Director's Message

There is something always going on at the Triennale. People making multiple visits to the Triennale will notice, each time, that the works on exhibit have undergone some sort of change. The works in this exhibition will continue to develop and change. A work of art is seen as being something that is variable and that undergoes transformation as a result of its relationship with time and the community.

This year’ s Triennale will be featuring works by artists whose creative process reflects this.
For example, a site will be established where people can come together and this would become the artist’ s base. The artist would live there, spend time there, interact with others, create his or her work and finally exhibit the result, all from that same site. A new form of “observership” will result from this intensive involvement between the artist, the work, the site and the observer/s.

Several alternative exhibitions (such as the “Home Stay Art Project” will also be incorporated into the central exhibition that is the Triennale. The Triennale will take a nested structure and incorporate a series of “multi-layered” events.

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From observing a work to experiencing that work.
Encouraging people to experience a work rather than simply observing it.

For this to happen, the observer must be able to catch a glimpse of the actual work being created on site. Such a site will be established during the Triennale, with ongoing workshops where many can participate in the creative process.
We believe that the presence of a third party during the creation of art marks the beginning of observing that work and it is from this point that an interest and understanding in the work and the artist - who belongs to the same times as the observer/s - is established. Further participation in the work can only result in the discovery of new aspects of that work.

To experience a work is to experience art. We believe that this will result in a reappraisal of what art and our sensibilities will represent in the future.

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The Buren Cirque - a circus that represents collaboration with an artist - is coming to the Yokohama Triennale. This will be an opportunity for visitors to see a new type of circus that has been “styled by art.”
In addition, the Triennale will feature a range of different community workshops with the aim of realizing an exhibition that is accessible by everyone. An open-air cafe a food and drink stall, a merchandise outlet and a resource center (an archives room featuring a collection of resources, including catalogues, on artists will be available for viewing by members of the public).

An art auction including the works on exhibit is planned for the second half of YOKOHAMA 2005. Members of the general public are invited to participate in this auction. The Triennale is not a permanent facility, so the fate of the exhibited works after the international exhibition has ended has been another consideration for us. We are therefore planning a public auction of the exhibited works with the permission and support of participating artists.

It is our hope that YOKOHAMA 2005 will establish, here in Japan, the foundation for a new type of art scene that will then spread to other countries.

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