{"id":7206,"date":"2026-04-30T19:17:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/?p=7206"},"modified":"2026-04-30T19:17:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:17:34","slug":"venezia-biennale-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice Biennale 2026 Japan Pavilion \u2014 Reading Ei Arakawa-Nash Through a Craft Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-white ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#61st_Venice_Biennale_%E2%80%94_Japan_Pavilion_Key_Facts\" title=\"61st Venice Biennale \u2014 Japan Pavilion: Key Facts\">61st Venice Biennale \u2014 Japan Pavilion: Key Facts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Venice_Biennale_2026_Japan_Pavilion_%E2%80%94_What_Matters_and_Why\" title=\"Venice Biennale 2026 Japan Pavilion \u2014 What Matters and Why\">Venice Biennale 2026 Japan Pavilion \u2014 What Matters and Why<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Three_Ways_to_Read_the_Japan_Pavilion_2026\" title=\"Three Ways to Read the Japan Pavilion 2026\">Three Ways to Read the Japan Pavilion 2026<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#What_Is_%E2%80%9CIn_Minor_Keys%E2%80%9D\" title=\"What Is &#8220;In Minor Keys&#8221;?\">What Is &#8220;In Minor Keys&#8221;?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#The_Perspective_Koyo_Kouoh_Brought_to_This_Theme\" title=\"The Perspective Koyo Kouoh Brought to This Theme\">The Perspective Koyo Kouoh Brought to This Theme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#A_Kogei_Japonica_Reading_Why_This_Theme_Matters_to_Craft\" title=\"A Kogei Japonica Reading: Why This Theme Matters to Craft\">A Kogei Japonica Reading: Why This Theme Matters to Craft<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Who_Is_Ei_Arakawa-Nash\" title=\"Who Is Ei Arakawa-Nash?\">Who Is Ei Arakawa-Nash?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Background_Born_in_Fukushima_Working_Across_Borders\" title=\"Background: Born in Fukushima, Working Across Borders\">Background: Born in Fukushima, Working Across Borders<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Performance_Collectivity_and_Participation_as_Core_Practice\" title=\"Performance, Collectivity, and Participation as Core Practice\">Performance, Collectivity, and Participation as Core Practice<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#What_to_Know_About_This_Artist_Before_Opening_Day\" title=\"What to Know About This Artist Before Opening Day\">What to Know About This Artist Before Opening Day<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Inside_%E2%80%9CGrass_Babies_Moon_Babies%E2%80%9D_What_to_Expect\" title=\"Inside &#8220;Grass Babies, Moon Babies&#8221;: What to Expect\">Inside &#8220;Grass Babies, Moon Babies&#8221;: What to Expect<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Reading_the_Title_Grass_Moon_and_Babies\" title=\"Reading the Title: Grass, Moon, and Babies\">Reading the Title: Grass, Moon, and Babies<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#The_Pavilion_Building_and_Its_Relationship_to_the_Exhibition\" title=\"The Pavilion Building and Its Relationship to the Exhibition\">The Pavilion Building and Its Relationship to the Exhibition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#What_%E2%80%9CA_Constellation_of_Voices_and_Practices%E2%80%9D_Means\" title=\"What &#8220;A Constellation of Voices and Practices&#8221; Means\">What &#8220;A Constellation of Voices and Practices&#8221; Means<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Reading_Through_a_Craft_Lens_%E2%80%94_What_This_Pavilion_Asks_of_Us\" title=\"Reading Through a Craft Lens \u2014 What This Pavilion Asks of Us\">Reading Through a Craft Lens \u2014 What This Pavilion Asks of Us<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Care_as_Embodied_Practice_and_What_Craft_Recognizes_in_It\" title=\"Care as Embodied Practice, and What Craft Recognizes in It\">Care as Embodied Practice, and What Craft Recognizes in It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Material_Garden_Architecture_Body_A_Circulation\" title=\"Material, Garden, Architecture, Body: A Circulation\">Material, Garden, Architecture, Body: A Circulation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Questions_to_Return_to_After_Opening\" title=\"Questions to Return to After Opening\">Questions to Return to After Opening<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Practical_Information_and_Update_Policy\" title=\"Practical Information and Update Policy\">Practical Information and Update Policy<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#Dates_Pre-opening_and_Where_to_Find_Official_Information\" title=\"Dates, Pre-opening, and Where to Find Official Information\">Dates, Pre-opening, and Where to Find Official Information<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#What_Will_Be_Added_During_the_Run\" title=\"What Will Be Added During the Run\">What Will Be Added During the Run<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#An_Honest_Note_on_Coverage_of_This_Kind\" title=\"An Honest Note on Coverage of This Kind\">An Honest Note on Coverage of This Kind<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/events\/venezia-biennale-2026\/#In_Place_of_a_Conclusion_%E2%80%94_%E2%80%9CPermeate_the_Peripheries%E2%80%9D\" title=\"In Place of a Conclusion \u2014 &#8220;Permeate the Peripheries&#8221;\">In Place of a Conclusion \u2014 &#8220;Permeate the Peripheries&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"61st_Venice_Biennale_%E2%80%94_Japan_Pavilion_Key_Facts\"><\/span>61st Venice Biennale \u2014 Japan Pavilion: Key Facts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"scroll_table\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Exhibition<\/th>\n<td>61st International Art Exhibition \u2014 La Biennale di Venezia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Dates<\/th>\n<td>Saturday, May 9 \u2013 Sunday, November 22, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Pre-opening<\/th>\n<td>Wednesday, May 6 \/ Thursday, May 7 \/ Friday, May 8, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Venues<\/th>\n<td>Giardini, Arsenale, and various locations across Venice<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Overarching Theme<\/th>\n<td>In Minor Keys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Artistic Director<\/th>\n<td>Koyo Kouoh \u2014 passed away May 2025; exhibition proceeds in accordance with her vision<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Japan Pavilion Artist<\/th>\n<td>Ei Arakawa-Nash<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Exhibition Title<\/th>\n<td>Grass Babies, Moon Babies<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Co-Curators<\/th>\n<td>Mizuki Takahashi, Lisa Horikawa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Commissioner<\/th>\n<td>The Japan Foundation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>(Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp\/e\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">The Japan Pavilion Official Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.labiennale.org\/en\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">La Biennale di Venezia<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f8OIYzV5Npo?si=U1mfLlNTu6lPZjc4\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Venice_Biennale_2026_Japan_Pavilion_%E2%80%94_What_Matters_and_Why\"><\/span>Venice Biennale 2026 Japan Pavilion \u2014 What Matters and Why<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The 2026 Venice Biennale Japan Pavilion is, in at least three distinct ways, a departure from what has come before. The selected artist is Ei Arakawa-Nash, a performance artist born in Fukushima and based in Los Angeles. The exhibition title is <em>Grass Babies, Moon Babies<\/em>. And this year marks the seventieth anniversary of the Japan Pavilion&#8217;s founding.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Three_Ways_to_Read_the_Japan_Pavilion_2026\"><\/span>Three Ways to Read the Japan Pavilion 2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4>\u2460 A Japan Pavilion with a team working entirely outside Japan<\/h4>\n<p>Arakawa-Nash lives and works in Los Angeles. Co-curator Mizuki Takahashi serves as Executive Director and Chief Curator of CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) in Hong Kong; co-curator Lisa Horikawa is Senior Curator at the National Gallery Singapore. At the pavilion&#8217;s seventieth anniversary, the team brings a perspective formed through sustained engagement with Japan from outside its borders.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpf.go.jp\/e\/project\/culture\/exhibit\/international\/venezia-biennale\/art\/61\/index.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Japan Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition | The Japan Foundation<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h4>\u2461 A resonance between the overarching theme and the pavilion&#8217;s own logic<\/h4>\n<p>The Biennale&#8217;s theme \u2014 attentiveness to what is quiet, minor, understated \u2014 finds a natural counterpart in an exhibition whose starting point is baby dolls and the birth of twin children. Based on the announced concept, the Japan Pavilion appears less interested in grand declarations than in acts of care and quiet circulation, and that is precisely what makes it worth close attention.<\/p>\n<h4>\u2462 Why this pavilion speaks directly to craft<\/h4>\n<p>The exhibition is structured not around making objects but around tending, caring, and passing on \u2014 actions that carry the same embodied logic as the repetitive turning of a rokuro (potter&#8217;s wheel), or the unhurried rinsing of dyed cloth through water. The craft reading is developed in the section below.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_%E2%80%9CIn_Minor_Keys%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>What Is &#8220;In Minor Keys&#8221;?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10202\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10202\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/in-minor-keys-logo-26.webp\" alt=\"The logo for In Minor Keys, the overarching theme of Venice Biennale 2026\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10202\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10202\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.labiennale.org\/en\/news\/biennale-arte-2026-minor-keys-0\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a9 La Biennale di Venezia 2023<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;In Minor Keys&#8221; takes its name from the minor key in music \u2014 a tonal register that carries shadow, resonance, and a quality of holding something inward, as opposed to the forward momentum of a major key. This phrase was chosen as the theme for the 2026 Biennale by artistic director Koyo Kouoh.<\/p>\n<p>The background is worth knowing. Kouoh was named artistic director in November 2024, with her appointment officially announced on December 3 of that year. She submitted her curatorial text to the Biennale president on April 8, 2025, and died on May 10, 2025, at the age of fifty-seven. With the agreement of her family, the Biennale is proceeding with the exhibition exactly as she conceived it.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.labiennale.org\/en\/news\/biennale-arte-2026-minor-keys-0\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Biennale Arte 2026: In Minor Keys | La Biennale di Venezia<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Perspective_Koyo_Kouoh_Brought_to_This_Theme\"><\/span>The Perspective Koyo Kouoh Brought to This Theme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Kouoh was born in Cameroon and raised in Switzerland. She co-founded RAW Material Company in Dakar, Senegal, and later served as Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>Her curatorial text draws on the improvisational logic of jazz, Caribbean intellectual traditions, and the Creole garden \u2014 a space where many different plants coexist. &#8220;In Minor Keys&#8221; is conceived as an exhibition that listens carefully to voices long excluded from the main melody: work that has existed in the margins, that holds grief and joy at once, and that can sustain contradiction without resolving it into something easier.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.labiennale.org\/en\/art\/2026\/curatorial-text-koyo-kouoh\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Curatorial Text by Koyo Kouoh | La Biennale di Venezia<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Kogei_Japonica_Reading_Why_This_Theme_Matters_to_Craft\"><\/span>A Kogei Japonica Reading: Why This Theme Matters to Craft<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Translated into the language of craft, the idea of a &#8220;minor key&#8221; opens onto a wide field of meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Kogei (craft) has long operated in a quieter register of attention. The texture of a clay bowl in the hand, the time it takes for dyed cloth to dry, the weight distribution of a chopstick rest \u2014 none of these things exist within the register of speed or efficiency. They exist at a different frequency entirely. Kouoh&#8217;s theme, though framed in the vocabulary of contemporary art, seems to be reaching toward something close to the philosophy of making that craft has developed over a long period of practice.<\/p>\n<p>Kouoh&#8217;s own text touches on the way certain artists treat daily life as part of the work itself \u2014 living within an aesthetically coherent relationship between part and whole. Anyone familiar with the relationship a craft practitioner develops with clay, wood, or thread will recognize that quality immediately.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_Is_Ei_Arakawa-Nash\"><\/span>Who Is Ei Arakawa-Nash?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10209\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10209\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ei-Arakawa-Nash1-scaled.webp\" alt=\"Ei Arakawa-Nash, artist representing Japan at the 2026 Venice Biennale\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1357\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10209\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10209\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp\/e\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">(c) The Japan Foundation<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At this stage of coverage, the essential question is straightforward: who is Ei Arakawa-Nash? In short, Arakawa-Nash is an artist who has spent their career dismantling the assumption that performance is something an audience watches from a seat \u2014 building instead a practice in which audience members, collaborators, space, and history fold into one another and cannot be separated from the work itself.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Background_Born_in_Fukushima_Working_Across_Borders\"><\/span>Background: Born in Fukushima, Working Across Borders<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div style=\"max-width:300px; margin:0 auto 15px;\"><iframe width=\"473\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3psBYbT4yk0\" title=\"Ei Arakawa-Nash. Mega Please Draw Freely | Interview\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Born in Fukushima in 1977. Moved to New York in 1998, then relocated to Los Angeles in 2019. Currently a professor in the graduate fine art program at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Arakawa-Nash has spoken publicly about giving up Japanese nationality some years ago, and has reflected on the unexpected nature of being asked to represent Japan in Venice \u2014 a possibility they had not anticipated.<\/p>\n<p>That statement signals clearly that questions of nationhood, representation, and identity are not incidental to this exhibition \u2014 they are part of its foundation.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.e-flux.com\/announcements\/664559\/ei-arakawa-nash-to-represent-japan-at-the-2026-venice-biennale\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Ei Arakawa-Nash to represent Japan at the 2026 Venice Biennale | e-flux<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Performance_Collectivity_and_Participation_as_Core_Practice\"><\/span>Performance, Collectivity, and Participation as Core Practice<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Arakawa-Nash&#8217;s work does not present finished objects for contemplation. It requires people to gather before it can exist at all. Action, sound, relationship, and improvisation are the materials.<\/p>\n<p>The practice draws on postwar avant-garde lineages \u2014 Gutai, Tokyo Fluxus, Happenings, the Judson Dance Theater, Viennese Actionism \u2014 while working consistently to dissolve the boundary between performer and spectator. The 2021 participatory installation <em>Mega Please Draw Freely<\/em> at Tate Modern&#8217;s Turbine Hall is among the most direct demonstrations of this approach.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_Know_About_This_Artist_Before_Opening_Day\"><\/span>What to Know About This Artist Before Opening Day<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It is a solo exhibition:<\/strong> The Japan Pavilion takes the form of a single-artist show.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It is co-curated:<\/strong> Both Mizuki Takahashi and Lisa Horikawa were personally invited by Arakawa-Nash, and the exhibition has developed out of a three-way dialogue.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It is a project with multiple institutional partners:<\/strong> Collaborations have been announced with the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum (New York), and Kestner Gesellschaft (Hanover). This is not a standalone pavilion presentation but a project unfolding across several institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Inside_%E2%80%9CGrass_Babies_Moon_Babies%E2%80%9D_What_to_Expect\"><\/span>Inside &#8220;Grass Babies, Moon Babies&#8221;: What to Expect<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The title offers several clues worth considering before entering the pavilion. Grass and moon. Babies, plural. The combination is quiet and deliberate.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reading_the_Title_Grass_Moon_and_Babies\"><\/span>Reading the Title: Grass, Moon, and Babies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>At the center of the exhibition are approximately two hundred baby dolls. Visitors select a doll and perform an act of care. A QR code then activates, generating a poem tied to that doll&#8217;s assigned birthdate \u2014 a date connected both to the artist&#8217;s personal history and to historical events that have shaped Japanese and diasporic communities.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp\/e\/news\/ei-arakawa-nashs-grass-babies-moon-babies-is-set-to-permeate-the-peripheries-of-japan-pavilion-through-a-constellation-of-voices-and-practices-the-61st-international-art-exhibition-2026\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Grass Babies, Moon Babies exhibition announcement | Japan Pavilion Official Website<\/a>)<\/p>\n<div class=\"box3\">\n<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note<\/strong><br \/>\nA personal reading of the imagery: grass is rooted in the ground, returns after being cut, and follows the seasons into dormancy and renewal. The moon is distant but marks time with a quiet consistency. Placing &#8220;babies&#8221; between these two images suggests a cycle of life, time, and memory. Read alongside craft&#8217;s own material sensibility \u2014 soil as the ground where grass takes root, the moon still present in the sky during a long kiln firing \u2014 and another layer of meaning opens up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Pavilion_Building_and_Its_Relationship_to_the_Exhibition\"><\/span>The Pavilion Building and Its Relationship to the Exhibition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Japan Pavilion was completed in 1958 and designed by Ry\u016bsei Yoshizaka, an architect who trained under Le Corbusier. The key point here is that Yoshizaka placed the concept of mobility at the structural core of the building&#8217;s design.<\/p>\n<p>In a talk at Mori Art Museum, Arakawa-Nash stated that the exhibition&#8217;s concept centers on this very idea \u2014 the mobility that Yoshizaka embedded in the design of the pavilion&#8217;s garden and building. The garden and building are not separate; they form a circulation. Visitors carrying baby dolls, moving between interior and exterior space, entering and leaving \u2014 this experiential structure appears to be in direct dialogue with the building&#8217;s own founding logic.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mori.art.museum\/en\/learning\/8572\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Urgent Talk 052: Ei Arakawa-Nash | Mori Art Museum<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_%E2%80%9CA_Constellation_of_Voices_and_Practices%E2%80%9D_Means\"><\/span>What &#8220;A Constellation of Voices and Practices&#8221; Means<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The exhibition&#8217;s official text describes the work as &#8220;a constellation of voices and practices&#8221; that will &#8220;permeate the peripheries of the Japan Pavilion.&#8221; This is not the language of a single-artist showcase. It describes a structure in which the contributions of collaborators, partners, and visitors are constitutive of the work \u2014 not supporting material around a central object, but part of the fabric itself.<\/p>\n<p>What is confirmed at this stage: a collaboration with the Asian American artist collective FAC XTRA RETREAT; a preview performance titled <em>24 HOUR CARE<\/em> at the Getty; a partnership with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum; a subsequent presentation at Kestner Gesellschaft; and the Korean Pavilion 2026, which has been publicly named as a collaborator. Further details will be added here as they become available during the run.<\/p>\n<h4>Further Points to Track Before Opening<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Three-institution program:<\/strong> Joint production initiatives with the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, and Kestner Gesellschaft.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Korean Pavilion 2026:<\/strong> Named as a collaborator in The Japan Foundation&#8217;s announcement dated March 19, 2026.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crowdfunding:<\/strong> An artist-led crowdfunding campaign has been conducted, as noted on the Japan Pavilion&#8217;s official news page.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pre-opening:<\/strong> Press and professional previews are scheduled for May 6, 7, and 8. The opening ceremony and awards take place on Saturday, May 9.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reading_Through_a_Craft_Lens_%E2%80%94_What_This_Pavilion_Asks_of_Us\"><\/span>Reading Through a Craft Lens \u2014 What This Pavilion Asks of Us<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>From here, the article shifts into editorial territory. The factual groundwork has been laid in the preceding sections. What follows is this editor&#8217;s own reading \u2014 an attempt to articulate why, for anyone who follows kogei, this pavilion is not a peripheral concern.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Care_as_Embodied_Practice_and_What_Craft_Recognizes_in_It\"><\/span>Care as Embodied Practice, and What Craft Recognizes in It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The exhibition places care at its center. Visitors pick up a baby doll, hold it, tend to it. The physical actions involved \u2014 cradling, carrying, arranging, watching \u2014 can be read alongside the embodied attention that craft practice requires.<\/p>\n<p>A ceramicist wedging clay, a lacquerware artisan drawing a spatula through urushi (lacquer) in thin, deliberate layers, a dyer pulling cloth through water in a slow rinse \u2014 none of these actions are about controlling a material. They are about being in relationship with it, reading it, responding to what it offers and resists. The question the exhibition appears to pose \u2014 what quality of bodily attention can you bring to this small thing? \u2014 is not far from the question craft asks every time a maker sits down to work.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Material_Garden_Architecture_Body_A_Circulation\"><\/span>Material, Garden, Architecture, Body: A Circulation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The garden of Ry\u016bsei Yoshizaka&#8217;s pavilion does not function as an exterior to the building. It is part of the building&#8217;s internal logic \u2014 a space where grass grows, light moves, and visitors pass through. The exhibition is situated within that circulation.<\/p>\n<p>Read alongside craft&#8217;s sense of place, this design carries something of the philosophy embedded in the roji \u2014 the garden approach in tea ceremony architecture, a transitional space that is not merely a path to the tearoom but the beginning of the experience itself. This is an editorial analogy, not an architectural-historical claim, and the distinction matters. Whether and how the exhibition actually uses this spatial circulation is something a visit will answer far better than any preview can.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Questions_to_Return_to_After_Opening\"><\/span>Questions to Return to After Opening<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This article is written as a pre-opening preview, with the intention of adding to it during the run. The questions worth returning to are these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The quality of participation:<\/strong> What depth does the experience of tending a baby doll actually hold for visitors moving through the pavilion?<\/li>\n<li><strong>The &#8220;constellation&#8221; structure:<\/strong> Does a framework of multiple voices and practices genuinely dissolve the center-periphery hierarchy, or does it redistribute it?<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Noguchi connection:<\/strong> How does the partnership with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum engage with questions about the boundaries between craft, sculpture, and material knowledge?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Representation, again:<\/strong> A team based entirely outside Japan representing Japan at the Biennale \u2014 how does that condition speak to questions of provenance, inheritance, and belonging that run through craft discourse as well?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Practical_Information_and_Update_Policy\"><\/span>Practical Information and Update Policy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dates_Pre-opening_and_Where_to_Find_Official_Information\"><\/span>Dates, Pre-opening, and Where to Find Official Information<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"scroll_table\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Pre-opening<\/th>\n<td>Wednesday, May 6 \/ Thursday, May 7 \/ Friday, May 8, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Opening \/ Awards<\/th>\n<td>Saturday, May 9, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Closing<\/th>\n<td>Sunday, November 22, 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Japan Pavilion Official Site<\/th>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp\/e\/art\/2026-en\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>La Biennale di Venezia Official<\/th>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.labiennale.org\/en\/art\/2026\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">labiennale.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>The Japan Foundation (English)<\/th>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpf.go.jp\/e\/project\/culture\/exhibit\/international\/venezia-biennale\/art\/61\/index.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">jpf.go.jp<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Press Inquiries<\/th>\n<td>venezia_press2026@jpf.go.jp<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Will_Be_Added_During_the_Run\"><\/span>What Will Be Added During the Run<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This article is designed as a pre-opening preview that will be updated throughout the exhibition period. Planned additions include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On-site photography and a report on the spatial experience<\/li>\n<li>A firsthand account of the baby doll and poem-generation installation<\/li>\n<li>International critical responses<\/li>\n<li>Performance dates and program details as confirmed<\/li>\n<li>Details of the Korean Pavilion 2026 collaboration<\/li>\n<li>Awards results<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This page will be updated as information becomes available.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An_Honest_Note_on_Coverage_of_This_Kind\"><\/span>An Honest Note on Coverage of This Kind<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The most common failure in preview coverage is circling a theme without landing anywhere \u2014 or stopping at an artist introduction and calling it done. A subtler failure is letting interpretation and confirmed fact bleed into each other without signaling the difference. This article has tried to keep those two registers distinct: verified facts and primary sources in the first half, editorial reading in the second. If you find the line blurring, that is worth flagging.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_Place_of_a_Conclusion_%E2%80%94_%E2%80%9CPermeate_the_Peripheries%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>In Place of a Conclusion \u2014 &#8220;Permeate the Peripheries&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The official text for <em>Grass Babies, Moon Babies<\/em> says the exhibition will &#8220;permeate the peripheries&#8221; of the Japan Pavilion. Not occupy the center. Not make a commanding statement. Seep in from the edges.<\/p>\n<p>Having laid out the facts, what remains is to go and see whether the space delivers on that. Kogei has long worked this way \u2014 not from the center of the gallery but from the periphery of daily life, the table, the shelf, the hand. That the Japan Pavilion&#8217;s title and structure appear to be reaching toward a similar position may be intentional, or it may be convergence. Either way, it is worth paying attention to. The exhibition opens May 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>61st Venice Biennale \u2014 Japan Pavilion: Key Facts Exhibition 61st International Art Exhibition \u2014 La Biennale di Venezia Dates Saturday, May 9 \u2013 Sunday, November 22, 2026 Pre-opening Wednesday, May 6 \/ Thursday, May 7 \/ Friday, May 8, 2026 Venues Giardini, Arsenale, and various locations across Venice Overarching Theme In Minor Keys Artistic Director<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-events"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.kogei-japonica.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}