The Yokohama Triennale 2014, an international contemporary art exhibition, opened on August 1. Yasumasa Morimura serves as artistic director. The exhibition, titled "The Art of Fahrenheit 451: At the Center of the World Is an Ocean of Oblivion," alludes to Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel "Fahrenheit 451," which depicts a world where reading and owning books are prohibited. The exhibition features over 400 works focused on "oblivion," organized into a prologue and 11 episodes. In front of the Yokohama Museum of Art, one of the main venues, visitors are greeted by "Low-Floor Trailer," a piece from Wim Delvoye's "Gothic" series, begun in 1990. This Gothic-style trailer, measuring over 15 meters in length, combines with Kim Hong-seok's (South Korea) "Bear-like Structure - 629" and "Eight Breaths," which appear as key visuals both inside and outside the venue and on flyers, to present the contradictory theme of the prologue's "unmonumental monument." Upon entering the museum, Michael Landy's "Art Bin" fills the entire entrance hall. This trash can, designed to represent the exhibition's theme of "forgetfulness" and the various "failures" that led to it, is placed at the center of the museum (i.e., the world) and serves as the focal point of a participatory installation where visitors can discard artworks. The theme of the first episode is "Silence" and "Whispers." While the Yokohama Triennale is known for its proactive promotion of emerging artists, one of the highlights of this year's exhibition is the inclusion of many deceased artists, including Kazimir Malevich (Russia), John Cage (USA), Blinky Palermo (Germany), and René Magritte (Belgium). Morimura stated, "I want to remove the boundaries between newly created works, old works, living people, and dead people, and then consider the 'contemporary'." Episode 2 focuses on Kamagasaki University of the Arts, located in Kamagasaki (Nishinari Ward, Osaka City), one of Japan's leading gathering places for day laborers. The school, which aims to engage with the region through expression, facing numerous challenges, including an aging population, healthcare, employment, and housing, will exhibit calligraphy, poetry, photography, and other works created by past participants, as well as lecture notes and other information about the courses. The event will also feature an open campus, with events such as visiting lectures on poetry and astronomy, student kyogen performances, and a soup kitchen cafe. Episode 3 introduces a variety of contemporary expressions that seem to carry on the themes of the novel "Fahrenheit 451." A reading performance of "The Only Book in the World," created as an homage to the novel, will also be held on an irregular basis. Episode 5 will feature the "Red Courtroom" where the "Yokohama Trial" will be held, featuring five sessions, including "Rapping About the Japanese Constitution by Shing02." Episode 8, "A Journey Inviting Drifting, the Sea Reflecting the Drifting," shifts the setting to nitehi works in Koganecho, where Akira Takayama/Port B transforms a piece based on his research into the Asian community in Yokohama into a live installation called "Yokohama Commune." Additionally, photographer Hitoshi Toyoda will be presenting a "video diary/slideshow" at multiple venues around the city. He consistently uses a slideshow format that leaves no physical trace, never printing any of his photographs. In episodes 9 and 10, two international exhibitions, the Sapporo International Art Festival 2014 and the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, will be entering the Yokohama Triennale. The highlight of the story's final venue, Shinko Pier, is a custom-made mobile stage vehicle, crafted in Taiwan by Miwa Yanagi. It features a dragon painted on the outside, and when unfolded, reveals a mythical flower painting inside. Shinro Ohtake's new work, "Retina House/Memory Filtration Hut," is installed at the very end of Shinko Pier overlooking the sea, as a boat (or book) for setting out on the "Sea of Oblivion."

Shinko Pier also houses "Café Oblivion," the final destination, designed by Naohiko Hino, who also designed the spatial composition of the main venue. Guests can enjoy a limited menu while looking out over Yokohama Port.


[Event Information]
Yokohama Triennale 2014 "The Art of Fahrenheit 451: At the Center of the World is a Sea of Oblivion"
Venue: Yokohama Museum of Art (3-4-1 Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama), Shinko Pier (2-5 Shinko, Naka-ku, Yokohama)
Dates: August 1st to November 3rd
Time: 10:00 to 18:00 (Open until 20:00 on August 9th, September 13th, October 11th, and November 1st)
Admission: Adults 1,800 yen, University and vocational school students 1,200 yen, High school students 800 yen
Closed: 1st and 3rd Thursdays