Do you live in Milan or you will be there next week? In this case, you absolutely should not miss Tokyo Design Week, an event entirely devoted to Japanese creativity which will be held during Fuorisalone, the yearly appointment that the city of Milan dedicates to design on occasion of Salone del Mobile.
For the second year in a row, the city will host the best of Japanese contemporary art, fashion, music, technology and food. The theme chosen by the organizers for 2015 is Tokyo (Edo x Harajuku), or the many facets of the Japanese capital in balance between modernity, tradition, kawaii and technology.
Among the installations there will be TOKYO GIRL’S ROOM by CHINTAI by Sebastian Matsuda, one of the major exponents of contemporary kawaii culture (he’s founder of 6%DOKIDOKI and art director of the event), which represents in his typical style the complex inner world of Harajuku girls. There will be also space for street style with an exhibition curated by fashion magazine Zipper, which will introduce the most representative Harajuku styles, and for the work of young artist Asami Kiyokawa, which with her TOKYO MONSTERS transforms some of the most iconic looks published on FRUiT magazine (one of the most famous Japanese street style magazines).
Edo period will be represented by ukiyoe, the traditional technique of wood printing, with an exhibition of the work by international artists dedicated to this old art form. In particular, Katsushika Hokusai will be honoured as one of the most important artists of the period (do you remember the famous Kanagawa wave?).
There will be also a lot more examples of contemporary creativity, from the works of some of the best Japanese fashion and design students to the most cutting edge furniture items, from a bar where to taste sake to the space dedicated to J-pop music. You can visit Tokyo Design Week, from April 14th to 19th at Padiglione Visconti in Milan (Via Tortona, 58), from 10am to 8pm. Will you be there?