Artist
Artist
NISHINARI YOSHIO
(NISHIO Yoshinari + Kioku Shugei-Kan “Tansu”)
Japan
Research project "Successor Issue (tentative)"
"Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" has launched a multi-year, progressive project in 2022 focusing on the issue of successors as a future hypothetical task for "NISHINARI YOSHIO."
In recent years, the number of foreign residents in Nishinari, Osaka, where the area is based, has been rapidly increasing. The area used to be a prosperous town for day laborers, attracting workers from all over the country. However, the shopping streets in the area, which once thrived as a result of the aging of the workforce and unemployment caused by the recession, have become a deserted area. However, in the past 10 years, a large number of Chinese and Vietnamese karaoke bars and restaurants have opened in the area. In addition, in Japan, where the labor shortage caused by the declining birthrate and aging population is becoming more serious, many foreigners are coming to Japan as technical intern trainees, and the number of residents in Nishinari Ward is on the rise. However, despite living in the same area, they have no connection with the former residents and have few opportunities to learn about their actual lives and backgrounds. In this situation, they believe that "fashion" could be one possible way to connect with them, and by holding multiple "NISHINARI YOSHIO" clothing workshops, they aim to work together as co-creators of the brand in the future.
From the start, the brand's concept was based on the gap that arose between artist Nishio Miya and elderly local women. The differences in culture and lifestyle between foreigners living in Japan and local women tend to be spoken of negatively in the local community, but this gap is actually the important point, and the brand hopes to use the gap that arises between the local residents and the artist through its activities as a catalyst for new developments for the brand.
This time, we will present the results of our research project along with the process.
Profile
This is a Nishinari fashion brand that was launched in 2018 as a collaboration between artist NISHIO Yoshinari and local women who gather at the Kioku Shugei-Kan “Tansu” in Sanno, Nishinari Ward, Osaka City. One of the concepts is the unexpected deviation, such as the unexpected arrangements and leaps of imagination of local women, and the discrepancy with the image that Nishio has in mind, proposing work clothes = clothes for everyday life.
NISHINARI YOSHIO's products were born from themes given to members by Nishio, such as "Imagine a close friend and design something that shows consideration for that person" and "Design three pieces that represent your life at the end." One of the characteristics of the products is that they are made with different fabrics for each piece, using unnecessary fabrics that have accumulated in "chests of drawers." Since 2023, they have been holding clothing-making workshops with the Vietnamese community, which is rapidly growing in the area.
http://yoshinarinishio.net
https://tansu.brk-collective.net
