A Communal Cardboard Monument to Ueno

Founded in 2018 on the principles of social inclusion, UENOYES is an annual cultural initiative that brings diverse communities together in a joint mission to introduce Ueno to the larger world. The Tokyo neighborhood’s appeal was certainly on full display at UENOYES 2019/FLOATING NOMAD, a special art event held in Ueno Park on Saturday, November 9^th and Sunday, November 10^th, 2019.

As a steady stream of event-goers filled the Takenodai Plaza over the weekend, a particularly lively crowd formed around the Cardboard Installation Site, a unique art project that invited the open participation of park visitors. Everyone from kids to adults of all ages eagerly tore, twisted, and taped corrugated cardboard, leaving their marks on a collaborative monument that steadily grew and morphed as a veritable symbol of the event.

Katsuhiko Hibino on cardboard, art, and kindness

On the morning of the 9^th, the gentle autumn sun cascaded softly across Ueno Park to reveal a curious scene unfolding in the Takenodai Plaza. A series of yurts, those iconic portable nomadic dwellings, had seemingly appeared overnight, and now encircled a team of workers busily assembling cardboard boxes. The team was already at work on Cardboard Installation Site, an improvisatory, collaborative art installation that was the brainchild of contemporary artist and UENOYES general producer Katsuhiko Hibino. As Hibino explains:

“We enlisted fashion designer Yoshikazu Yamagata to serve as director of UENOYES this year. He developed the concept of the ‘floating nomad,’ a theme which underpins all the weekend’s programs. As one of the event’s participating artists, I was approached about creating something of a symbolic base for nomads, made entirely out of cardboard. As you can see, the project came to fruition in the form of this large-scale cardboard object. Yurts are unlike the strong, iron-and-glass structures that define more permanent dwellings. Instead, they reflect the nomadic lifestyle, and can be made entirely by hand. They can be disassembled for easy transport, and rebuilt at the next location. In a sense, I felt that cardboard was the ideal material to express a similar, recyclable quality.”

Right on cue, a string of passersby all stopped in their tracks and, as if transfixed, began cobbling together their own additions to the object in progress. Parents stood on tiptoes to stack creations atop the growing pile, while children determinedly added the finishing touches on sprawling doodles. Some of the more intrepid patrons carved intricate patterns with box cutters, and even sculpted animals with long, perky ears. However, for Hibino, cardboard has long been a familiar material in his artist’s repertoire, dating back to his very first works.

“Watching other people at work, I can’t help but want to jump in myself. Whether you’re a kid or an adult, once your imagination has been sparked, you start to envision all sorts of possibilities. You feel an urge to create, and ponder different ways to experiment and put your own spin on the subject. That’s the most important point when it comes to art. On that note, cardboard is a very kind and forgiving material. It’s easy to work with, and instills the confidence for anyone to think, ‘Hey, I could do that. Let’s give it a try.’ Moreover, Ueno is a truly international hub. A diverse range of people are drawn to Ueno for its art museums, the famous zoo, and the Ameya-Yokocho shopping district. Whether from Japan or abroad, all visitors are welcome to contribute to this art monument.  I feel this borderless, open approach to collaboration resonates with the nomadic essence. I think it dovetails nicely with the spirit of this year’s UENOYES, and the message that all of earth’s inhabitants are, fundamentally, nomads.”

A cause that art and fashion students can agree on

Lending a helping hand were students from Hibino’s DOOR project (a certificate program at the Tokyo University of the Arts) and Yamagata’s private fashion school, coconogacco. This hybrid team volunteered throughout the weekend, speaking with visitors in the plaza and assisting with the installation’s physical assembly.

Hitomi Sakaguchi cites a specific interest in the “Art x Welfare” initiative as her motivation for joining the DOOR project. She sees volunteering at UENOYES as an edifying extension of her classwork.

“For today’s event, the ultimate goal of the DOOR team is to help create a resting place, along the lines of a yurt. I’ve lost count of how many boxes I’ve built since this morning. But it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been calling out to event-goers who pass by, and encouraging them to share this special experience with us. I think this all goes to show the power of art.”

Another DOOR member, Yoshie Kawahara, was volunteering with her son Hiroki, a middle-schooler with a penchant for crafts. “How could we pass up the chance to make something with 1,000 cardboard boxes?” As Yoshie invited older event-goers to make their own additions to the ever-changing installation, Hiroki could be seen patiently instructing some curious children in the finer arts of cardboard box assembly. The mother-son duo report that they are frequent patrons of Ueno’s art and natural history museums.

As Naoya Ichida, a coconogacco alumnus serving as the group’s team leader, notes: “We can relate to the salvaging of overlooked scrap material, and reusing it to make something new. It’s a mentality we can identify with as designers.” The coconogacco team elected to explore an animal motif.  A menagerie of whimsical creatures slowly took form in the plaza, crowned with a towering, long-necked cardboard giraffe.

Ueno: The universal home away from home

Hibino locates a common thread symbiotically linking DOOR, coconogacco, and UENOYES:

“Art is universal, accessible to everyone, regardless of age. At the end of the day, it all boils down to expressing your individuality, your own sense of humanity. In other words, art has the unique capacity to give voice to the value of each individual. For example, whereas the conventional approach to fashion education entails the rote acquisition of fundamental tailoring techniques, coconogacco goes a step beyond, and encourages students to freely explore alternate methods in the pursuit of their own creative voice. The same is true of DOOR’s engagement with social welfare.  In the modern era, the impetus is on creating a richer, more diverse society. We all began by questioning the status quo, and were sure we could find many more platforms for art to shine. I think we can all agree UENOYES was the perfect common ground. Ueno has that rare ability to unite a diverse set of people, and showcase what makes each individual special.”

We share the planet with seven billion other souls, each with their own unique outlook on life. We are all born nomads, inherently free to move as we please. Such is the message underlying FLOATING NOMAD.

“Ueno is a renowned cultural hotspot. Everyone knows the many museums, such as the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art (designed by Le Corbusier), as well as prominent institutions such as the Tokyo University of the Arts. However, at the same time, the area also boasts a rich history, with strong local roots. A chaotic cultural melting pot, high society exists side-by-side with the colorful lives of the common folk who have long called this neighborhood home. This receptiveness to input from all walks of life is what makes Ueno great. No matter who you are, or where you’re from, you’ll always have somewhere to belong in Ueno.”

Hibino is optimistic about the future. He recounts how, in recent years, art has broken free from the confines of conventional indoor galleries, and increasingly taken to the streets as a part of the wider community. This local engagement has helped expand art’s role, and has served to communicate innovative new approaches that inherently reflect the unique character of each locale. UENOYES is a prime example of one such harmonious collaboration between art and a community.

On Sunday evening, the sun began its descent beyond the horizon. Over the course of the two-day installation, Hibino’s cardboard object had risen into the Ueno night sky as a soaring ship, an extraordinary monument to the serendipitous encounter between a place and her people. As the event came to a close, the cardboard transformed once more, this time into a stage for the festival’s eclectic house band, FLOATING NOMAD ANONYMOUS, who, by all accounts, gave the project a resounding musical send-off.

Text: Mayumi Yawata　Photos: Kuniko Hirano

UENOYES 2019／FLOATING NOMAD
Cardboard Installation Site

Dates: Saturday, November 9th and Sunday, November 10th, 2019
Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Venue: Ueno Park (Takenodai Plaza adjacent to the Grand Fountain）
Event website: https://uenoyes.ueno-bunka.jp/2019

Note: This event has ended.