It is only natural for tradition and modernity to contrast with each other, or is it? If you think about it, this clash is actually a false dichotomy, you may indeed argue that the former influences the other, while modernity affects and transforms traditions. So it would be more correct to state that tradition and modernity intermingle with each other.
Antique dealer and curator Dai Okumura totally agrees with this concept and, inspired by it, he worked on a unique idea with Japanese hair artist, head prop designer and wig maker Tomihiro Kono (河野富広).
Okumura is part of Tatami Antiques, an independent online marketplace for Japanese antiquities and, moving from antique objects, he created an installation with Tomihiro Kono's wigs.
"Katsura Rikyu" moved from the clash generated by 桂離宮, literally Katsura Imperial Villa, a finest example of Japanese architecture and garden design from the early-mid 17th century in Kyoto, and カツラ利休, literally "Wig + (Sen no) Rikyu", and consisted in an installation that featured Kono's wigs and selected Japanese antiques. The event took place in April this year for just three days in a Tokyo-based ruined factory.
Okumura hoped to create a contrast, but also a connection between the elegant Kyoto-based villa and the raw spaces of the factory, the traditional pieces on display and Kono's wigs hanging from the ceiling like mysterious entities, almost unidentified flying objects landing upon history.
Better known for creating hairstyles and headdresses for designer and brands as different as Jil Sander, Junya Watanabe and Aganovich, Kono reinvented himself in this installation.
Leaving behind his head props and using his wigs as art objects rather than as accessories for a fashion runway, Kono tried to establish historical connections with the objects surrounding them.
Yet there was still a typical Tomihiro Kono element here: as it happened in other exhibitions by the hair artisan, visitors could still try on his hand-crafted wigs to take indeed a different "persona" (a term that in its Latin etymology referred to a theatrical mask), becoming an entirely new character, or they could have opted for an antique Noh theatre mask, proving the possibilities between tradition and modernity are endless, you just have to train your eyes well-enough to spot them.
Can you introduce us to Tatami Antiques?
Dai Okumura: t a t a m i (aka tatami, or tatami antiques) is an independent online marketplace for applied Mingei folk art, high-end antiques, or other uncategorized awesome stuff from Japan. Each item has been individually handpicked across the nation by tatami's unique dealers. We have been running for about 4 years and we also do exhibitions or art installations as side activities to promote our work off-line. I guess you could call tatami a radical clan of unique contemporary antique dealers in Japan who have the status of creators or artists rather than just ordinary stereotypical dealers.
So do you consider yourself an artist or a dealer?
Dai Okumura: I guess I'm more of a curator or a dealer who makes something artistic by finding objects and making visual connections between them.
For this installation you attempted a connection between an Imperial villa in Kyoto and a dismissed factory in Tokyo - does architecture inspire your work and practice?
Dai Okumura: Yes, totally. Architecture is a composite art form that has always inspired me a lot, especially the architectures of Katsura Rikyu. I have always been inspired by the refinement of such grand yet simple and beautiful places such as Kyoto's Katsura Rikyu with its Japanese style garden. It also reminds me of who I am, it is a bit like my DNA. On the other hand, I'm also attracted by what's incomplete or has an unintentional beauty, such as decayed and abandones places, like the powerful architecture of Tokyo's Katsura Rikyu, a nostalgic small iron factory from the Shōwa period. Besides, I consider even the smallest objects I may come across in my job as miniature architecture and I dream of being a 1 cm tall man so that I could be able to enjoy these pieces as if they were buildings!
What inspired this collaboration with Tomihiro Kono and how did you meet him?
Dai Okumura: Tomihiro Kono unexpectedly contacted me and suggested a collaborative exhibition in Tokyo as a follow-up to the show he did last year in Paris. I was like "Why not? Let's do it!", because he is nice and his style is unique and interesting to my eyes. We got to know each other day by day, and we both realized that we have shared interests and a similar approach based on common understanding through each other's field of work, though our works are totally different. We are both professionals, but Tomi is a hairstylist and headdress expert while tatami is a group of antique dealers, so we belong to different fields. At the same time we both often break free from our fields: Tomi does it by elevating the wig to an art object, and I find that inspiring.
The installation you did in April was full of symbolims and featured quite a few masks, sculptures, statues and other assorted objects: what is the story behind the installation and which themes did you want to analyse?
Dai Okumura: Tomi and I decided the basic idea in advance and we worked on the "New style of Karesansui" theme, with wigs floating in the air and antiques scattered on the ground. Then we improvised around this idea as if we were musicians in a jamming session. I think this solution was the best one considering the space - a ruined old iron factory. The latter became a new, curious, and transient, yet beautiful, Katsura Rikyu. I wanted all visitors to feel out of place and Katsura Rikyu to turn into an installation on itself and I felt that it actually worked. Through the space we created contradictions between traditions and stereotypes. The space looked punk and weird yet visually pleasant and it gave visitors a vision of Japan today, while transporting them to an undefined time from the past.
Tomihiro Kono's wigs seem to cover different times – some of them look modern and punk, others look instead as if they were created for historical characters like Marie Antoinette. In which ways his pieces spoke to the Japanese antiquities on display?
Dai Okumura: Tomi's wigs were like flowers falling from the sky or UFOs decorating the landscape. The big Marie Antoinette wig was the focus of the installation: this gorgeous big wig created a constrast with the small, stained and modest Japanese "wabi-sabi" space on the mezzanine floor that evoked tea ceremony rooms and that featured just a single Japanese folding screen as minimal arrangement.
Which is your favourite wig by Tomi? And your favourite artefact from Japanese history?
Dai Okumura: This big Marie Antoinette wig for sure. My favorite artefact in the long Japanese history? Too difficult to say! Can't decide! But, I can tell you that I like anonymous unknown folk and craft art pieces in the Mingei style, no matter of what form, nationality or age they may be. If I feel such a piece is nice for our times, then I like it a lot.
How did visitors react to the installation with Tomihiro Kono?
Dai Okumura: Visitors fully embraced the meaning of the installation in its entirety. They also enjoyed the sale of antique pieces on the second floor and were overjoyed by being able to try on the wigs, this allowed them to pretend they were somebody else and take selfies. I think it was a very successful show for Tomihiro Kono and Tatami, but it was very enjoyable for the visitors!
All images in this post courtesy of Dai Okumura and Tomihiro Kono
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