Making Space

"I have been in Japan for two and a half days, overwhelmed with navigating Tokyo and the Shinkansen railway lines. I am arriving at Cedar House, a small A-frame structure designed by Japanese architect Go Hasegawa and made mostly of cedarwood and glass, directly on the banks of the Yoshino River in Nara Prefecture. A wall of windows faces the river, and already I can feel its energy."

"Space Un was initiated and founded by Edna Dumas-a French Cameroonian who first lived in Japan as a university student in the 1990s-and cofounded by Japanese artist and actor Yuta Nakano. It is the only artistic platform in Tokyo with the mission of promoting and exhibiting contemporary art by artists from Africa and the African diaspora. When I first heard of the idea, it seemed like an unlikely alignment."

Yoshino is a cedarwood-manufacturing town in the Kii Mountains about three hundred miles from Tokyo, where Cedar House sits on the Yoshino River. Cedar House is an A-frame designed by Go Hasegawa, built mostly of cedarwood and glass with a wall of windows facing the river. The water, mountains, and cedar forest create a palpable natural vibration. Space Un, initiated and founded by Edna Dumas and co-founded by Yuta Nakano, is a Tokyo-based gallery dedicated to promoting and exhibiting contemporary art by artists from Africa and the African diaspora. The residency program splits between the Tokyo gallery and the Yoshino residence, and the architecture subtly hints at a marriage of cultural references.

Read at Artforum