The Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art presents Yoshiaki Kaihatsu with ART IS LIVE-Welcome to One Person Democracy, the first major exhibition dedicated to Yoshiaki Kaihatsu (1966-) in a museum in Tokyo. Since the beginning of his career in the 1990s, the artist has devoted himself to artistic activities that involve and provoke communication, dealing with familiar events such as everyday life and social happenings. The exhibition begins on August 3 and ends on November 10, 2024.
Image above: ART IS LIVE, 2024. Foto: Yasunori Tanioka
His forms of expression are diverse and range from making drawings, photographs, performances and installations to everyday tasks, workshops at schools and in communities, as well as proposing and supporting Thank You Art Day, which designates March 9 (the pronunciation of “3 9” is similar to the Japanese word “thank you”) as a day to celebrate art. The ongoing projects give us an insight into the philosophy behind his efforts. Future Post Office, where a letter you write to yourself or a friend arrives after a year, 100 Teachers, where classes are held under the motto “Everyone is a teacher, everyone is a student”, and Mole TV, which invites various guests into the underground studio, all mimic existing formats – post, education and mass media – while suggesting an equal relationship between the sender and receiver of the message.
Dragon Chair, a workshop that started in a school in Fuchu, invited children to express themselves – without worrying about what others think – through chairs that are connected to each other and form a dozen-meter-long dragon. In 2011, together with his artists and personal friends, the artist started a charity exhibition, Daylily Art Circus (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). The project raised funds and traveled from western Japan, the region affected by the Great Hanshin and Awaji earthquakes, to the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. His interaction with the people in the disaster areas and his experiences on the ground led to other projects in Fukushima, such as The House of Politicians (2012-) and Cotoba Library (Library of Words), which collects disappearing dialects. These projects, in which Kaihatsu listens to people’s quiet voices and quietly does what he can, can be described as “side-by-side activism”.
Kaihatsu’s gestures of personally intervening in social structures, systems, communities and events have proven to be characteristic of his practice: The late Osamu Ikeda (former director of BankART1929) called it “One Person Democracy*”. “Democracy”, a term that presupposes the participation of all, may seem contradictory to “one person”. But precisely because these movements are not united, individuals can react to each other, and the reaction involves people one by one and leads to action. This is the core of Kaihatsu’s artistic expression.
Many of his extensive and diverse artistic activities are not destined for a collection or an exhibition in a museum, which limits the possibilities of gaining an overview of his more than thirty-year career. Yoshiaki Kaihatsu: ART IS LIVE-Welcome to One Person Democracy presents some fifty works and projects by the artist who has engaged first-hand with everyday events and social change. We welcome viewers to the world of One Person Democracy.
WHEN?
Exhibition dates: Saturday, August 03 – Sunday, November 10, 2024
Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm
Open until 9 pm on Fridays in August
WHERE?
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
4 Chome-1-1 Miyoshi
Koto City
Tokyo 135-0022
Japan
COST?
Adults: 1,500 YEN
Students and high school students, over 65: 1,100 YEN
High school and junior high school students: 600 YEN
Elementary school and younger students: free admission
