11:00 – 19:00
Weekends by appointment only
sway-gallery.com instagram: swaygallerylondon
Printmaker Yoko Kataoka presents her textile work inspired by rural life in the Catalan woods, Spain. ”Uraraka” is a Japanese word with a dual meaning: a fine and peaceful day in Spring, or the clear state of a cloudless mind. Yoko hopes that her “Uraraka” works will brighten up your daily life with cheerful colours and feelings, and that her exhibition will be an opportunity for everyone to discover the Uraraka way of living.
Yuko Mohri at Camden Arts Centre
Following her residency at Camden Arts Centre in 2016, Yuko Mohri returns with a new installation that orchestrates relations between electromagnetic force-fields, patterns of light moving through water and a reconfigured Yamaha reed organ from 1934. Developed responsively to the architecture and surrounding environment of the galleries, Mohri’s audio-spatial composition reveals the interconnectedness of man-made and natural processes, inviting non-human agents and chance factors to determine the score.
In this new commission, error, improvisation and feedback figure in an acoustic environment that maps shifting relationships between material things and conceptual propositions. Music and sound are central to Mohri’s practice. Her involvement with the experimental music scene in Japan has included collaborations with Otomo Yoshihide and the internationally acclaimed composer, pianist and electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. As part of Voluta, sound art pioneer Akio Suzuki will perform live in the gallery.
Please note Camden Arts Centre is closed on Mondays.
Supported by Arts Council Tokyo, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Terumo Foundation for Life Sciences and Arts and the Yuko Mohri Exhibition Circle
Yuko Mohri (b. 1980, Kanagawa, Japan) is an artist whose installations detect invisible and intangible forces such as magnetism, gravity and light. In 2015, Mohri received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council for a residency in New York. She has participated in a number of exhibitions both in Japan and abroad, including the 14th Biennale de Lyon 2017 (France), Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016 (India) and the Yokohama Triennale 2014. Mohri is the Grand Prix winner of the Nissan Art Award 2015 and is also the recipient of Culture and Future Prize at the 65th Kanagawa Cultural Award in 2016 and the New Artist Award at the 67th Japanese Ministry of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2017.
Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix has announced a joint exhibition by contemporary Japanese artist duo Ryoko Aoki and Zon Ito.
The two independent artists started collaborating in 2000, and this will be the first time they will exhibit London. Curated by Hikotaro Kanehira, the exhibition will comprise of works recently created in their Kyoto studios as well as those produced within the gallery space for the duration of August. The poetic show will centre around paintings, embroidery, small objects and video installations with the artists incorporating found objects from various London locations.
The artists’ works have references from both traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. Geometric forms and vibrant colours are recurring themes in Aoki’s work. The artist is often inspired by the natural world, plants and animals as well as depicting fragments of everyday life. Installation is an essential part of her work, which is tailored by each exhibition so that the drawings and other media come together to form a collection. Her body of work often consists of things beyond her own creations, such as found objects or works by other people that interest her, which when brought together, adopt a greater meaning.
Ito creates using a range of media, resulting in embroidered drawings, modelling pictures, or hand-made cord drawings. The artist’s choice of hard-to-manipulate media means he can never entirely be in control of his creative process, and the end result is not always what he would have originally expected. The rough, energetic lines flow from paper to fabric to screen with engaging sensitivity, infusing into the body of work a sense of serenity in which time appears to be suspended.
The two artists’ works fuse and produce synergy with depth and complexity. The exhibition will touch on the issues of psychological development and the character-building process of young children, making reference to essays on child psychology analysis by Kiyoshi Oka, a well-known Japanese mathematician.
Ryoko Aoki and Zon Ito are available for interview and press are invited to visit them in the gallery during their residency.
For further information, images or to arrange interviews please contact: Anna Beketov, Damson PR, anna.beketov@damsonpr.com, or +44 (0) 207 812 0645
Address: 19 Goulston St, London, E1 7TP
Dates: 7th September – 22 November 2018
Private View: Thursday 6th September 2018, 6pm – 9pm Opening Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am ‒ 6pm Travel: Aldgate East, Aldgate, Liverpool Street
Website: www.yamamotokeiko.com
Twitter: twitter.com/yamamotokeikor
Facebook: facebook.com/yamamotokeikorochaix Instagram: instagram.com/yamamotokeikorochaix
Asa + Yu presents, “Visionaries of the Kaleidoscope”
10th – 21st September 2018
Mon – Fri 9:00 – 17:00 – Sat & Sun Closed
Venue : TOTO London Concept Store, 140 – 142 St. John Street, London EC1V 4UA
Engineering : Koichi Shiraishi
Music : mouse on the keys
Opening Reception : 7th September 2018 18:30 – 20:30
Hana Machi – by SAKI&Bitches
DATES: 13-28 Sep 2018
PRIVATE VIEW: 13 Sep 18-20
In a celebration of heritage and the power of a woman’s sexuality, ‘Hana Machi’ is an intimate exhibition by Japanese-born, London-based painter, SAKI&Bitches.
SAKI&Bitches is Japanese Street artist/painter/illustrator currently based in London.
She has a background in the fashion industry, having worked as a make-up artist for seven years in Tokyo, New York and London before switching from faces to the canvas.
As a self-taught artist, SAKI’s work/style grow from doodles on the back of scrap pieces of paper to full-scale portraits.
She’s playing around with multiple mediums over the years; paint, pencils, stencils, woodcraft and some sculpting.
Her work is unintentionally controversial and erotically sweet, it’s plain twisted.
Her glamorous paintings keep flirting around London!
Website: www.sakiandb.com
instagram: @sakiandbitches
***
An art exhibition in support of National Ugly Mugs (NUM).
Part of the art sales will be donated to NUM.
Their mission: ending violence against sex workers