Just a few days ago, the much-anticipated Osaka Expo opened its doors, showcasing a slew brilliant innovative concepts in technology and product design from across the planet. Interestingly, Paris-based fashion house CELINE, headed by newly appointed creative director Michael Rider, joins the elaborate ranks and pitches in with an exhibition of its own. Held at the French Pavilion, it’s entitled CELINE MAKI-E, and is an homage to traditional Japanese lacquerware which has evolved through thousands of years and remains alive today. Amongst other techniques, Maki-e stands out as one of the most refined methods of decoration, inspired by Waka poems from classical Japanese literature, and being translated into various intricate motifs. Needless to say, this specific technique affirms artisanal excellence while establishing a link with an object that is at once cultural, personal, and also rare. Rooted in CELINE’s deepest values, transmission and respect are, very similarly, both fuelled by the heritage of its rich past and considered as one of the strongest pillars on which to build its vision for the future.
Through this immersive experience, visitors are invited to witness how the elegance of CELINE’s heritage is infused with the unique spirit of Japanese aesthetics. Imagined as a symbolic journey, the exhibition features reinterpretations of the iconic logo, in a cultural exchange between Japanese artists and the house’s emblem. By linking rich traditions to contemporary art forms, the exhibition underlines the unequalled savoir-faire that lives in every creation, and celebrates fifty-five years of CELINE‘s presence in the Land of the Rising Sun. The first room resonates with the traditional Japanese home, granting access to a decor that seems to have always existed, thanks to the walls clad in Shoji. However, the atmosphere shifts when lights and mirrors start engaging visitors to reflect on the present moment.
The space is home to several art pieces and video installations, highlighting Japanese Urushi art pieces from renowned Wajima-based lacquerware studio Hikoju Makie, alongside several CELINE bags. Next is a theatrical and immersive set up which brings life to a collaborative video work between Japanese artist Soshi Nakamura and CELINE, displayed in an embracing and futuristic manner by a led screen wall facing multiple mirrors. Designed in-house, the exhibition setting is minimalist and has been concentrated to the very essence of the house’s codes in order to give way to the space’s content itself. Metal and basaltina stone convey the mineral, the inanimate, as opposed to the aforementioned paper walls, linked to living matter. The play made on mirrors creates a so-called mise en abyme effect, putting all subjects into a form of relativity. Meanwhile, the symmetry allows a kinetic visual effect, reinforced by neon lights, leading the eye, and mind, to what’s next (open through May 11). © superfuture
Osaka Expo
French Pavilion, Yumeshima Naka, P12-01 (Konohana-ku)
Osaka 554-0044
Daily 10am-9pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
