"Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" focused on the issue of succession as a hypothetical issue for the future of "NISHINARI YOSHIO" and launched a multi-year progress project.

 

In recent years, the number of foreign residents in Japan has been rapidly increasing in the Nishinari area of Osaka City, the center of our activities. The shopping district, which once thrived as a town of day laborers, attracting workers from all over the country, has been closed due to the aging of the workforce, unemployment caused by the recession, and other changes over the years, but in the past 10 years, a large number of Chinese and Vietnamese karaoke bars and restaurants have moved in.Moreover, as Japan faces a serious labor shortage due to the declining birthrate and aging population, many foreigners are coming to Japan as technical intern trainees, and the number of residents in Nishinari area is on the rise. However, despite the fact that they live in the same area, there are no ties with former residents, and there are few opportunities to learn about their lifestyles and backgrounds. In this situation, we believe that "fashion" is a potential point of contact with these people, and through a series of workshops for making " NISHINARI YOSHIO" clothes, we aim to collaborate with them as co-producers of the brand in the future.

 

The concept of the brand is based on the gap that has existed between the artist NISHIO Yoshinari and elderly women in the community since the beginning. We hope to use the gaps that arise with local residents through our activities as a starting point for new development of the brand.

 

In 2023, with the cooperation of the NPO Japan-Vietnam Support Group, the original clothing-making workshop proposed by NISHIO Yoshinari, which was initially held with local community women, was conducted on a regular basis to communicate with Vietnamese people living in the Kansai region. This year's exhibition will feature a video recording of one of these workshops, "Itadakimặcsu," as well as an exhibition of the clothing produced at the workshop. As a related event, a one-day restaurant will be open to serve dishes prepared in the workshop.

 

*Workshop "I just want to wear it (Itadaki-masu in Japanese)": bringing your favorite "ingredients" and "unwanted clothes" that you imagine from the ingredients, the first half is "cooking" and the second half is cutting or mixing "unwanted clothes" in the same way as cooking. The title of this workshop include "mặc", which means "to wear" in Vietnamese.