Shinya Aota : ZAKKA -Goods and Things- (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Roppongi)

Shinya Aota : ZAKKA -Goods and Things- (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Roppongi)

2.26 - 6.5, 2016

[Participating Creators]

Shinya Aota, Hidenori Ikeda / Saiko Ito (Lifestyle Adventurer), Mayumi Kawahara, Haruka Kunimatsu, Junya Kojima (Superposition Inc.), Rui Shimamoto / Woomin Hyun (CGM), Syunichi Suge, D&DEPARTMENT, Norihiko Terayama (studio note), Teppei Nomoto, Shunya Hagiwara, Shigeki Fujishiro, Matsunoya, Ryuto Miyake, Philippe Weisbecker, others

[Exhibitors]

Miyoko Okao, Kazuto Kobayashi (Roundabout, OUTBOUND), Mana and Takashi Kobayashi (ima design office), Yoshiko Takahashi (S/S/A/W), Naomi Hirabayashi, Lucas B.B. (PAPERSKY), PUEBCO INC., Kyoko and Masato Hori (CINQ, SAML.WALTZ), Tomi Matsuba (Gungendo), Yoshiyuki Morioka (Morioka Shoten), others

*The content above is subject to change without prior notice.

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT will hold "ZAKKA -Goods and Things-" Exhibition beginning February 26, 2016.
There are a great many things in our everyday lives that fall under the term zakka, which is generally rendered in English as "sundries" or "miscellaneous goods." While all these zakka are quite familiar to Japanese and readily available, the definition is elusive: it is hard to put your finger on what makes something zakka.

To begin with, the descriptive zatsu 雑, which is the first part of the compound zakka, means "things that cannot be categorized" as well as "things that are mixed together with great variety." Things considered zakka and the origins of this ambiguous category are parallel to and symbolic of the history of evolving Japanese lifestyles: at every turning point in the history of their country the people of Japan have flexibly integrated diverse styles of life and new customs introduced from the outside, and in adapting to those changes have incorporated an enormous variety of new things.

Around half a century ago, up to about the time when Japan was enjoying a long period of rapid economic growth, zakka generally referred to things like kettles, brooms, buckets, and other utensils necessary household items. Now, however, on the shelves of modern zakkaya, or "miscellaneous goods stores," shoppers can find drinking glasses, knives, dishes, brushes, stools, and sometimes even food and cosmetics. The enormous variety of things available at zakkaya now far exceeds what the category originally implied, and has come to include things that consumers cannot imagine when they might use―and even things that serve no purpose whatsoever. In this age of the internet, people can freely obtain the things that suit their tastes and sensibilities whenever and wherever they want online. As this trend grows and even accelerates, the scope covered by the concept of zakka will likewise grow.

Given these trends, if we were to settle on a rough, flexible definition of zakka, it would probably be something like "things that accompany our everyday lifestyle spaces and provide a subtle element of decoration." Through acts and experiences of searching for, selecting, buying, using, decorating, mixing and matching zakka, we rediscover the inherent allure of these miscellaneous things, and they in turn bring joy to our lives. Zakka have now become essential components of modern living spaces.
This upcoming exhibition will take a broad look at the sensibilities behind zakka and the environments they occupy, viewing them as constituting a unique culture of their own, and drawing attention to the appeal of their design and appearance.