【SymbiosisWest Bund】

「共生 Symbiosis」は、自然の中で互いに作用しながら調和し、存在する竹と土という素材に焦点を当てています。それを四代竹雲斎の主要なテーマである「循環」や「つながり」、「守破離」といったものと融合させ、新しい価値観を生み出しています。さらに今回の展示では、「Action Clay　始壊」や「Action Clay　融彩」という作品が新しく加わりました。土を着色することでより自由で多彩な表現法を獲得し、創造・破壊、白黒が表す陰陽、現在・過去・未来といった時間軸など作家自身の内的感情をより繊細に表現することに挑戦しています。四代竹雲斎は、こういったアート作品の制作を通して古くから日本で親しまれている自然素材の保護、ものづくりにおける伝統的技法の再評価や継承といった持続可能な環境作りの役割も担っています。 

From November 14–16, 2025, we presented the exhibition Tanabe Chikuunsai IV at West Bund Art & Design in Shanghai, China. The West Bund district has undergone significant redevelopment in recent years, emerging as a modern urban area centered on business, culture, and leisure, and drawing increasing global attention. In a country with a long history of cultural depth and artistic appreciation, we were honored to be given the opportunity to participate in this prestigious art fair.
The exhibition showcased Tanabe Chikuunsai IV’s new ‘Symbiosis’ series, a body of work that attracted many visitors throughout the fair.
‘Symbiosis’ focuses on bamboo and soil—materials that coexist and find harmony in nature through mutual interaction. By merging these elements with Tanabe Chikuunsai IV’s central themes of circulation, connection, and shu–ha–ri (the traditional Japanese concept of learning, breaking, and transcending forms), the series gives rise to a renewed artistic perspective.
This presentation also introduced new works from the ‘Action Clay’ series, including Shikai and Yūsai. Through the act of coloring soil, the artist explores a freer and more varied expressive language—one that delicately conveys internal emotions through contrasts such as creation and destruction, yin and yang expressed through black and white, and the passage of time linking past, present, and future.
In addition to these artistic explorations, Tanabe Chikuunsai IV also carries an important responsibility in sustaining Japan’s cultural environment: protecting natural materials long cherished in Japanese craft traditions, and revaluing and passing down traditional techniques essential to the art of making.