Interviews with Tanabe Chikuunsai IV
Welcome Message & Interview
Japanese bamboo artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV is one of Japan’s leading bamboo artists, the fourth artist in a lineage of bamboo basket makers from Sakai in Osaka prefecture. Like the generations before him, he weaves slender strips of bamboo into exquisite flower baskets and abstract sculptures, but he has also pushed the boundaries of basket weaving to create large-scale sculptures and installations.
The Artist and the Bamboo
Tanabe Chikuunsai IV is conscious of the life of the bamboo he uses in his work. The exhibition highlights the importance of conserving the bamboo forests, or chikurin, for future generations. As he weaves the bamboo strips, Chikuunsai reflects upon connections, or tsunagari, between humans and nature, present and past generations, and the cultures he brings together through his installations. When an exhibition closes, he dismantles each installation and saves the bamboo strips to use in his next work — creating a generational connection between his works, deliberately avoiding waste, and extending the bamboo’s life cycle.
Continuing the Lineage with Bamboo Apprentices
Bamboo artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, together with his four apprentices ("deshi") created a 70-feet large-scale installation using 15,000 Japanese bamboo strips. Being the fourth in a lineage of bamboo artists, Chikuunsai continues the family tradition and technique of bamboo weaving in his artworks and installations, while passing down generations of knowledge to his apprentices.
Presented by
Exhibition Photography and Video
JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
Minamoto Tadayuki and Hashiguchi Akiko
Exhibition Support provided by
Exhibition Production
Yumekoubou
Tanabe Chikuunsai IV
TAI Modern
Kanasaki Chikuzaiten
Chikuunsai IV Installation Assistants/Apprentices
Yamagishi Chikuzaiten
Nakamura Emika
Hayashi Jumpei
Ichikawa Yona
Hamada Yoshiaki
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