EXPO PLL Talks
EXPO PLL Talks
<Archive video released>
IKENOBO Senyo EXPO PLL Talks "Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators" vol.17
On April 13, 2025, IKENOBO Senyo, The Headmaster Designate of Ikenobo 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," he spoke about the philosophy of life contained within Ikebana, the role of art, and the nature of tradition and innovation.
You can watch the event on the official YouTube channel.
<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.
Event Overview
Date and time: Sunday, April 13, 2025
Venue: Osaka Kansai Expo 2025 "The Origin of Ikebana: Ikenobo Exhibition" (Gallery EAST)
Guest: IKENOBO Senko (Headmaster Designate of Ikenobo Ikebana)
Moderator: SUZUKI Daisuke (CEO of ARTLOGUE Inc., General Producer of Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival)
Organized by: 2025 Japan World Exposition Association, Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Executive Committee (ARTLOGUE Inc.)
Profile
IKENOBO Senko
The Headmaster Designate of Ikenobo Ikebana, 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.
SUZUKI Daisuke
CEO of ARTLOGUE Inc., 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 Art Festival" will be held in January and February 2022, with the aim of establishing the world's largest "Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" to coincide with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
An art innovator who aims to create a better society through the use of art.
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