40th Anniversary Lecture
Visualize and Awaken – Japan as a Resource for the Future

We are entering an era of increased mobility with people are moving around the earth. Economic and technological pursuits remain globally oriented, regardless of political climates. However, these movements are inevitably increasing the value of local uniqueness. It is the originality and culture unique to each location that becomes a source of value in a global context—not by blending into a gray homogeneity, but by allowing its distinctiveness to stand out vividly, thus enriching the world. Therefore, global and local are not opposites but concepts that merge to create new value.

Here in Japan, we must reassess the uniqueness of our culture, reacquaint ourselves with the highly unique topography of the Japanese archipelago and ruminate on the cultural accumulation from being one nation for over a thousand years. We need to find the wisdom to utilize these as resources for the future. JAPAN HOUSE was established under these circumstances as a hub for disseminating Japanese cultural information in three cities: London, Los Angeles, and São Paulo. Given this context, I would like to discuss how we can reinterpret Japan and project it onto the world stage.

Title

40th Anniversary Lecture
“Visualize and Awaken – Japan as a Resource for the Future”

Date & Time

Sunday 16 June 13:30～15:00（Doors open at 13:00）

Speaker

Kenya HARA
＊Profile is listed below.

Venue

Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum 1F Hall

Event fee

No additional charge (museum admission fee is required)

Preferred language

*If you prefer English, please check the box on the application page.

Capacity

150people　(bookings are required; if the number of applications exceeds capacity, a lottery system will be used to select attendees)

Bookings close

Saturday 1 June

Bookings method

Bookings are accepted exclusively through the application button below to a dedicated reservation website (linked to external site1)

Kenya HARA
Designer, Kenya Hara (b.1958) emphasizes the design of both objects and experiences.
In 2000, he produced the exhibition “RE-DESIGN–Daily Products of the 21st Century”, which successfully presented the fact that the resources of astonishing design are found in the context of the very ordinary and casual. In 2002, Hara became a member of MUJI’s advisory board and began acting as its art director. In 2004, he planned and directed the exhibition “HAPTIC – Awakening the Senses” revealing to the audience that great resources of design are dormant in the human senses. Much of his work, including the programs for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Nagano Winter Olympic Games and Expo 2005 is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. In 2007 and 2009, he produced two exhibitions titled “TOKYO FIBER — SENSEWARE” in Paris, Milan and Tokyo, and from 2008 through 2009, the exhibition “JAPAN CAR” in Paris and at the Science Museum in London. Hara’s focus in these kinds of exhibitions is on visualizing and widely disseminating the potentiality of industry. The radius of his activity has been expanding to the rest of Asia as well, including the traveling exhibition “DESIGNING DESIGN Kenya Hara 2011 China Exhibition” that starts in Beijing in 2011. Several books authored by Hara, including Designing Design and White, have been translated into a number of languages, including other Asian languages.