Paris-based curator Akiko Miki has been selected as artistic director for next year’s 4th Yokohama Triennale, it was announced Oct 1.
Miki is chief curator at the contemporary art center Palais de Tokyo. While she has yet to determine an exhibition title or participating artists, Miki said that, inspired by the question of how deeply we can know our world, she plans to focus on works that “touch upon the mysteries of the world and the everyday, magical powers, super-natural phenomena, myths, legends, animism and other themes.”
Miki added that in addition to new commissions, she will consider including works from all eras of world history as well as those from fields outside of canonical art frameworks, with the goal of creating encounters and dialogues between different temporal and cultural contexts. These will include works drawn from the collection of the Triennale’s primary venue, the Yokohama Museum of Art.
The announcement was followed by a symposium held Oct 2 & 3 at the Yokohama Creativecity Center, the Yokohama Triennale 2011 Kick-off Meeting. Addressing issues such as “Diversifying International Exhibitions” and “Diversifying Art,” the meeting included speakers such as the Triennale general director Eriko Osaka (chief curator of the Yokohama Museum of Art), as well as newly appointed artistic director Miki and past directors Fumio Nanjo, Tadashi Kawamata and Tsutomu Mizusawa. Lewis Biggs, CEO and artistic director of the Liverpool Biennial, was invited as the keynote speaker.
Miki has less than a year to prepare her exhibition. The Triennale is scheduled to run Aug 6 to Nov 6, 2011, at multiple venues in Yokohama.