Greetings

Kinoshita Naoyuki  
Professor, The University of Tokyo/Director, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art

Takaoka city, Toyama prefecture, 2017

It is easy for me to find how unusual this exhibition is since I am working in the world of museums. It is not unlikely or even possible to organize such an exhibition.
Before talking about the exhibition, I would like to thank all those who worked hard to realize this exhibition project. Nothing happens unless someone begins to plan. I am not the one, for sure, even if I am a little impudent. It means there was a laudable person who proposed it. But proposal alone is not enough. We need persons supporting the idea to realize the exhibition. There are people who are key drivers and implementors to make exhibition the reality. The last and the most important is the audience. An exhibition gets its life only when there are people visiting to see it and the staff to manage it behind.
The first challenge we faced in planning the exhibition was what to display to represent the journey of Naoyuki Kinoshita. It is not that I should be sitting in the exhibition hall. Though I plan to do “some performance during the exhibition to add some contents”, the exhibit of me in person surely does not represent my journey but a worn-out old man.
In the course of planning, agreement was reached without difficulty that we would display the 12 books I have written as collection of my works. The hidden wordplay led us to give exhibition dual nature: “Collecting (“atsumeru”) all of Naoyuki Kinoshita’s work” (virtual) and “The whole Naoyuki Kinoshita gets together (“atsumaru”) (real)”. This type of deviation or sidetracking may be the characteristics of my collection representing proliferative development of thoughts and ideas. And we may be able to show some of it here. You may find that I was born to be inclined to play about and that the more I try to behave serious, the more I become playful.
I, however, have something consistent throughout my life; interest in products. I visited Tsukurimon Festival (Festival of decoration) in Fukuoka town with the staff of Gallery A4. I have visited the festival many times. I was glad to find my familiar sign board there, saying “Tsukurimon works are displayed ahead”. The signboard gave much deeper impression than the vegetable decorations. It is the board that inspired me when I was at a loss about my future career. At that time, I was not sure if I would be a curator of a museum, specializing in fine arts or in products. I was surprised that the festival organizer still uses the same signboard. I would ask myself which I am specialized in now and was then. The signboard tells me it does not matter as long as I like the career. It is a signpost for my journey across the border.
I am appreciative of the gallery staff who have patiently worked with me to find the solution when I suddenly came up with the idea to invite Mugidono Daimyojin living in Edo to Tokyo. Ordinary people would be perplexed when I proposed them to go to Kanazawa Bunko station of Keihin Kyuko and take the god back to the gallery, saying he would be visiting a hardware shop there. Please feel relieved. When you are familiarized with the world of Tsukurimono products, Mugidono Daimyojin comes to look like an ordinary person. Through the eyes of Mugidono, you will see that artificial nature of Tsukurimono gradually disappears and fragility of products is replaced with essential solidity and strength. I hope you will enjoy the transition of Japanese townscapes of Meiji, Taisho, Showa and Heisei Era where there is another swing from hardness to softness in recent years.