JP EN
JP EN
Exhibition

Special Exhibition

Permanent Collection
Event (Japanese)
About

About Ichihara Lakeside Museum

Concept

Message from the Director

Architecture

Logo and Signage

Permanent Works

Floor Map
Information

Opening hours / Closed Days

ADMISSION FEE

Group Visit

Museum Shop

Restaurant

Visit
Local Cooperation

Ichihara Art x Mix

LAKE TAKATAKI
Blog (Japanese)
News
Press Release (Japanese)

EXHIBITION

Archives

Now

ICHIHARA x ART x CONNECTIONS Crossing of Worlds and Me

2024.03.23.Sat.

- 2024.06.23.Sun.

Since the descendants of Eve arrived across the sea as far back as 30,000 years ago, the Japanese archipelago has experienced various forms of ethnic migration and globalization. Ichihara City, located in the center of Chiba Prefecture, has also received many people from all over Japan and the world, and one in 50 of its population has roots overseas. “ICHIHARA x ART x CONNECTIONS – Crossing of Worlds and Me" is an exhibition designed to contribute to creating a society where residents din Ichihara of diverse ethnic backgrounds can live together. Through workshops, research, and interviews with artists from their home countries, the works created will shed light on the history, culture, and climate of each country, as well as the lives and thoughts of the people living here, and open up our imagination. We hope that this exhibition will serve as an opportunity to connect "I" with worlds toward a multicultural society.
The exhibition will be held as part of “Hyakunengo Art Festival: Uchiboso Art Festival,” which will be organized in collaboration with the five Uchiboso cities of Ichihara, Kisarazu, Kimitsu, Sodegaura, and Futtsu to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Chiba Prefecture.

Movie：Yuichiro Tamura

Highlights

Expression of artists from home countries of foreign residents

3,223,858 - the number of foreign residents in Japan has reached a record high (as of June 30, 2023/ Immigration and Residency Management Agency). Local communities are becoming increasingly multiethnic, and each municipality has adopted the phrase "multicultural conviviality," and Ichihara City is no exception to this trend. About one in every 50 residents is a foreign resident, and by nationality, the Philippines, China, and Korea are the most common, in that order, with the number of Vietnamese immigrants on the rise in recent years. The backgrounds and histories of those who have come to Japan are varied, and their cultures and identities have been formed in the process of migration.
This exhibition is planned with the hope that such foreign residents would take pride in their own culture and their own roots. For this exhibition, we invited internationally active artists from the Philippines, Vietnam, China, and South Korea to conduct research in Ichihara City, including interviews with foreign residents. The works created from their research will transcend the stereotypical image of "foreigners" and allow visitors to feel the presence and culture of each person they encounter. The intersection of the identities of people with diverse roots and artists from their home countries - the art that emerges from this intersection will connect the world with the "I" who now live in this multicultural society.

Dinh Q. Lê　“The Ties That Bind”　Photo by Yuichiro Tamura

Giant Quilts "The Ties That Bind" between Vietnam and Japan

Dinh Q. Lê is a leading Vietnamese artist who evacuated to the United States as boat people due to the Vietnam War and lived as an immigrant there.
In the course of interviewing Vietnamese people living in Ichihara, he learned how much they cherish their family back home and the connections between people. Hoping to create new connections in Ichiahra, he will create giant quilts and rugs installation under the title "The Ties That Bind," using used clothing collected in Vietnam and in Ichihara, working with Japanese, Vietnamese and foreigners with various roots.

Leeroy New “Balete as Multi-Dimensional Port”　Photo by Yuichiro Tamura

Large-Scale Installation that connects mythical world of the Philippines with environmental Issues

Leeroy New, an artist active not only in the Philippines but also around the world, has explored the Philippines' unique artistic expression prior to Western colonization by using waste materials to create a variety of works ranging from wearable art to large-scale installations. In this exhibition, he presents a sci-fi installation of Philippine folklore and mythology, centered around a giant balete tree made of thousands of plastic bottles and bamboo, with flying spaceships made of waste materials and "humans" wearing wearable art. It is also an attempt to draw attention to the current global environmental issues.

Top：Liu Yi “Nice to meet you”　Bottom：right：Cho Eun Phil “My Blue”　Photo by Yuichiro Tamura

Tradition and Modernity: Artists from China and Korea with a Long History of Exchange

China and Korea have the longest history of exchange for Japan. Despite difficult times, our Japanese culture has been deeply influenced by both. Chinese artist Liu Yi, through interviews with the life stories of Chinese people living in Ichihara, depicts the soul journeys of Chinese people seeking their place in a foreign land while maintaining their uniqueness, in an animated work utilizing the ancient Chinese ink painting technique. On the other hand, Cho Eun Phil is an artist from South Korea who continues to create works on the theme of "blue," a color that has been a special and beloved color in Korea. This time, ｓhe will create a world of blue inside and outside the museum, inspired by the lake.

Profile

Dinh　Q. Lê［1968-2024］

Born in 1968 in Hà Tiên, a Vietnamese town near the Cambodia border. Lives and works in Ho Chi Minh. When he was ten in 1978, his family escaped as boat people to the United Staes. After Lê received BFA degree in photography from University of California, Santa Barbara, he began his own career as an artist. He earned his MFA degree from The School of Visual Arts in New York.
Vietnam and the Vietnam War, his roots, are strongly reflected in Dinh's work: in his solo exhibition "Dinh Q. Le: Memories for Tomorrow," held at the Mori Art Museum in 2015, he presented a series of works that picked up the voices of citizens that have not been addressed in history, on the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. At the Setouchi Triennale in 2019, he presented an installation titled "A Bouquet for You of This House" based on his research on Awashima Island and interviews with local residents.
Participated in Documenta 13 (Kassel, Germany, 2012), Singapore Biennale (2008, 2006), The 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and many more. Held his solo shows at Elizabeth Leach Gallery (2023, 2021), Musée du quai Branly-Jacques (2022).
He passed away on April 6, 2024.

Leeroy New［1986-］

Born in 1986, Mindanao, the Philippines. Lives and works in Manila.
He graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts and from the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines.
Leeroy New is active in various fields of visual arts, including film, music video, and fashion. Using fluorescence color objects that appear like neon signs in town, Leeroy creates a diverse range of works.
He continues to focus on "waste" as a material for creating artworks, breaking away from the Western style of art education in the Philippines and exploring the unique artistic expression of the pre-colonial Philippines.
In September 2023, he held a workshop with adults and children with overseas roots in Ichihara City to produce artwork.
Participated in Hawaii Triennale(2022), Dubai Expo（2020）, Sydney Biennale （2022）and many international exhibitions, as well as Artist in Residence program of Fukuoka Asian Museum (2022).

Liu Yi　（劉毅）［1990-］

Born in 1990 in Ningbo, China. Lives and works in Hangzhou, China. Graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts School of Intermedia Art with Master’s degree in 2016. Focusing on early Chinese art films and experimental animation as her primary research direction, her work deploys various mediums such as animation, multi-media as well as spatial installations to reflect on her daily experiences. Pushing the physical boundaries of exhibition spaces, Liu allows the audience to unearth a parallel world through her eclectic works.
In 2017, Liu’s video work “A Crow Has Been Calling for a Whole Day” was selected and screened at the Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF), and subsequently received the award of “Special Recommendation” from the Hua International Short Film Festival. In 2018, Liu was invited to take part in the SeMa Nanji Residency Project hosted by Seoul Museum of Art. In 2019, she was invited by The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud for an artist residency. Her works have been collected by the White Rabbit Collection, East Asia Library of Stanford University and M+.

Cho Eun Phil

Born and lives in Busan, Korea. Graduated from the sculpture department of Busan National University, and received her MFA from Slade School of Fine Arts, University College London.
Cho creates installations using a unique blue color, as well as video works. She challenges herself to "transform everyday materials into extraordinary spaces” by using blue as the main formative element.
Blue is included in the traditional Korean "five colors," and has been favored as a color representing "life," "growth," and "sublimity.” Her exploration of blue is evident in all of her works, offering a glimpse into Korean tradition and culture.

CHO Eun Phil has participated in exhibitions at national and public museums such as the Busan Museum of Art, Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, as well as a number of international exhibitions, including Gangwon Triennale and Geumgang Nature Art Biennale.　Also she has won multiple awards, including Grand Prize at Busan Biennale Sea Art Festival, Gold Prize at the Invitational Exhibition of Modern Korean Sculpture by Chuncheon Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.

Information

VenueIchihara Lakeside Museum (75-1 Funyu, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture)
DatesMarch 23 (Sat) – June 26 (Sun), 2024
Closed on Tuesday (Except April 30)
AdmissionAdult：1,000 JPY / Student + over 65 years old：800 JPY / Free for junior high school students and younger.
Organized by Ichiahra Lakeside Museum (designated administrator: Art Front Gallery)
Supported by Ichihara City Board of Education, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Japan, Korean Cultural Center
In Cooperation withIchihara International Association, Open Road Ltd. ,energy closet

Exhibition Flyer [PDF]