“Woven Identities: A Textile Dialogue Between Africa and Japan”

Thandiwe Muriu is a Kenyan photographer who examines themes of identity, culture, and female empowerment through her works. Her pieces are deeply inspired by textile narratives, primarily the Ankara (wax) and the East African kanga fabric, which she uses as a canvas to redefine, celebrate, and remember. Still based in Kenya she exhibited world wide including the 60th Venice Biennale Collateral Event Passengers in Transit presented by the CCA Lagos, WAX! Exhibition at Musée de l’Homme Paris, or I Am Because You Are a solo show at New York University, among others. She also participated in the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Residency Program and in a residency program with the National Museum of Kenya.

1980: Assuming the title of Kondaya Genbei 10th Yamaguchi Gembei; dedicates himself to “tai-zukuri”
1985: Holds solo exhibition featuring rare primitive fabrics from across Japan. Subsequently focuses on material value, incorporating wild silk from India and Southeast Asia into Obi
1994: 260th Anniversary Exhibition held at the late Edo-period machiya in Kyoto's Rokujo district
1999: Kyoto Kondaya Genbei Obi and Kimono Exhibition
2000: Kondaya Genbei: Woven Obi Exhibition
2002: “Kaguyako no Mayu Koishimaru” Exhibition (at Sogetsu Kaikan). Featuring Rie Miyazawa as Princess Mayuhime; attended by Her Imperial Highness Princess Mikasa-no-miya and numerous Imperial Household Agency officials. Received the Nikkei Excellence Award for this project. Reviving and sustaining the Koishimaru, Japan's native cocoon, and revitalizing Japanese dyeing techniques
2003: Received the Japan Culture Design Award (at Roppongi Hills, Tokyo)
2004: Held the “Weaving Noh” trio exhibition with graphic designer Heikichi Harata and the personal collection of the Hosomi Museum Director (at Kousei-in Temple); subsequently engaged in research on the “Spiritual History of Patterns”
2006: Held an art collaboration with Hiroko Koshino and Kengo Kuma (at Daimaru Museum Tokyo)
2008: Held a fashion show titled “Kabukumonotachi no Keihu” (at Tokyo Midtown).Collaborated with United Arrows to present a collection for FW.
2009 Designed costumes for the film “Hogai Bito” starring Min Tanaka, creating the Heisei-era “Funzoe”
2012 Appeared on NHK BS's “Takeshi Art☆Beat” as “the man who breathes soul into Obi” Served as the image character for the “TOYOTA 86”.
2014 Collaboration with artist Fuyuko Matsui to express paintings through Obi
March 7: Unveiled at the "Art no Yakai" in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
April 4: “冬子櫻嵐の夜会” held at the Kondaya Headquarters in Muromachi, Kyoto. Partnered with Avex Group Holdings to launch “Mayotae,” a fabric brand using hemp cloth
2016: Seven works by Kondaya Genbei are acquired for permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK.
2019: NHK BS Premium airs “Ippin Special: The Ultimate Obi - Master Obi Craftsman Genbei Yamaguchi and His Team, documenting the 10-month challenge to create the “Nachi no Takizu" Obi.
2022: At KYOTOGRAPHIE Kyoto International Photography Festival, unveiled the world's first photographic Obi woven from platinum prints created by Spanish photographer Isabel Muñoz.
2023: Wove the National Treasure “Yohen Tenmoku Chawan” from the Fujita Museum collection and Seiho Takeuchi's painting “Ojisizu” into an Obi, exhibited at the Fujita Museum.

Lighting Director. Yusuke Nakanishi was born in 1968 in Fukuoka, and currently lives in Kyoto. He travels the world, expressing his impressions of light and shadow from his memories. He has worked as a lighting director for music videos, feature films, stages, music concerts, fashion shows and interior designs. He also created lighting object series eatable lights and Tamashii and has exhibited installations at the Hara Museum, School Gallery (Paris), including Nuit Blanche in Kyoto. He co-founded KYOTOGRAPHIE with Lucille Reyboz in 2013 and is the co-director. In Autumn 2022, he was involved in the creative direction for Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition LIGHT OF FLOWERS, which was held on the grounds of Shimogamo Shrine and the Tadasunomori Forest. In 2023, he co-founded KYOTOPHONIE Borderless Music Festival with Lucille Reyboz.