Wa: The Spirit of Harmony – exhibition at the red dot design museum a great success

The exhibition “Wa: The Spirit of Harmony – Japanese Design Today”, presented at the red dot design museum in co-operation with the Japan Foundation from August 20 to September 20, 2009, was a resounding success. A huge number of enthusiastic visitors from around the world came to the exhibition, which alongside a selection of Japanese design classics showcased recent work by Japanese product designers.

As the only stop in Germany for the exhibition, the red dot design museum presented this unique collection of some 160 pieces selected from different areas to show the dynamics and backgrounds of modern Japanese product design. Impressively, the curators of the exhibition – Masafumi Fukagawa, Shû Hagiwara, Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Noriko Kawakami – successfully illuminated the typically Japanese: the “harmony” in modern product design.

Guests of honour at the exhibition’s opening on August 19, 2009 included Mr. Shin Maruo, Consul General from Düsseldorf, Mr. Kôji Ueda, Director of the Japan Foundation, and Mr. Shû Hagiwara, curator of the exhibition, who opened the exhibition together with Professor Dr. Zec, the initiator of the red dot award and Icsid Senator. The program for the opening of the exhibition started in the afternoon. Exhibition curator Shû Hagiwara spoke to a large number of interested guests on the topic of “Harmony – Characters – Sympathy” and then invited the audience to participate in the joint discussion. In the evening, Shû Hagiwara gave a detailed introduction to the concept of the exhibition, following the welcoming words by Professor Dr. Peter Zec and the lectures by Shin Maruo and Kôji Ueda. “Wa”, the traditional Japanese principle of harmony, serves as a guideline for reconciling different values, different people, different views and opposing positions, harmoniously balancing them on a higher level. This principle of harmony is the basis for the vitality of modern Japanese art in the 21st century. Guests had plenty of time to view the exhibition and experience the diversity of modern Japanese product design while enjoying a selection of Japanese snacks.