Tokyo-based artist Hiroko Takahashi joins us in Melbourne for an exclusive talk, speaking with NGV senior curator, Wayne Crothers.
In an intimate conversation in front of her works on display in Kimono, Hiroko will share with audiences how she preserves kimono traditions for the modern age while also collaborating with master dyers and weavers.
After the talk, a limited number of volunteers will have the opportunity to take part in Hiroko’s participatory project, Zipper Kimono. Zipper Kimono is a participatory art project that reexamines the beauty and meaning of the traditional kimono-wearing process, acting as an antithesis to modern society’s focus on efficiency and simplification. Through the use of a contemporary zipper mechanism, participants engage in a dialogue between tradition and modernity, experiencing the kimono as a living sculpture. The project redefines kimono within the context of art, challenging cultural preconceptions. During this session, participants will be photographed at NGV wearing the Zipper Kimono as part of the artist’s ongoing archive.
This program will take place in the Kimono exhibition. You do not need to register to attend the talk, but an exhibition ticket is required to enter Kimono.
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About the Speakers
Hiroko Takahashi is a Japanese artist based in Tokyo.
Wayne Crothers is Senior Curator of Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and curator of the Kimono exhibition.