Brown Foundation Gallery

November 25, 2017 – January 7, 2018

Opening Reception Saturday, November 25, 2017
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Artist talk at 6:30 PM

Motoyuki Noguchi & Toshimichi Minagawa
Taiguruma Radio Station

Taiguruma Radio Station reintroduces the lost art and tradition of Japanese “fish cart” lanterns through an installation by Motoyuki Noguchi and Toshimichi Minagawa. Taiguruma originated in the town of Maki in Niigata Prefecture, Japan during the Edo Period (1603-1868). Pulled by children to cemeteries during Obon festivals each August, these lanterns were created to honor and communicate with the spirits of their carriers’ ancestors. The craft and traditions associated with Taiguruma disappeared when their last craftsman passed away over 20 years ago. Since 2004, Motoyuki Noguchi, leader of the Taiguruma Revival Project, has worked to revive and preserve this craft and engage communities in this traditional practice. Along with his collaborator, Toshimichi Minagawa, Noguchi has introduced Taiguruma through workshops and exhibitions throughout Japan and abroad.

Expanding on the tradition of communicating with our ancestors, Noguchi and Minagawa’s installation offers visitors an opportunity to open a line of communication across borders, generations, and cultures through messages collected from visitors and a local radio broadcast. In collaboration with Ball High School’s KTOR radio, messages from the installation will be read on the air periodically through the duration of the exhibition.

This exhibition marks Noguchi and Toshimichi’s fifth visit to Galveston, Niigata City’s sister city and is presented in conjunction with their annual lantern workshop at the Galveston Art League.

Motoyuki Noguchi (b.1981) received his Master’s in Visual Communication and Design from the Nagaoka Institute of Design in Niigata, Japan, in 2004. In 2009, The Taiguruma Revival Project won the Wakuwaku Town Daisakusen Competition sponsored by Mos Burger and received sponsorship for their activities for one year. In 2011, the project received the Shinkosho Award from Tiffany Foundation, recognizing the notable contribution to the preservation of Japanese traditional arts and culture in contemporary society and revitalization of local communities. Since 2013, Taiguruma workshops have been held every November in Galveston, TX, the sister city of Niigata City, Japan.

Toshimichi Minagawa (b. 1976) graduated from Nagaoka Institute of Design in 1998, where he studied the preservation and utilization of historic cultural properties. In 2001, he began working with the Maki city town management organization on urban revitalization projects. He has served as the project planner for the Taiguruma Revival Project since 2005, working with installation design, presentations, workshops, festivals, and technical support in Japan and overseas. In 2013, Minagawa established the Nakayoshikawa Apartment Project design team, a revitalization project in a former soy sauce and miso factory in the Maki ward of Niigata City. Since 2015 the team has worked to light up the factory’s iconic red brick chimney as a remembrance of the factory’s former industry. Minagawa is also currently working with area Kenkou knife makers on sales of their products and through securing a successor to learn these skills for future generations to appreciate.

www.taiguruma.com