Contemporary Japanese design exhibition opens at Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design
An exhibition called "Contemporary Japanese Design", featuring about one hundred objects, is on view at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design in Tallinn until 31 January. Museum director Kai Lobjakas says many everyday things in the Western cultural sphere trace back to Japan.
The exhibition "Contemporary Japanese Design" is on display at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design in Tallinn until 31 January. It presents about one hundred examples of Japanese design and lets visitors explore changes in Japanese society, culture and lifestyle through the lens of design. Museum director and design historian Kai Lobjakas says that because Estonia belongs to the Western cultural sphere, many things in daily life here have roots in distant Japan.
What the exhibition shows
The displays range from everyday household objects and iconic classic designs to modern technological solutions. The show also invites visitors to consider how thoughtful design shapes the environment around us.
Speaking on the Estonian radio programme Vikerhommik, Lobjakas said Japan has always been a country of order. In her view, the craft side has always been very strong, and the exhibition shows how those traditions continue in modern design. Japanese designers, she said, combine a strong drive to preserve tradition with an equally strong drive towards innovation.
A touring exhibition tradition
The exhibition continues the Japan Foundation's tradition of international touring shows. The first version was prepared in 2004 and travelled to various countries over the following decade. An updated display began touring in 2014. The version in Tallinn offers an entirely new selection of objects, tracing the development of contemporary Japanese design and its historical origins.
Lobjakas admits that museums tend to be wary of touring exhibitions, as they can be oversimplified. In her words, this show is an exception: it manages to combine everyday life in Japan with the context of tradition and to explain why it matters to know about this beyond Japan.
She notes that visitors will notice things they do not need to travel to Japan to encounter, since they are already part of our lives. Older generations have fewer such examples from earlier life, but it is clear that these things reached Estonia over the past two to three decades, while their roots go much deeper.
