We would like to present a series of photographic documentation from last year’s Aichi Triennale 2019: Taming Y/Our Passion, which took place between August and October across various venues in Nagoya (名古屋) and Aichi (愛知), Japan.
The Triennale aims to explore a middle ground amidst an explosion of information and emotion, a time in which people have become increasingly anxious and vulnerable while attempting to emphasise the original Greek definition of the word “art”. Ironically and tragically, however, the dominant headlines surrounding the festival’s opening centred on the censorship and shutdown of a controversial exhibition featuring representations of comfort women before and during World War II.
We decided to publish this visual documentation one year after the closing of the Triennale, amid the outbreak of COVID-19, as well as the current absurd political climate and shifting cultural landscape. We hope it serves as a reminder, not only to our audiences and the public, but also to ourselves — of the crucial role contemporary art plays in modern society, that we may have been diverted onto a dangerous path, that freedom of expression should never be tamed, and that creativity should never be inhibited.
This first part of the series highlights the exhibitions at the Nagoya City Art Museum. For the rest of the series, focusing on the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Endoji (円頓寺), and the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, please follow the respective links.
