BANANA to YELLOW x Fantasista Utamaro Limited Collection 2024
"YOU ARE THE BEST"
https://banana-to-yellow.jp/collectio...
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Credit:
Collaboration Artist: Fantasista Utamaro
Brand Director: Tadamasa Minami
Executive Producer: Masayoshi Zenigame
Production Manager: Ai Hachinohe
Film Credit:
Director: Fantasista Utamaro
Director of Photography: Masahiro Takai
Composer: Shin Sakaino Feat. HanaNYC
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Concept:
The Fanciest cheesy souvenir made in Kyoto
During Japan's high economic growth, tourist spots were lined with free and diverse souvenir shops. Fantasista Utamaro defined the worldview of the miscellaneous and cheap souvenirs of that time as a worldview filled with a freedom spirit and creativity that is not bound by anything. The idea for this project was born from creating a masterpiece (made in Kyoto) in the context of souvenirs in modern Japan!
The design motifs of the folding fans are "CEO," "VIP," and "OMG." "CEO" is the CEO who is the literary boss of a company. "VIP" is the person who is a celebrity person, and "OMG" is "Oh my god!"
For the inside, we designed the words "YOU ARE THE BEST" as a positive message that praises you every time you use it, with the desire to celebrate super the tourists who visit Kyoto, the history of Kyo folding fans that continues for over 1200 years, and the people who have supported this culture up to the present day.
The artwork born from this idea of Utamaro is handcrafted one by one by artisans who have inherited the traditional culture of Kyoto folding fans, creating folding fans in which tradition and innovation coexist. In addition to the three types of regular folding fans, we will sell a limited edition with a black Japan lacquer finish on the ribs.
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Artist Comment:
Ten years have passed since I moved to New York to deliver Japanese culture to the world in higher resolution through my creations. Although I faced countless hardships in the away land of New York, I have been working hard on my creative activities, supported by the spirit of symbiosis (helping each other) inherent in Japanese culture.
Encouraging myself as a Japanese artist (self-proclaimed) competing on the world stage, I began to want to cherish the long-standing Japanese culture even more. I thought about contributing to developing traditional Japanese culture in my daily work. In the midst of all this, President Minami of Miyawaki Baisenan approached me about a collaboration between BANANA to YELLOW.
Then, I learned that folding fans originated in Japan and were introduced to the world. Nowadays, they are defined as a tool to beat the heat, but I was moved to learn that folding fans originally existed as a "space between people" and "letters." I wanted to know if the roots of the emojis that we use every day on our smartphones were in Kyoto folding fans! In the past, folding fans existed as a flexible communication tool.
I was deeply moved to learn that this flexible manner, which can be said to be the "hospitality" that the Japanese have long cultivated, was born in this world in the form of folding fans 1,200 years ago and has been passed down to the world.
I felt a sense of mission to somehow convey this beautiful culture and context to the modern world, and I created an artwork to dedicate my life to it. Through this project, I would like to convey the philosophy of this long-standing culture to the world along with the folding fans.
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Store / BANANA to YELLOW
https://banana-to-yellow.jp/
Miyawaki Baisenan
http://www.baisenan.co.jp/
Fantasista Utamaro
https://www.fantasistautamaro.com/
Masahiro Takai / Director of Photography
https://www.masahirotakai.com/
Shin Sakaino / Composer
https://shinsakaino.wixsite.com/my-site