Collective Action

• EXHIBITION

Collective Action is an artist collective formed by Yoshida Shinichiro, an artist and textile collector/scholar, and curator Akimoto Yuji. Its past exhibitions include The Mingei Spirit: Minimalist by Nature at the Asia NOW 2024 art fair in Paris. The exhibition reevaluated the beauty of mingei (Japanese folk craft) through a contemporary installation of plant-fiber textiles worn by workers from the Edo period to the Meiji period. These textiles were woven from the fibers of wild or cultivated plants (arrowroot, Japanese banana plant, hemp, etc.), occasionally intertwined with used paper and other materials. Their minimalist beauty stemmed from the austerity of the ordinary people’s lifestyle, in contrast to the beauty of wealth and excess that arose from the cultures of court nobles and samurai. This ecological craftsmanship resonates with modern society and embraces new possibilities that emerge from a collective nature, independent of individuality.
Yoshida Shinichiro was born in Kyoto in 1948. An encounter with Joseph Beuys caused him to shift his artistic focus from white paintings. After studying antiques and folklore, he has spent over 40 years researching, collecting, and presenting ramie and hemp fabrics, driven by the concept of “the exploration of white.” He exhibited at the Go for Kogei 2022 special exhibition, The Act of Making: Intersections of Region, Lifestyle, and Faith (Shokoji Temple, Toyama Prefecture, 2022).

EXHIBITION

HIGASHIYAMA AREA