Art, culture, stories–how the Aichi Triennale celebrates creativity from around the world
In our second photo essay from Japan, we showcase some of the outstanding artworks on display at this four-city art festival. Read, enjoy, share!
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 645 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Launched in 2010 in Japan, the Aichi Triennale is an international art festival that was held this year across four cities. In this photo essay, we feature some of the artworks on display at the Aichi Arts Centre, which was launched in Nagoya city in 1992.
See Part I of my photo essay on the three-month festival, and my earlier photo essays on the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Bangkok Biennale.
“2022 will be a period of recovery from this pandemic, during which we will see new propositions being called for from all domains of life, whether environmental, political, economic, or cultural, in order to address the structures of contemporary society that have been thrown into sharp relief by COVID-19,” explains Kataoka Mami, Artistic Director, Aichi Triennale 2022.
Kataoka is also Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and President of CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art). She was earlier Chief Curator at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, International Curator at the Hayward Gallery (London), Co-Artistic Director for the Ninth Gwangju Biennale (South Korea), and Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (Australia).
Featured artists at the Aichi Arts Centre, some of whose works are showcased in this photo essay, include On Kawara (‘I am still alive’ telegram series), Roman Ondak (historic events captured as slices and rings of a tree), and Misheck Masamvu (Still Still).
Other artists include Abdoulaye Konate (A Kite for the Children of My Country) and Watanabe Atsushi (The Moon Will Rise Again).
Some of the artworks depict hairstyles as a form of artistic expression, mathematical precision of swinging pendulums, art on musical instruments, postcards from around the world during the pandemic, and human coexistence with nature.
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The 2022 edition of the triennale features 100 artists from 32 countries and regions around the world. They all speak to the issue of surviving and thriving in the pandemic era.
“Learning about the stories behind their creation, and the eras and cultures in which the artists lived, can help us to empathise with the emotions and consciousness of people in distant parts of the world, or those from different generations,” Kataoka affirms.
Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and find new avenues to apply your creativity?
(All exhibition photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at the Triennale.)
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.
Edited by Megha Reddy