Highlights from Yokohama Triennale 2017
By Emily Wakeling
This year’s Yokohama Triennale had the title “Islands, Constellations & Galapagos,” tapping into themes of connectivity and isolation. Though connectivity is one of the primary motivations behind international art festivals—it is a chance for art lovers of all ilks to be in the same place at the same time—artists participating in the event made observations about our increasingly fragmented world, as seen in the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union and what the festival’s introduction cites as the rise of populism.
Unlike previous years, this iteration of the Triennale has three co-directors. The exhibition was shaped by a conception meeting that included two artists (Sputniko! and Rirkrit Tiravanija), a professor of anatomy (Takeshi Yoro) and three museum professionals: M+ executive director Suhanya Raffel, Ohara Museum of Art’s Shuji Takashina, and Sendai Mediatheque’s Kiyokazu Washida. Another change in its delivery compared to 2014’s edition was a smaller selection of participants, with 38 artists or artist groups, as well as one project, presenting their work in Yokohama. The primary consequence of a reduced roster was that each artist had more space to display his or her work. Here are some of the highlights.
