From exhibition spaces to workshops at the Kyōto YouMe Triennale

When choosing a cup, first look at the shape and color. Hold it in your hand and think about whether it is comfortable to use. However, when you enter the production area, the questions change slightly. I wonder what hands and tools the same material went through to get this shape.

The Kyōto YouMe Triennale, held for the first time in Kyoto, places art, design, and craft within such an encounter. The main exhibition will be open to the general public from October 9 to 18 at Shōsei-en Garden and Jūshin Kaikan. A program that extends beyond the exhibition hall was also prepared.

Find the place behind the object

Information from an official partner introduces a workshop visit program that explores Kyoto's production traditions, such as ceramics, lacquer, Nishijin weaving, and Kintsugi. Rather than treating tradition only as the style of a finished object, the visits take people into the workshops where skills and knowledge are practiced.

‘YouMe Journey’ in the official event guide is also introduced as a small-scale journey to meet the materials, producers, and the scenery and culture in the background. Since each program has its own group sizes and booking conditions, not all visits are possible with a single main exhibition ticket.

The exhibition extends across the city

‘YouMe Open’ expands exhibitions and workshops of artists, designers, and craftspeople selected through a public contest to galleries, workshops, and stores in the city. It covers not only crafts and materials, but also scent, light, film, and the body, and asks how traditional techniques can be reused in today's life.

Admission to this program is free, but operating days and times vary by location. Unlike exhibitions that are viewed one after another in one building, the process of selecting the work you want to see and moving around the city becomes part of the viewing experience.

Even in an age where you can quickly flip through finished products on a screen, you see things at a different pace on site. Looking includes time to notice traces in the material, the work of tools and the maker’s choices. This festival in Kyoto ends on the 18th, but the question of choosing a cup can extend further to the place where it is made.

Image information: This is an AI-generated concept image depicting the workshop’s production process. This is not a photo of a specific Kyoto workshop or event.