ARTLOGUE Inc. (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Osaka City; CEO: Suzuki Daisuke), together with the 2025 Japan World Exposition Association (Public Interest Incorporated Association), the Japan Arts Council (Japan Arts Council), and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, held a series of talk events as part of the "Study: Osaka-Kansai International Art Festival" titled "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the world after the Expo with innovators." The online talk event "EXPO PLL Talks" was streamed on the official YouTube channel on Monday, May 12, 2025.

This time, the guest speaker was Ikenobo Senko, head of the Ikebana school and vice president of the Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo Association. In line with the theme "Towards a bright future with all life," he spoke about the philosophy of life contained within Ikebana, the role of art, and the relationship between tradition and innovation.

You can watch the event on the official YouTube channel.
Viewing URL: https://youtu.be/p8s1CcCtFeA?si=e79-7UZ5zcgh74Ak

<Archive video>
Ikenobo senko EXPO PLL Talks "Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators" vol.17

◼︎What is "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators"?

EXPO PLL Talks "Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators" is a talk event co-hosted by ARTLOGUE Inc., together with the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the Japan Arts Council, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, in preparation for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, based on the concept of realizing the theme of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, "Designing a Future Society Where Life Shines."

We will explore new possibilities for art and business through a dialogue between moderator Daisuke Suzuki (Study: General Producer of the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival) and guests active in a variety of genres regarding the questions posed about art at the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival.

[Osaka-Kansai Expo Official Channel: EXPO PLL Talks]
https://www.expo2025.or.jp/overview/expo_pll_talks/

■What is Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025?

Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025 is an international contemporary art festival that will be held mainly in Osaka and the Kansai region from Friday, April 11th to Monday, October 13th, 2025. This year, the fourth festival will be held at the same time as the Osaka-Kansai Expo, and the venues will be symbolic locations in Osaka, such as the Osaka-Kansai Expo site (Yumeshima), Osaka Culturarium Tempozan designed by Tadao Ando, ​​Osaka Prefectural International Conference Center (Nakanoshima) designed by Kisho Kurokawa, and the Nishinari-Senba area. Taking the Osaka-Kansai Expo as an opportunity, we will create a place for new dialogue and discovery as an "art festival that studies the relationship between art, people, and society" through domestic and international art projects.

Tickets are on sale on this page
https://osaka-kansai.art/pages/ticket

◼︎Contents of Vol.17 of "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators"

On April 13, 2025, Ikenobo Senko, head of Ikebana and vice president of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo Association, took to the stage at the "EXPO PLL Talks" talk event held at the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Expo site. Following the theme "Towards a bright future with all life," she spoke about the philosophy of life contained within Ikebana, the role of art, and the nature of tradition and innovation.

<Excerpts from the talk at the event>
- "Ikebana as an art that expresses the brilliance of life"
As if deeply resonating with the Expo theme "Designing a Future Society for Life," Ikenobo said, "Ikebana is an art that finds beauty in every state of life." Her approach of sublimating all stages of life into artworks, respecting not only the moment a flower blooms but also the buds, fruits, and even the process of withering, is the very embodiment of a sustainable aesthetic. The work exhibited this time contains all the changes that nature goes through, from buds, flowers, fruits, and the shells after the fruits have died, under the title "The Life of Paulownia Tree," and quietly appeals to the viewer about the preciousness of each and every moment.

- An attitude of "updating" tradition rather than preserving it 
Ikenobo is the heir to the history of the Ikenobo flower arrangement school, which dates back to the Muromachi period, but her attitude is by no means conservative. At the exhibition venue, she is attempting to fuse digital media with Ikebana, incorporating collaborations with 3D printed pedestals and lighting. She is expanding the expressive possibilities of "Ikebana" through staging that intersects with media art and collaborations between modern technology and tradition. "Tradition is not something that is simply passed down, but something that continues to be updated by incorporating the encounters and realizations of the era," she says.

- The power of art to align the mind and society 
The essence of Ikebana is not simply decoration, but also the act of reexamining one's mental attitude. Ikenobo explains the mindfulness effect that Ikebana can bring to modern business people, and in recent years has given workshops for companies and lectures at graduate schools (MBA). She showed that quiet time spent facing life and nature can be an opportunity to align one's own axis.

- "Making Kansai a center for culture and the arts"
Ikenobo said he hopes that the Expo will once again put Kansai in the spotlight as a "center of culture and the arts," and that there are expressions and values ​​that can only be born in the Kansai region, which is full of diversity and humanity. She also touched on the significance of the Expo as a place where art and economics intersect, and the spread of Ikebana throughout Asia, mentioning its role in cultural diplomacy.
*Please see the YouTube video for more details.

Viewing URL
https://youtu.be/p8s1CcCtFeA?si=e79-7UZ5zcgh74Ak

■Speaker Profile

IKENOBO Senko

She is the next head of the Ikenobo Ikebana School, a traditional Japanese art that has continued for over 560 years. She is also the deputy head priest of Chohoji Temple (Rokkakudo) in Kyoto. She is carrying out a wide range of activities based on the Ikenobo Ikebana spirit of making the most of life.
Completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology. Vice Chairman of the Ikenobo Flower Association, a general incorporated foundation. Vice Chairman of the Japan Ikebana Art Association, a public interest incorporated foundation. Honorary Consul at the Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of Iceland in Kyoto.
For the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, she will serve as vice president, director and senior advisor of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition.

Daisuke Suzuki, Founder and General Producer of Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival

Born on Culture Day, November 3, 1977. After participating in a research project at the Global COE of the Osaka City University Urban Research Plaza, he started his own company. He won the Good Design Award in 2014, was a finalist in the 2015 Kyoto University GTEP Program (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and won the OIH Award for global innovation at the 2016 Miraino Pitch (business contest: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Kinki Regional Bureau of Telecommunications).
On July 7, 2017, he founded ARTLOGUE Inc. with the vision of "Arts for Human and Planet" and became its CEO.
"Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival" will be held in January and February 2022, with the aim of establishing the world's largest "Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival" to coincide with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
An art innovator who aims to create a better society through the use of art.

■ List of past speakers

"EXPO PLL Talks" has invited guests active in a variety of fields, as listed below, to explore new possibilities in art and business from their respective perspectives.

vol.1: Nanjo Fumio (Special Advisor, Mori Art Museum), Hirata Oriza (Playwright and Director)
https://youtu.be/x_wEYV-IxI0?si=CGhcl1N4aShJhyym
vol.2: Takeo Obayashi (Chairman and CEO of Obayashi Corporation)
https://youtu.be/wea0OXPJ08g?si=R5tyq_ympoeruSb1
vol.3: Michiko Ogawa (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
https://youtu.be/QU3NyL9Uamo?si=vM33Rr53YUE0Gau0
vol.4: Yoichi Ochiai (media artist)
https://youtu.be/ayO0dY1g37Y?si=-kAsXCUf4KCcSSBM
vol.5: Tomoko Ukishima (Member of the House of Representatives)
https://youtu.be/a_rLbcL9qWw?si=HsZm4Bli2dID-K2g
vol.6: Hirohisa Sato (CEO of Balnivani Co., Ltd.)
https://youtu.be/5nUynWR9K70?si=fasNPjBacXGxWWLV
vol.7: Akira Tatehata (art critic/poet)
https://youtu.be/7leuPdCO624?si=g4sUfLtdo7dzfKpM
vol.8: Ussouby Sacho (President of Kyoto Seika University)
https://youtu.be/jmMSwKfaKVM?si=4s3CGITYeDTgHIHJ
vol.9: Naomi Kawase (Film Director)
https://youtu.be/Oe4YS5hnHN8?si=pwfHVsBAbhga4ehr
vol.10: Yuko Hasegawa (Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art)
(※Preparation for release in progress)
vol.11: Ousby Sakho (President of Kyoto Seika University, Vice Chairman of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo), Takayuki Sakakida (Chairman of the Kyoto Shinkin Bank)
https://youtu.be/h12z7X9kR2E?si=4Z4SnDSJ0YrX6efg
vol.12 Takahiro Miura (CEO, The Breakthrough Company GO)
https://youtu.be/nkNZMCzAjyg?si=THY0MuAxfTckJKRE
vol.13: Masamichi Toyama (CEO of Smiles Co., Ltd./CEO of The Chain Museum Co., Ltd.)
https://youtu.be/6NkNaZsTCNk?si=opSCQg-EOyBYCdqe
vol.14: Terumi Yamaguchi (Mayor of Minato Ward, Osaka City)
https://youtu.be/U_QKbS3C-wI?si=C2pBrT3Sh8n9BIQ_
vol.15: Kenji Kohashi (Producer of the Osaka-Kansai Expo)
https://youtu.be/muvqr8hdiBs?si=rSAY_94ktYXEeqp8
vol.16: Ou Sugiyama (CEO of Shinryoku Co., Ltd./Art+Tech Producer)
https://youtu.be/PRx4FaWf7Oc

We will continue to hold talk events with a variety of guests to build momentum for the Expo.

■Company Profile

"Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival 2025"
Official website: https://osaka-kansai.art/

ARTLOGUE Inc.
・Representative: ARTLOGUE Inc. CEO Daisuke Suzuki
・Head office location: Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
・Established: July 7, 2017
・Business operations: Planning and management of "Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" / Planning and management of web media "ARTLOGUE" and "Art Tourism"

■ Contact Information

Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Public Relations Office
study-pr@artlogue.org