Dates
04.15.2023 (Sat.) – 07.05.2023 (Wed.)
Hours
Mon. – Fri. | 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM (PDT)
Sat. – Sun. | 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM (PDT)
Location
JAPAN HOUSE Gallery, Level 2
Fee
Free
In biology, the word “symbiosis” refers to two organisms living together, each strengthened by the close association. Socially, the term is used for a mutually beneficial relationship between people or groups. The exhibition Symbiosis: Living Island, on view at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles from April 15 to July 5, 2023, explores the groundbreaking Inujima “Art House Project,” designed to revitalize Inujima, a depopulated Japanese island, by integrating contemporary art. The project has created a unique symbiosis between art, architecture, community, and ecology that will nurture and sustain the island for many years to come.
Inujima (“Dog Island”) is located in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, part of the city of Okayama. Once a center of copper refining and stone quarrying, the tiny island—it can be walked around in an hour—is now home to just twenty-five households, with more than half of the inhabitants over seventy years of age. In 2008, the island became one of locations of the Benesse Art Site Naoshima —activities conducted by Benesse Holdings, Inc. and Fukutake Foundation in the Inland Sea, and was transformed through art. Yuko Hasegawa, director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, was hired as the artistic director of Inujima “Art House Project,” and conceived of an environment where art, community, and ecology are harmoniously intertwined.
*To watch the video in full screen, please click on the image above, then click on the YouTube icon on the lower right-hand corner.
Inujima “Art House Project”
The Inujima “Art House Project” is developed in collaboration with Kazuyo Sejima, Pritzker Prize–winning architect and founding partner of the firm SANAA. The team has constructed pavilions and art galleries on Inujima, and Hasegawa invited artists to create work in a sustainable manner that enriches the lives of the residents. The island now hosts a series of galleries made from recycled materials, transparent acrylic and aluminum, each structure reflecting and preserving the landscape, ecology, and industrial heritage. The project recently expanded to include a botanical garden, a bar, and amenities for visitors to stay on the island.
A sense of symbiosis has been at the heart of the project since the beginning—enabling it to thrive and ensuring the future of the island and its residents. According to Hasegawa, “For people in Europe, symbiosis means people living together and helping each other. But it’s not just that. It’s not just about people, but all living things: plants, animals, even objects that we find useful. There’s a Japanese animistic way of thinking that says that all these things have a soul. Everything we interact with, all the things around us exist side by side and support each other. In that sense it’s very Japanese: being considerate towards others and valuing harmony, even if it means not expressing yourself. But this is more about all things existing side by side.”
Welcome Video
*To watch the video in full screen, please click on the image above, then click on the YouTube icon on the lower right-hand corner.
Explore the Exhibition
The Symbiosis exhibition, curated by Hasegawa and designed by Sejima, takes visitors on a journey around Inujima, through an experiential diorama of the island (including architectural models of the art pavilions), documentary videos, and testimonies from residents on the project’s transformative impact on their lives. Within the exhibition, Hasegawa has highlighted the work of three artists featured on the island, Beatriz Milhazes from Brazil and Haruka Kojin and Yusuke Komuta from Japan, alongside Inujima landscape imagery by renowned photographer Takashi Homma. These wide-ranging works convey a vision of Inujima as a living entity and potential blueprint of coexistence for the future.
About the ArtistsExplore Inujima
*To view the flipbook in full screen, please click on the "Fullscreen" icon on the lower right-hand corner from the window above.
View Inujima MapAbout the Curators
Yuko Hasegawa | Exhibition Curator
Yuko Hasegawa is a curator, educator and writer based out of Tokyo. She currently holds positions as Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and Artistic Director of the Inujima Art House Project.
She was Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo until 2021 and during her post she curated solo exhibitions of Dumb Type, Olafur Eliasson and Rhizomatiks among others. She has curated Japanese contemporary art and media and technology extensively both domestically and internationally. Her curatorial language is interdisciplinary, encompassing not simply art but also architecture, design, science and anthropology, and combined with global curating experience, allows her to view art as part of a single, holistic ecology. Hasegawa has also curated, either solo or in a joint capacity, international art biennials including the 7th International Istanbul Biennial (2001), the Shanghai Biennale (2002), the 29th São Paulo Biennial (2010), the Sharjah Biennial 11 (2013), and the 7th Moscow Biennale (2017), Thailand Biennale, Korat (2021) and also served as art advisor to the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale (2010).
Kazuyo Sejima | Exhibition Design
Born in Ibaraki Prefecture. Architect. In 1987 she opened her own studio in Tokyo and in 1995 she founded SANAA with Ryue Nishizawa. In 2010 Kazuyo Sejima was appointed director of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Biennale.
Her honors include, the Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan*, Venice Biennale Golden Lion Award*, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters, and the Medal with Purple Ribbon. SANAA’s main works include the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa*, the Rolex Learning Center (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)*, and Louvre-Lens*.
*as SANAA
Exhibition-Related Programs
Symbiosis Curators’ Talk | Yuko Hasegawa x Kazuyo Sejima
Date
04.14.2023 (Fri.)
Time
05:00 PM – 06:00 PM (PDT)
Explore Setouchi | Destination for Arts and Nature
Date
05.24.2023 (Wed.)
Time
05:00 PM - 06:00 PM (PDT)
Reading Material
Revival through Art | Art & Ecology on Inujima Island
Gallery Photos
*To view the flipbook in full screen, please click on the "Fullscreen" icon on the lower right-hand corner from the window above.
Exhibition Brochure
The exhibition brochure is available for download.
Exhibition Credits
Presented by | JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
Curator | Yuko Hasegawa
Exhibition Design | Kazuyo Sejima & Associates
With works by | Office of Ryue Nishizawa, Tetsuo Kondo Architects, Ichio Matsuzawa Office, Beatriz Milhazes, Fiona Tan, Takashi Homma, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Haruka Kojin, Yusuke Komuta, Kohei Nawa
Assistant Curator | Iku Watanabe
With support from | Fukutake Foundation, Obayashi Corporation, Shizen Energy Group, HOPPY Beverage Co., Ltd.
Graphic Design | Instrument