The purpose of this project is to introduce a modern interpretation to the beauty of traditional Japanese culture and to communicate it to an international audience and a wide range of age groups. It will consist of an international exhibition and one lecture, 4 talk sessions ( tea meeting ) and a workshop that can be attended by students and young people,
1) International Student Workshop and Online Program
Student Online Program (UNESCO Small Conference Room and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park)
The student online program was held from 11:00-12:00 (Paris time) on the day of the event.
Volunteer students from Hiroshima University (names not disclosed) and Nobuhiro Mitsuoka, a fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Hiroshima native (currently in Japan since June 2025 due to pressure from the Trump administration on Harvard University, and not reapplying for VISA), supervised the presentation of a peace message from Hiroshima Peace Park.
Taiyo Nosaka and Yuma Sakagami, volunteers from the Kazunari Tanaka Laboratory at Osaka Institute of Technology (studying at the Paris School of Architecture at the time of the event), extracted data from hundreds of photographs of the Peace Memorial Park and UNESCO’s Garden of Peace to create and present 3D models.
Guests (titles omitted):
Marie Guilleus | UNESCO Art Collections Officer
Jennifer Altenenger | Associate Professor, Oxford University (Oriental Art History)
Related Parties: Tsutomu Mizusawa (Former Director, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)
Dakin Hart (Former Chief Curator, Noguchi Museum)
Hiroshima University recording link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d4eS7E0B7nrRETtojX9HsfyRtaosXrZc/view?usp=drive_link
2) * folding cosmos – International exhibition introduced by the Noguchi Museum (New York )
This multifaceted exhibition project, which began in 2011 and includes a tea ceremony, was held in the Ségur Hall, with Isamu Noguchi’s garden as its backdrop. Due to a very tight schedule and the aforementioned circumstances, the exhibition was limited to one day. Furthermore, the venue’s admission procedures and operational status remained uncertain until the last minute, so a feasible program was explored and the content was set accordingly.
One of the participating artists, Paris-based artist Ai Kitahara, exhibited her 2019 work, “Eruption,” after restoring and repainting it to suit the venue’s layout. Because the work rotates while floating a few centimeters above its base, it attracted the attention of passersby in the Ségur Hall from the moment of setup.
Sculptor Kineta Kunimatsu was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict with the Tobiu Art Festival in Hokkaido, which he organizes, but he exhibited “Alps” (part of the Maison Louis Carré collection in the suburbs of Paris), which he created for the 2015 Villa Savoye edition. Also, the tea ceremony space set for Miwako Kurashima’s “*folding cosmos” had become part of the Maison Louis Carré and Aalto Foundation collections in 2019, so it was transported and set up by a delivery company introduced by Maison Louis Carré.
Isamu Noguchi’s light sculpture product, “AKARI PL2,” had become part of the Mies van der Rohe Foundation collection during the 2017 “*folding cosmos BARCELONA” exhibition, so it was transported from its storage location in Barcelona. Initially, the plan was to hang the artwork from the ceiling, but due to the deterioration of the threads used in the piece, it was determined that there was a risk of it falling during the reception. Therefore, it was protected and displayed on the floor.
Furthermore, as an artistic expression within the garden, Envahisseurs (a Paris-based performance team led by Teddy Sanchez) was commissioned to perform a dance performance on the theme of “peace.” The relationship with Teddy Sanchez began with a talk session between the Institut Français Kansai Kyoto and Villa Kujoyama in 2023