Japanese Design Today 100

Japanese Design Today is on from 17 to 31 May at Gallery Central.

An insight into the nature of contemporary Japanese culture is offered by this unique collection of Japanese designed household items. The exhibition presents designs for domestic objects produced during the 1990s, plus it casts a glance backwards to the roots of contemporary design, from the postwar Japan of the 1950s. There is the world’s smallest radio and TV, the Walkman and other innovative electronic devices, cars, bikes, furniture and solutions for practical clothing and low cost accommodation.

Japanese Design Today 100 celebrates the achievements, past and present, of the country’s design leaders and is presented by The Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Perth. More details here.

SHIMURABROS: SEKILALA

PICA is pleased to present the first Australian showing of work by Yuka and Kentaro Shimura, a Japanese brother and sister artistic duo that work together as SHIMURABROS.

Their award winning multi-screen video installation Sekilala will open in the PICA Screen Space on Friday 10 September.

SHIMURABROS are well known in Japan and across Asia and Europe for their inventive and pioneering approach to the motion picture. In the past they have created high-tech installations that allow viewers to imagine what it might have been like to experience the first moving picture over a century ago.

Their much-celebrated work X-Ray Train – Lumiere Bros. to Shimurabros. (2008), which references both the Lumiere Brothers Arrival of a Train at La Coitat and the invention of the x-ray, saw them scan a model locomotive through a medical CT scanner and project the slices onto multiple parallel screens.

With Sekilala (2006-2008), the work to be shown at PICA, the SHIMURABROS have taken their interest in the motion picture into a new realm by extending film beyond its two-dimensional limitations and employing advanced 3D technology and virtual reality programming.

Sekilala, is a three-screen immersive video installation, shot on super 16mm, filmed in Prague and with a storyline inspired by the controversial image of a mouse with what appears to be a human ear growing on its back. A family drama in which the father is obsessed with bio-furniture erratically unfolds in multiple, fractured stories. Projected onto three screens and randomly configured in twenty-six short sequences, the same story is never experienced twice, and the viewer becomes the editor of an infinite and complex film.

The SHIMURABROS recently received the Excellence prize for this work at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival 2009. Sekilala has also been shown this year at the The National Arts Center Tokyo and at Transgenesis (Czech Academy of Science) as well as at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2007.

SEKILALA will be in the Screen Space at PICA from
11 September–24 October 2010

Talk: Saturday, 2 October, 1pm
Tania Visosevic, Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, will discuss the artists and this controversial work in the context of cinema and Bio Art.

Tokyo Trends

Join PICA Curator Leigh Robb in the PICA bar Tuesday 21st September at 6pm as she talks about her recent Curatorial Residency in Tokyo with the Japan Foundation.

She will share her experiences and encounters with Japanese art and artists, including her visit to the first Setouchi Festival of International Art on seven islands on the Seto inland sea.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to hear all about the Japanese art scene! The info flyer is here.

PICA Intimate Acts

Until 2 August 2009, PICA in Northbridge is putting on an exhibition entitled Intimate Acts, featuring Japanese artist Futoshi Miyagi, among others.

Searching philosophical exchanges, fleeting glimpses and peephole voyeurism, Intimate Acts brings together a range of performative, video and photographic works that provide a glimpse into the nature of intimacy, desire and the suggestive power of the imagination. Drawing together national and international artists, this exhibition explores the social, physical and psychic relations between subjects.

More details are available here.

Nikko: Japan - The Tokugawa Clan

From 15-24 May 2009, artist Zachary Freshwater is holding an exhibition of Japan-inspired paintings, illustration and photography at the Moores Building (46 Henry St, Fremantle). Opening hours are 10-5 daily.

Four years ago a discovery was made in an antique shop of a black and gold lacquered box containing albumen photographs of Nikko, Japan, dating back to 1878.

These photographs led Zachary to an adventure as he found out that Nikko, in Tochigi Prefecture, is where the last of the Shoguns are buried – the famous Tokugawa clan, rulers of Japan for over 200 years.

These photographs were a source of inspiration for Zachary as they led him to revive them by introducing his art, and incorporating his traditional Japanese sumi-e paintings, different types of Japanese cloth, live sketches and fine art from his journal during his visit to Nikko.

These elements have been combined to bring 50 pieces individually on display for you to experience this wonderful journey.

Flyer here.

More info: call 0427 441 861

Ikebana Semester 1 2009

The Australia-Japan Society of WA runs ikebana (flower arranging) classes in association with the Consulate-General of Japan over two semesters each year. First semester for 2009 starts Wednesday 18 March and lasts for 15 lessons over 15 weeks, until 15 July. Details below:

Why not learn ikebana?

This is an art that has been practised for centuries and has spread widely across the globe. You too can acquire the skills of ikebana through a series of simple steps in the course of lessons conducted by a qualified Japanese teacher.

Learn how to use flowers and foliage (even fruit and vegetables!) to create wonderful floral sensations for all to enjoy.

There will also be a demonstration class at the Consulate-General on Wednesday 4 March from 10:30am – for details, email info@jpnwa.com

Ikebana Classes Semester 1 2009

Where: Consulate-General of Japan, 21st Floor, Forrest Centre, 221 St Georges Tce
Map: View map
When: Every Wednesday for 15 weeks from 18 March – 15 July (inc 3 holidays in between)
Times: Beginners 10:30-12:00; Intermediate/Advanced 12:30-14:00
Cost: $210 beginners – that’s $14 per class, including tuition, flowers, and tools; $230 advanced
Transport: 10 min walk from Perth station, or catch the blue CAT and get off at stop 1.
Enquiries: Emmanuel on 9384 8048

Tea Ceremony Demonstration & Course

Free demonstration

On Tuesday, September 23 from 10:30am to 12:30pm, a Japanese Tea Ceremony (Sado) demonstration by Certified Sado Instructor of the Omotesenke School, Ms Soka Yoshiko Okamoto (Perth Hoseikai), will take place at the classroom at the Consulate-General of Japan in Perth. Ms Okamoto will introduce the history of Japanese Tea Ceremony, as well as some basic information about the traditional form of culture in easy to understand terms.

A simplified version of Japanese Tea Ceremony that enables anyone to enjoy tea in their own home using basic tea equipment will also be demonstrated. Admission is free and advance bookings are not required, so please invite your friends and come along to the demonstration.

Introductory course

Ms Okamoto will also conduct a Japanese Tea Ceremony Introductory Course at the Consulate-General of Japan in Perth (sponsored by the Australia-Japan Society WA), featuring a simplified version of Tea Ceremony. Due to tea equipment restraints, lessons are only able to accommodate four participants. If a large number of applications are received, four applicants will be drawn at random.

The lessons will take place on October 21, 28, November 4, 11 and 18 (five lessons in total, each taking place from 10:30am to 12:30pm). A course fee of $115 applies to each participant. Upon notification, each participant will be required to forward their payment by cheque to the Australia-Japan Society WA before the first lesson.

If you have any enquiries as to the demonstration, please call the Consulate General of Japan in Perth (9480 1800). Questions as to the sado course should be to Emmanuel from AJSWA (9384 8048).

The Zen Gardens

From Saturday 23 August to Wednesday 27 August 2008 at the Central Tafe Gallery, Tomomi Inoue will be exhibiting her silkscreen printings and digital printed textiles.

Entry to her exhibition, The Zen Gardens is free, and opening hours are –

23/8, 25/8, 26/8: 10-5
27/8: 10-1
24/8: Closed

Kumamoto Artpolis

From 6-21 June 2008, Central TAFE Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition entitled Kumamoto Artpolis: Architecture through Communication.

What happens when architects are charged with revitalisation of a region through works of architecture embodying entirely new ideas? This exhibition documents the creative development of the built environment of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, presented in association with the Japan Foundation.

There is a lot of interesting architecture going on throughout Kyushu, as cities like Kumamoto and Fukuoka position themselves as the new hubs of modern Japan. Get down to the TAFE Gallery and check out this free exhibition!

Kumamoto Artpolis

Place: Central TAFE Gallery, 12 Aberdeen St, Perth
Map: View Map
Open: 6 (Fri) – 21 (Sat) June 2008; Mon-Fri 10am-4:45pm; Sat 2pm-4:45pm
Admission: Free
Getting there: The CAT stops just outside the Gallery, or it’s a 5-min walk from Perth Station; turn right at Aberdeen St and it’s just before Beaufort / Barrack St, opposite the main Central TAFE building.
Enquiries: (08) 9427 1318

Pottery Exhibition

The Heritage House Cultural Centre is playing host this month to an amazing exhibition of Japanese kiln pottery. It features styles from all across Japan and creative minds described as ‘leaders of the next generation’ of ceramic artists.

The theme of the exhibition focuses on “vessels,” endeavouring to show how ceramic artists understand the function of vessels, the better to understand the present situation, and the future, of Japanese pottery.

If you have an interest in pottery or Japanese art, you shouldn’t miss the beautiful works on display here. If you don’t, go and check it out anyway, and after seeing some of these you might just get interested.

Japanese Pottery: The rising generation from traditional Japanese kilns

Where: Heritage House Cultural Centre, 111 Mill Point Rd, South Perth
Map: View map
When: 14-27 November 2007
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat-Sun 10-4
Cost: Free
Transport: Route 34 runs from Wellington St Busport to just near the Cultural Centre; check the map from Transperth
Enquiries: heritage@southperth.wa.gov.au or (08) 9474 1870