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Curatorial StudiesCuratorial Studies 11: Artists around Mannequin Factory
NANASAI --- Experiments of Art + Design + Crafts in 1946–1981

Curatorial Studies 11: Artists around Mannequin Factory
   NANASAI --- Experiments of Art + Design + Crafts in 1946–1980


MUKAI Ryokichi (design), Nanasai Mannequin SA10, 1950, NANASAI Co., Ltd.
MUKAI Ryokichi (design),
Nanasai Mannequin SA10,
1950, NANASAI Co., Ltd.
OKAMOTO Taro, Ceramic work for Hi no geijutsu no kai, 1959, NANASAI Co., Ltd.
OKAMOTO Taro,
Ceramic work for Hi no
geijutsu no kai,
1959, NANASAI Co., Ltd.

 In July 1946, not long after the end of World War II, a mannequin company called Nanasai Kogei (now Nanasai Co., Ltd.) was established in Kyoto. The company’s founder, Mukai Ryokichi, who later went on to become a leading contemporary sculptor, opened the business as part of a promise he made to one of his predecessors in the field, Shimazu Ryozo, the creator of Shimazu mannequins. Nanasai assembled a large group of artists, including sculptors, painters, and craftsmen, and the company’s creative ethos was presented in the Hi no geijutsu no kai exhibition, held in March 1959.
 To illustrate some of the activities that were going on in the Kyoto art world immediately after the war, this exhibit introduces works by artists such as Okamoto Taro, Yanagihara Yoshitatsu, and Nambata Tatsuoki, who later emerged as important artists, alongside small works that Nanasai presented to its customers and the company’s mannequins.

YAMAMURO Akira, Gift for visitors to Nanasai exhibition (1970), NANASAI Co., Ltd.
YAMAMURO Akira, Gift for visitors to Nanasai
exhibition (1970)
, NANASAI Co., Ltd.

List of Works

Curatorial Studies 11: Artists around Mannequin Factory
   NANASAI --- Experiments of Art + Design + Crafts in 1946-1980

Exhibition date

July 27–September 19, 2016

Venue

Collection Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Organizer

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Special cooperation

NANASAI Co., Ltd.

Cooperation

Wacoal Corp.
The Kyoto Costume Institute

Publicity materials

flyer  PDF(4.7MB)

 
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