Public art piece by Kazuhiko Hiwa, "HIWADROME: type_ark_spec2," on display at the Osaka-Kansai Expo.

TATEHATA Akira

(Art critic/poet)

There is a term called "Great Osaka." This nickname was apparently coined at the end of the Taisho period, when the city incorporated surrounding towns and villages and became a metropolis with a population of over two million, surpassing Tokyo. After the war, with the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964, the city became increasingly concentrated in Tokyo, and with the exception of the Osaka Expo in 1970, Osaka's former momentum was no longer visible. However, this Osaka-Kansai Expo appears to have attracted more visitors than expected, so it can be said that Greater Osaka has made its presence felt for the first time in a long time.

The Osaka Kansai International Art Festival is held in 11 locations, centered around the Expo site. Even if you rush around, it will take two full days to see everything, and because the exhibition space conditions and planned content vary from venue to venue, you could say the festival is like a collection of independent exhibitions. While all 13 works at the Expo site are outdoor, the other venues are indoors, and they are diverse, ranging from white cube-style exhibition spaces to office buildings and townhouses, highlighting the contrasting characteristics of each, including their surrounding environment and history. As you wander around, you will naturally encounter unique "artistic scenes" that are unique to Greater Osaka.

Public art piece by Akihito Okunaka, "INTER-WORLD/Cocooner: Apparent motion of celestial bodies," on display at the Osaka-Kansai Expo.

The title of this art festival is "Study." It's a word that can have many different meanings, but my interpretation is that it's a study of the role of art inserted into urban reality, a study of how art contributes to the revitalization of local communities, and a study of art as a tool for communication among citizens. It was with these expectations in mind that I headed to the venue.

The most fascinating venue for the study was undoubtedly the Nishinari district. Kamagasaki in the district was once a doya district where day laborers lived, and was known for frequent riots, but during the period of high economic growth, it also supported civil engineering projects such as the Osaka Expo. After the collapse of the bubble economy, the number of elderly people receiving welfare benefits increased, and in recent years the number of foreign workers has been increasing. Since its launch in 2022, this art festival has been showcasing art practices in Nishinari, which has this background.

Cocoroom, run by poet Ueda Kanayo

Founded in 2012 by poet Ueda Kanayo, Kamagasaki University of the Arts treats the town itself as a university, developing activities in a variety of fields from art to everyday life, and serving as the nucleus of the local community, where local residents and tourists gather freely. Even someone like me, who was merely visiting to tour the art festival, was not just a spectator, but was welcomed into the atmosphere and experienced the unteamed flow of time as I browsed the lively exhibits and spent time together eating meals.

"Our Sweet Home" by Morimura Yasumasa (artist) and Sakashita Noriyuki (former day laborer, current student at Kamagasaki University of the Arts)

"Poet's Room - A room where Tanikawa Shuntaro writes and you can write too"

The small garden of the central building features a well that the residents dug themselves, and upstairs, there are rooms open to the public, including one by Shuntaro Tanikawa and another created in collaboration with local residents by Yasumasa Morimura. The Cocoroom (a nonprofit organization called "Room for Voice, Words and Hearts"), which runs the space, has been a constant companion to lonely, homeless people. Learning that such warm, comfortable moments can be created in the midst of a city undergoing rapid change was a valuable learning experience for me.

Sanno Harmonica Nagaya "Cafe Atariya"

Also noteworthy is the Cafe Atariya in the Sanno Harmonica Nagaya near Kamagasaki. Harmonica Nagayay (Row Houses) are disappearing from the area, but the cafe in Sanno Harmonica Nagaya, built around 100 years ago and preserved, is located on the first floor of one of the buildings, which are literally divided into sections like a harmonica. Run by donations, it serves as a meeting place for local residents, resident artists, and tourists. The second floor is also used as an artist-in-residence center for Asian artists.

One thing that needs to be mentioned here is the issue of multiculturalism in so-called international exhibitions. International exhibitions are an opportunity to come into contact with contemporary art from Japan and abroad, and at the same time, they also provide an opportunity for artists from various countries and regions to gather and exchange ideas, and to interact with local residents through their residencies, production, and exhibitions.

Japan has long maintained a situation close to a single ethnicity and language, but whether we like it or not, the population of foreign nationals has been rapidly increasing in recent years, and how to achieve a soft landing for multiculturalism has become a major challenge. While it is easy to talk about a multicultural society, in reality, there are many examples where differences in ethnicity, language, religion, and customs have caused serious friction with local residents. To accept multiculturalism, we must look at its positive aspects while also coming up with measures to address the challenges it causes.

This seems to be one of the reasons why holding international exhibitions is so meaningful. It may be difficult to directly and intimately communicate with artists from cultural spheres different from our own, but if artworks are present, it may be possible to find a harmonious connection. Or perhaps the heterogeneity of visual expression can spark a positive interest. The modern French poet Baudelaire said that the value of museums that exhibit the art of various nations lies in "sharing joy without argument," and perhaps the same can be said of international exhibitions.

A multicultural society should not aim for homogeneity, but rather for tolerance and harmony towards differences. This is easy to say, but I believe that international exhibitions can be expected to play a pioneering role in raising interest in such a heterogeneous world.

The fact that the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival has been held in the Nishinari district is something that should be highly praised in this sense as well. Of course, the same intention must be at the heart of the Expo site, which proclaims itself to be "an invitation to a diverse world," and the Semba Ex Building site, which touts itself as "a town where cultures intersect, north, south, east, and west."