yokohama triennale 2017 features around 40 artists exploring themes of global connectivity

the yokohama triennale 2017 showcases the work of around 40 international artists at yokohama museum of art, japan — including, ai weiwei, paola pivi, maurizio cattelan, and olafur eliasson. this year’s exhibition, titled ‘islands, constellations, & galapagos,’ revisits the city’s history as the first japanese, open-port city for foreign trade. in a time of international globalization and conflict, these artworks each add an interesting dimension to the ongoing conversation. the exhibition will remain open until november 5th, 2017 and is accompanied by the triennale’s dialogue series round table discussions that explore some of the themes found throughout the show in greater depth.

‘safe passage’ & ‘reframe’, 2016 by ai weiwei installed at yokohama museum of art
photo by ken kato © ai weiwei studio | photo courtesy of organizing committee for yokohama triennale
(main image) © designboom © ai weiwei studio

‘while the world today is expanding beyond traditional frameworks, and various kinds of networks are growing, it is being shaken to its foundations by challenges such as conflict, refugees and immigration, and the emergence of protectionism, xenophobia, and populism,’ says triennale co-director miki akiko. ‘we will contemplate the world in which conflicting concepts and phenomena are intricately intertwined and constantly in flux, the nature of identity and diversity, and how the courage, imagination and creativity of human beings can be used to derive a new vision and ground design for the future when our future remains uncertain.’

‘safe passage’ & ‘reframe’, 2016 by ai weiwei installed at yokohama museum of art
photo by ken kato © ai weiwei studio
photo courtesy of organizing committee for yokohama triennale

two concepts embedded in this exhibition are global ‘connectivity’ and ‘isolation.’ before entering the space of the museum, visitors are confronted by ai weiwei’s large-scale installation, ‘safe passage,’ which addresses the current refugee crisis and the human condition in times of struggle. this work is accompanied by ai weiwei’s work ‘he xie‘ composed of hundreds of porcelain crabs gravitating towards one another in a central mass. inside the museum, indonesian artist joko avianto creates a knot-like sculpture — drawing inspiration from a traditional japanese bamboo braiding technique, shimenawa.

‘safe passage’, 2016 by ai weiwei installed at yokohama museum of art 
image © designboom
© ai weiwei studio

other highlights from the yokohama triennale 2017 include: ‘exquisite trust (blindly collective collaborations)‘ by carsten höller, tobias rehberger, anri sala and rirkrit tiravanija, ‘spermini’ by maurizio cattelan, and ‘green light – an artistic workshop‘ 2016 by olafur eliasson. ‘exquisite trust’ is a collaborative piece in which each of the four artists complete a section of the overall work. the composite work is a unified experiment — tying back into the triennale’s themes of connectivity and global cooperation. 

‘reframe’, 2016 by ai weiwei installed at yokohama museum of art
image © designboom
© ai weiwei studio

olafur eliasson has also re-introduced his ‘green light’ project into this discussion, also featured at the venice art biennale 2017. the green lamps, fabricated by participants within the museum, respond to challenges arising from mass, human displacement. after the exhibition, donors can purchase the lamp by donating to two NGO’s currently working with refugees.

‘the border between good and evil is terribly frizzy’, 2017 by joko avianto
photo by yuichiro tanaka
photo courtesy of organizing committee for yokohama triennale

‘the border between good and evil is terribly frizzy’, 2017 by joko avianto
image © designboom

‘island for colorblind’, 2014 by map office
image © designboom

‘island for colorblind’ (detail), 2014 by map office
image © designboom

‘domesticated island (japan) – island of fantasy’, 2014 by map office
image © designboom

‘domesticated island (japan) – island of fantasy’, 2014 by map office
image © designboom

‘nodoka’, ‘anna’, ‘yume’, ‘kana’, ‘naomi’, 2017 by mr.
image © designboom

installation view of work by mr.
image © designboom

‘green light – an artistic workshop’ by olafur eliasson 
image © designboom 

‘green light – an artistic workshop’ by olafur eliasson
image © designboom 

‘green light – an artistic workshop’ by olafur eliasson
image © designboom 

‘exquisite trust (blindly collective collaborations)’ by carsten höller, tobias rehberger, anri sala & rirkrit tiravanija
image © designboom

‘jitterbugs tangofly tagplants’, 2016 by carsten höller, tobias rehberger, anri sala & rirkrit tiravanija
image © designboom

‘tunnel’ 2016 by mark justiniani
image © designboom

‘grandmother’s house’, 2013 by dong yuan at yokohama red brick warehouse no.1
image © designboom

‘spermini’ 1997 by maurizio cattelan
image © designboom

installation view of works by broomberg & chanarin
image © designboom

‘I and I (must stand for the art)’ 2014 and others, by paola pivi
photo by yuichiro tanaka
courtesy the artist and perrottin
photo courtesy of organizing committee for yokohama triennale

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