Itsuo Kobayashi, Untitled, 2021, Collection of the artist.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that resembles the term raison d’être. What makes life worth living? What are we searching for? Questions that can have multiple answers and are different for each one of us. Ikigai is about a personal quest, inspired by our own personal needs and those of our environment. A concept that connects us, sharpening our focus. Now and then we all take stock of our lives. By reflecting on what we really want in life, we get a better idea of who we are. But representing the world in which we live also promotes awareness and engagement. Ikigai shows what makes life worth living.
Kunsthuis Yellow Art from Geel has joined forces with Aiseikai, a Japanese welfare organisation that promotes the work of artists with a disability. Yellow Art is an art studio for people with mental vulnerability, and is affiliated with OPZ Geel, a public psychiatric care and knowledge centre in the city of Geel. It is a safe space for meeting and imagination. The artists of this Belgian art studio collaborated with their Japanese colleagues through a mail art project.
Besides being the fruit of this interaction, Ikigai is also unique as this is the first time many of these Japanese artists will be showing their work in Belgium. All the artists offer a unique perspective on their ikigai, starting from their cultural background and artistic practice, with artworks ranging from visual diaries and sophisticated pastel drawings to imaginary cityscapes and sculptures made of folded leaves.
The exhibition takes you on a journey, with the imagination of these Belgian and Japanese artists charting your course. An opportunity to explore your own ikigai.
© Annelies Vrints, Danny Smolders, Norimitsu Kokubo, Mina Seino
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