What is the innovative impact of the Bauhaus today, 100 years after its formation? The Goethe-Institut Tokyo has repeatedly tried to answer this question within the last months, and will offer lectures, documentaries, a virtual reality tour, videogames, and a digital reader on this matter throughout October 2019.
Bauhaus Open-End will present surprising reinterpretations of the German art school’s concepts by students who are currently in training for jobs in the creative sector, and will challenge the myths surrounding the Bauhaus with the help of the latest research findings.
Tue 1.10.-Fr 4.10., 12-19 h (Foyer)
Sa 5.10.-Sun 6.10. 10-17 h (Library)
Goethe-Institut Tokyo
German / English / Japanese
Free admission, please register (Ger/Jap)
Dive right into Bauhaus! This virtual reality immersion transports you to one of the headquarters of the famous art school, the iconic Bauhaus building in Dessau, Germany. Suitable for English speaking audiences.
Mi. 2.10., 19:00
Goethe-Institut Tokyo, Hall
Film: Japanese with English subtitles
Talk: English and Japanese
Free admission, please register (Ger/Jap)
What is it like to live in a Bauhaus building? Two houses remain in Tokyo’s suburbs today, Migishi Atelier and Bunzo Yamaguchi House. Verena Beckerath’s documentation portrays the architecture and its present use. Suitable for English speaking audiences.
Festival Bauhaus Lantern Festival
Changed to MONDAY, Oct. 14th, due to Taifun No. 19
Mon 14.10., 15:00
Goethe-Institut Tokyo Hall, Foyer etc.
German / Japanese
Free admission, please register (Ger/Jap)
Illumination of the Goethe-Institut Tokyo with artistically designed lanterns, lamps, and projections. The event is a reference to one of the first festivals at the historical Bauhaus, which in turn was inspired by Asian festivals. Suitable for English speaking audiences
Fri 18.10. (19h) -Sun 20.10.
Goethe-Institut Tokyo, Hall and Foyer
Free admission
Racing through Johannes Itten’s theory of colours? Come and test our selection of Bauhaus videogames! On the 19th at 2 pm the young developers will present their games and develop new ones live. The games are suitable for English speaking audiences, the presentation will be in German and Japanese.
Lecture Using Bauhaus aesthetics in propaganda – Japanese graphic design in the prewar era
Fri 25.10. 19:00
Goethe-Institut Tokyo, Library
German and Japanese
Free admission, please register (Ger/Jap)
How were graphic design and photo journalism instrumentalized for propaganda purposes during the 1930’s and 1940’s in Japan? Mariko Takagi, Associate Professor at the Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts, will talk about the roles of Japanese artists who studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, such as architect Iwao Yamawaki.
Bauhaus on the big screen: The “Bauhaus 100 Film Festival” presents six documentaries, all of them Japan premieres. Some, such as “Fagus – Walter Gropius and the Factory for Modernity” or “Mies on Scene”, are suitable for English speaking audiences.
Facing the challenges of industrialization and urban life in the 20th century, the Bauhaus aimed to overcome the separation between art and craftsmanship. In order to create a modern type of human beings and shape their surroundings, architecture became the Bauhaus’s epitome of the total artwork, synthesizing all forms of creative expression. Within its only 14 years of existence the Bauhaus shaped a whole generation of imaginative minds who initiated radical paradigm shifts in art and culture that still prevail today. How could the Bauhaus achieve to set free this enormous creative potential within such a short amount of time, even though it had to navigate many economic and political pitfalls?
The Goethe-Institute Tokyo’s project Bauhaus Open-end focusses on the young generation of artists who used the Bauhaus to relentlessly realize their experiments. Thus, the program will feature the contributions of students of several German and Japanese academies and universities who are now the same age as their famous predecessors. The program of Bauhaus Open-End will present surprising reinterpretations of the German art school’s concepts by students who are currently in training for jobs in the creative sector, and will challenge the myths surrounding the Bauhaus with the help of the latest research findings.
