Yokohama’s largest art festival, and one of Japan’s longest-running, is now underway and wowing visitors with work from some 93 international artists, 20 of whom are exhibiting brand new creations. The Yokohama Triennale takes place every three years at venues across a broad stretch of this historic port city, and this eighth edition reflects Yokohama’s famously cosmopolitan outlook by inviting two Chinese contemporary artists onboard as artistic directors.
Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu have given the title ‘Wild Grass: Our Lives’ to this Triennale that tackles issues such as globalisation and the resurgence of nationalism in spectacular fashion, reaffirming art’s relevance to our daily existence. From the many exhibits and events centred around the newly renovated Yokohama Museum of Art, BankArt Kaiko and the Former Daiichi Bank Yokohama Branch, as well as numerous smaller venues, we’ve picked five of the most compelling things to see and do.
Grasp the ‘Wild Grass’ philosophy
‘Wild Grass’, as both the festival’s title and its overarching theme, is inspired by a poetry collection of the same name, written around a century ago by the influential Chinese author Lu Xun. This work used oblique language to deal with a turbulent era of political confusion and, in a manner surely relevant also to our own globally troubled times, was able to confront the desperation and find a way out of the darkness.
The Triennale’s contributing artists were selected for their own work’s similar ability to covertly break down systems that suppress individuals. Discover this spirit in artists such as the Congolese Sandra Mujinga, whose ‘And My Body Carried All of You’ (2024; pictured above) is a huge, red feather-like creation suspended from the ceiling of the Yokohama Museum of Art.
Check out Side Core’s full-facade mural
Even before entering the Yokohama Museum of Art, you’ll notice the subversive tone of this Triennale being set by a vast mural spanning an entire wall of the building’s facade. The work of Tokyo-based Side Core, this chaotic and irreverent blend of crass slogans with colour blocks and larger-than-life, cartoon-esque illustration unites the two distinct faces of graffiti: hip street art and the kind of anonymous scribblings found in public toilets.
Marvel at Miles Greenberg’s digitally derived sculptures
Two life-sized abstract sculptures, multi-limbed and rendered in an oily-black blend of urethane and vinyl, tower over one section of the Yokohama Museum of Art. These are in fact self-portraits of their artist, Canada’s Miles Greenberg, created using innovative digital technology. Greenberg, whose work also incorporates live performance, developed a system to 3D-scan his body while on stage. The resulting digital data is then used to create sculptures using milling machines, with Greenberg’s dynamic movements, as well as glitches in the data, responsible for the otherworldly results.
Ponder the significance of Pyae Phyo Thant Nyo’s wiry creations
Over in BankArt Kaiko, Pyae Phyo Thant Nyo, a young artist from Myanmar, presents a new work completed just this year. ‘A Story of Our Lives’ is a series of installations formed from dozens of intertwined green and black wires and accented by small red lights. The sinister impression given by these pieces brings to mind the data-mining infrastructure that, hidden from everyday view, records our activity for purposes that can sometimes be manipulative, or even repressive.
Head over to the nearby Koganecho Bazaar 2024
Coinciding with the Triennale is Koganecho Bazaar 2024, an arts festival held at the numerous, often intimately compact, art venues that run beneath Koganecho Station and Hinodecho Station. This year’s event, entitled ‘The World, Not According to Art’, comprises eight chapters that include a look back at this district’s remarkable transformation from ‘adult entertainment’ area to thriving creative hub: many of the artist’s studios being opened up for the Bazaar once housed illicit brothels. A total of 33 artists are participating, including Marico Aoki, Shuji Inoue and Pu-Wei Wu.
The 8th Yokohama Triennale runs until June 9. Get your tickets here, or via our affiliate partner Klook.
Text by Darren Gore
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