Catch a glimpse of superb Japanese design in 100 products at the Japanese Design Today 100 exhibition as it opens Wednesday, June 30, at the Tall Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET). The exhibition that will run until August 19 will feature a collection of exactly a hundred carefully selected household and commercial products that exemplify the distinct characteristics of Japanese aesthetics, as well as mirror the needs and lifestyles of the Japanese.
Avant garde fashion designer Issey Miyake’s No. 1 Dress in all its gorgeously pleated glory; the finely crafted children’s Bentwood Cycle made of local beech wood; the seemingly floating airvase paper container—these three and 97 more will be showcased at Japanese Design Today 100 , the traveling product exhibition proudly presented by the Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM), the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET) and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, with support from JT International (Philippines) Inc.
The exhibition was first organized by the Japan Foundation in 2004 and has been touring the world for the past 12 years. Its updated version features 100 of the finest examples of Japanese design with a focus on everyday products, 11 of which are postwar designs from 1950s to 1990s that had significant influence on the Japanese design of today. Product categories range from Furniture and Houseware to Healthcare; Apparel and Accessories to Transportation. The design of household products serves as a mirror reflecting the hopes and dreams of the people who use them and the designers and companies who create them. “This exhibition can be approached as a case study of Japanese design or it can be enjoyed in a more casual way, as if taking a trip to a foreign country,” writes Hiroshi Kashiwagi, the
exhibition’s chief curator, in the catalog foreword. Kashiwagi is scheduled to hold a design dialogue at the MET on July 2 to discuss the diverse facets of Japanese product design.
Architect Keiji Ashizawa of Ishinomaki Lab, whose designs are included in the exhibition under the Disaster Relief category, will hold a one-day design workshop on July 29 and a design dialogue with Plus63 Design Co.’s cofounder
Dan Matutina on July 30, at the MET.
Japanese Design Today 100 will be on view alongside the parallel exhibition Conversations on Philippine Design at the Galeriya Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP Gallery) featuring stunning furniture and crafts by esteemed Filipino designers. The cultural dialogue through these exhibitions is timely, as 2016 marks the anniversary of “60 Years of Philippines-Japan Friendship,” as well as the 20th anniversary of the Japan Foundation, Manila. For inquiries, call the Japan Foundation, Manila at landline numbers (02) 8116156 to 58 or send a message to arts@jfmo.org.ph . Visit www.jfmo.org.ph for more information and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jfmanila/ for updates. The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is located at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. It is open Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission fee is Php 100 (regular) and Php 80 for senior citizens and PWDs.
Hiroshi Kashiwagi is exhibition’s chief curator. Born in Kobe in 1946, Mr. Kashiwagi is a design critic and a professor of History of Modern Design at the Musashino Art University, Japan, where he also obtained his design degree. Through the years, he has been attempting to spell out modern thought and aesthetic through his research in design. Select Exhibitions (as Curator): T anaka Ikko Retrospective Exhibition , Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2003; F antaisies Cybernetiques , Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris, 2003‐2004. He will be holding Design Dialogue at the MET, Japanese Design Today: Unique and Evolving, on July 2, 2016 (Saturday), 10:30am ‐ 12:00nn. Mr. Kashiwagi will talk about the features of Japanese contemporary design in relation to the characteristics of Japanese culture. With the use of visual images, he will zero in on five features: (1) Craft‐like ; (2) Minimal ; (3) Thoughtful ; (4) Compact ; (5) Cute.
Photography Credits:
Nikon F Photo (c)Nikon Corporation All rights reserved
Light Fitting [IN-EI ISSEY MIYAKE “MOGURA”] Photo by Hiroshi Iwasaki
WASARA Photo: WASARA Co., Ltd.
BENTWOOD CYCLE TYPE-01
Robot Suit HAL(R) for Medical Use-Lower Limb Model Photo: Prof. Sankai University of Tsukuba / CYBERDYNE Inc.
Arvase Photo by Satomi Tomita
ISHINOMAKI BENCH Photo by Yoshitsugu Fuminari
AA STOOL Photo by Yoshitsugu Fuminari
132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE “No.1 Dress” Photo by Hiroshi Iwasaki
HOMESTAR Classic Photo: (c)SEGATOYS
Shinkansen Series N700 Advanced Photo: Central Japan Railway Company
About the Japan Foundation, Manila
The Japan Foundation was established in 1972 by special legislation in the Japanese Diet and became an Independent
Administrative Institution in October 2003. The mission of the Japan Foundation is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. As the18th overseas office, the Japan Foundation, Manila was founded in 1996, active in three focused areas: Arts and Culture; Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange; Japanese Language Education Overseas. For more information please visit our website at www.jfmo.org.ph .
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