Three new exhibitions will open on Sunday 23/06/24 at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa. The main exhibition among them is the traveling world exhibition of "The Japan Foundation", which bears the name "Japanese Design Today 100" (Japanese Design Today 100).
A new cluster of exhibitions at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art:
- The exhibition "Japanese Design Today 100" is coming to Israel for the first time
- Michael Sela - "Light on skin"
- Hadva Rokh - "Japanese sushi girls"
Opening of the exhibitions on Sunday 23/06/24 • Closing of the exhibitions on Monday 25/11/24
Museum activity days and hours:
- Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday - 10:00-16:00
- Thursday – 10:00-18:00
- Friday - 10: 00-14: 00
Japanese design today 100
The exhibition "Japanese Design Today 100" was first developed in 2004 and traveled the world for a decade with great success. A second edition of the exhibition was developed in 2013 and began traveling the following year. Now the "Japan Foundation" is presenting the third edition of the exhibition, which once again brings together quality examples of Japanese design from a contemporary point of view.
The exhibition includes over a hundred items, most of them products created after the year 2000, but alongside them are also some masterpieces from earlier periods, through which you can trace the roots of contemporary Japanese design - from consumer products to intangible systems and services. These designs, which are an integral part of everyday life in Japan, reflect the changes in Japanese society over the years. Among the iconic products presented at the exhibition: Nikon's first camera, Kikkoman's soy sauce bottle, Sony's legendary Walkman tape player, a watch designed by Issey Miyake, an electric rice cooker, a QR code, and more. The exhibition is unique in that it does not only show us beautiful or interesting products, but in that it allows a glimpse into the daily Japanese lifestyle over the years.
Etty Glass Gisis, curator of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art:
"The charm of Japanese design lies in the combination of advanced technology and manual labor. It is hard to believe that still in the age of mass production the last touch is the craftsman's. The most exciting designs in the exhibition are not necessarily those that demonstrate advanced technology, but those that succeed in translating past traditions into present life, for example a home Buddhist altar in the size of A4 paper or a wooden rice container that manages to keep the rice fresh for a long time, and all this in a contemporary design."
"Light on skin" - Michael Sela
At the age of 17, Michael Sela, born in 1998, decided to become the best photographer in the world. Equipped with a film camera made by Pentax that he received from his father, he sets out on a journey with the purpose of photography. This journey also takes place in Japan (2019), which becomes his home.
The museum will display 27 of Sela's works. His photographs express a sentimental and magical feeling at the same time. They are a means of contacting another, distant Japanese reality, but on the other hand very intimate. He knows most of the people he photographs, and photography for him is capturing small moments in their midst.
For Sela, the choice to continue sticking to a film camera in a digital age is a choice without knowing the outcome. Every click is meaningful - a finger press from which there is no way back. The black and white photography is an expression of timelessness. "I don't want them to know when the photo was taken - a year ago, or fifty years ago," says Sela. Next to the presence of people, the element of light stands out in his work. Sela does not use a light meter. It directs the light itself and creates soft, caressing lighting. "I adjust the aperture according to my eye and the extent to which I have to close my eyes, for example, in front of the sun, or rather open them in a dark room." Sela photographs a touch of light on skin paying attention to elements of geometry, allusion, romance, fragility, aesthetics, humanity and more.
"Japanese sushi girls" - Hadva Rocha
The exhibition presents 16 photos taken by Hadva Rokh. On Friday, January 19, 2024, "Japanese sushi girls" (Kaori, Naomi E., Yuri, Mamie, Ari and Naomi S.) gathered to prepare sushi for the soldiers at the front. For two hours they put rice on seaweed, peeled avocado, added carrot, omelet and cucumber, rolled seaweed and cut it. One packs and another writes greetings to the soldiers. The act is not intended to satisfy the hungry, but to pamper them, to provide food that they are skilled in preparing, and which they usually prepare for their families.
According to Hadva Rokah: "During the preparation of the sushi, there was a harmony and order between them that charmed me. The coordinated actions, the delicate acrobatics of fingers moving gracefully on seaweed and the understanding that prevailed between them in silence, laughing and talking, were beautiful to me, as were the ironed aprons and the Japanese handkerchiefs they wore on their heads. Six women , six life stories full of decisions, fears and hopes. Among the decisions is the decision to live in Israel, far from their parents, their people and their country.
Opening of the exhibitions on Sunday 23/06/24 • Closing of the exhibitions on Monday 25/11/24
Museum activity days and hours:
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday - 10:00-16:00
Thursday – 10:00-18:00
Friday - 10: 00-14: 00
Ticotin Museum, Sderot Hanasi 89 Haifa
