osaka art & design 2024 turns the entire town into an art museum
Now in its second year, Osaka Art & Design (OAD) is set to transform the Japanese city into a sprawling art and design showcase from May 29th to June 25th, 2024. The event will feature nearly 50 venues, turning Osaka into an expansive museum stretching from Umeda to Namba. Attendees can explore a diverse array of art, furniture, and fashion as they move from gallery to store, experiencing the city in a new, creative light.
This year’s theme, Expanding Resonance, aims to foster interactions and unexpected synergies among participants. Through open expressions of beliefs, liberation from constraints, and a spirit of solidarity, the event promises to generate a dynamic and vibrant energy throughout Osaka. Individual hosts will present their own unique programs during OAD 2024. The Hankyu Department Store Osaka Umeda Main Store will host the Hankyu Art Fair 2024, showcasing and selling works by renowned artists such as Kohei Nawa, Daisuke Ohba, and Mika Shinagawa, alongside emerging talents. This fair aims to make living with art a common experience. Meanwhile, Takashimaya Osaka will feature light-themed textiles in a collaboration between acclaimed textile designer Reiko Sudo and the contemporary design studio we+, highlighting the forward-looking energy of modern Osaka. HIZO Market, an official program of OAD 2024, will exhibit and sell prototypes and unique works that have not yet reached the market, showcasing the creative process through trial and error.
key visual design by Kenta Shibano | all images courtesy of Osaka Art & Design
NUNO×we+ Textile Installation in OSAKA
In the immersive installation ‘nuno nuno’ designed by we+, Sudo-led NUNO’s expressive textiles become cubes and fill the space within the Takashimaya Osaka Store. The installation accompanies an exhibition focusing on four production areas in NUNO’s collections—Kurume, Tsuruoka, Kyoto, and Kiryu.
exhibition period: May 29 – June 25, 2024
location: Takashimaya Osaka Store, 6th Floor Rose Patio
participating creators: NUNO (Reiko Sudo), we+
the textile installation by NUNO x we+
edra | LIVING HOUSE.salone
At the LIVING HOUSE.salone store in Osaka, Italian design brand edra will showcase a selection of its products that blend tradition and innovation. ‘We create products based on the ideas of talented creators using high-quality materials and advanced technology in pursuit of presence and comfort,’ the company says.
exhibition period: May 29 – June 25, 2024
location: LIVING HOUSE.salone
participating creators: edra
products of Italian brand edra
Mr. Brainwash’s Contemporary Art Exhibition
Thierry Guetta, and widely known as Mr. Brainwash, is a French-born, Los Angeles-based street artist. His journey into the art world was chronicled in the 2010 Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Initially, Guetta ran a used clothing store and was an amateur videographer. His introduction to street art came through his cousin, the artist Invader. Guetta spent years filming street artists throughout the 2000s and swiftly transitioned into creating his own art after a casual suggestion from Banksy. The upcoming exhibition at Suiboku Gallery Osaka Store will highlight Mr. Brainwash’s original works. Additionally, the gallery will feature pieces from renowned artists as well as promising young talents poised to invigorate the future art scene.
exhibition period: May 29 – June 19, 2024
location: Suiboku Gallery Osaka Store
participating creators: Mr. Brainwash, Andy Warhol, Yayoi Kusama, etc
Reach for Love by Mr. Brainwash
transparent paintings by Maki Harigane
At Espace de SONDE, artist Maki Harigane presents his three-dimensional works blending wire art and manga. The interplay between wire’s three-dimensional nature, often perceived as flat, and manga’s two-dimensional form, often perceived as three-dimensional, enables an expression that blurs the boundaries between wire and cartoon, two dimensions and three.
exhibition period: May 29 – June 25, 2024
location: Espace de SONDE
participating creators: Maki Harigane
wire art by Maki Harigane
GREEN SEED installation
GREEN SEED is a large, temporary greenery decoration adorning the ceiling of a concourse in the heart of Umeda, bustling Osaka. Inspired by the emergence of a vibrant world amid a metropolis in early summer, it showcases a diverse array of plants thriving together in clusters. These lush greens symbolize various concepts, including the coexistence of humans and nature and optimism for the future. Since its inception in 2022, this annual early-summer project has captivated the attention of passersby. In its third year, known as the Final Chapter, the GREEN SEED will evolve into a towering Big Tree, marking the culmination of the project.
exhibition period: May 29 – June 25, 2024
location: Osaka Twin Towers North, 1st Floor North-South Concourse
participating creators: Kota Mochizuki (KOTA MOCHIZUKI)
AloJapan.com