On March 10th, a photo exhibition by photographer Yuriko Takagi entitled "Threads of Beauty 1995-2025 - Wearing Time, Wearing the Wind" opened at Bunkamura The Museum.

The exhibition is being held in conjunction with "Shibuya Fashion Week," an urban event that showcases fashion and culture in the city. This will be Takagi's first solo exhibition at a museum in Tokyo, and it will feature approximately 100 works photographed in 12 countries around the world. The exhibition will look back on Takagi's work over a 30-year period, focusing on "human existence" through clothing and attire.

Bunkamura entrance decoration

Takagi was born in Tokyo in 1951. After studying graphic design at Musashino Art University, she studied fashion design at Trent Polytechnic in the UK and worked as a freelance designer in Europe. Later, she transitioned to photography, creating works that explore culture and identity through clothing and the human body.

Exhibition view inside the venue

The exhibition features many images of people wearing traditional ethnic clothing on a daily basis. The person in charge of the exhibition said, "The series mainly focuses on people who continue to wear their traditional clothing in their daily lives, such as ethnic minorities and nomadic peoples. I think that viewers will be able to feel the stories and strength of the land through the photographs."

"An Exhibition Without Paths": Experiencing the Nomadic Sense in a Spatial Space

The exhibition is comprised of eight themes, each group named "Village." The venue was designed by Paris-based architect Tsuyoshi Tane. There is no set route within the exhibition space; visitors are free to wander around and encounter the artworks as they go.

The person in charge explained, "Mr. Tane said he was struck by Mr. Takagi's words that 'if a road is built, the nomadic people will move even further into the interior.' So this time, we deliberately did not set a route and created an exhibition where visitors can view the works in any direction they like."

A large, open "plaza" in the center of the venue.

At the center of the venue is a large exhibition space called the "Plaza," where works depicting people living alongside animals such as donkeys, camels, and sheep are gathered. The lighting slowly changes between light and dark, representing the passage of time from morning to night and the shadows of clouds. The entire space creates an atmosphere reminiscent of "a day in the village."

Some of the photos were taken in Japan, including pictures of her wearing a kimono.

Photographs sewn onto fabric; an exhibition resembling a nomad's tent.

What immediately catches the eye at the venue are the large-format works using fabric as a support. A unique technique is employed in which photographs are printed onto "bamboo washi," a type of paper made from bamboo fibers, and then sewn onto fabric for display.

The country and year in which Takagi took the photograph are indicated in the lower left corner of the artwork.

"The photographs are mounted on cloth and brought to the venue, where Takagi writes the shooting date and signs them, and finally applies varnish to finish them off. The varnish makes the black color more vibrant and the sharpness stands out," he explains.

Each artwork is displayed in the form of a triangular prism, with fabric suspended from the ceiling and held in place at the four corners by stones. By moving the position of the stones, the shape of the triangular prism can be changed, such as widening or narrowing the base. Because it is made of fabric, it can be rolled up for compact storage, making it easy to dismantle or move to another venue. Takagi says that another point of pride for him is that there is almost no waste of construction materials after the exhibition ends.

Eighty to ninety percent of the exhibition is structured in this format, and the space, filled with works suspended like tents, creates an atmosphere reminiscent of nomadic life. Stone weights are placed at the bottom, allowing the fabric works, standing amidst the landscape, to sway and exude a powerful presence.

The "Excavation Area" displays items owned by Mr. Takagi. At Mr. Tane's suggestion, acrylic boxes that have been used for a long time at Bunkamura are being utilized for the display.

In one corner of the venue, there is an exhibit that Takagi calls the "excavation area." It displays research materials and artwork from various locations, collaborative works with lacquer artists, lithographs, and more. The display cases are made from repurposed parts of acrylic display boxes that the museum had previously owned.

"The Mongolian Spot Revolution," a series written by Takagi and Yamaguchi Sayoko for the monthly magazine "Sotokoto" from 2005 to 2007, is featured in the venue's decoration. The unfinalized manuscripts and photographs from the series, which consisted of photographs and interviews, are collaged onto the walls.

The walls also feature enlarged versions of articles that Takagi had serialized in the magazine "Sotokoto." Tears were intentionally added to the pages to evoke the image of posters piling up and tearing on a Parisian street corner.

A new video that resonates with the streets of Shibuya

In the final section of the exhibition, the new video "Simultaneous Fashion: SHIBUYA × THE OTHER SIDE" will be premiered. On the right side of the screen are photographs from the "Threads of Beauty" series, which features ethnic costumes from around the world, while on the left side are videos shot in Shibuya around the mid-2000s, creating an intersection of two worlds.

This video work compares the fashion of young people in Shibuya with images of people in traditional ethnic costumes from around the world, displayed side by side.

The person in charge said, "At first glance, they may seem like completely different cultures, but 'dressing up' is an act that is common to both. Takagi believes that they are the same in that they make people feel happy and help them find their own identity through dressing up."

Exposed concrete walls reveal the exhibition room in its "true form."

In this exhibition, the concrete walls and air conditioning ducts of The Museum, which have been hidden until now, are deliberately exposed, revealing the building's true form.

The walls of the venue are made of exposed concrete, and a large black duct is visible in the background. A distinctive feature of the space is the deliberate display of the "backside" that is usually hidden from public view, which is said to be a first for The Museum.

The person in charge said, "Normally, it's covered with temporary walls, but this time, we wanted people to see the history of this space as well, so we decided to leave the concrete walls as they are."

With this exhibition, we will be closing all operations at this space. I hope you will remember the familiar entrance and the open-air underground plaza.

Bunkamura The Museum is scheduled to expand and relocate to a new facility under construction on the site of the former Tokyu Department Store, so this exhibition will be the last to be held in its current exhibition space. It will be a valuable opportunity to experience the exhibition space, which has a history of approximately 40 years, along with Takagi's works.

Open from 13:00 to 20:00 (last entry at 19:30). Admission is free. The exhibition runs until March 29th.

Venue

Interviews and writing

Editorial Department: Takashi Fujii

Shibuya registrar. In addition to Shibuya of Culture information, seasonal news and topics, it will spell write that feel every day.