21_21 DESIGN SIGHT

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT will hold an exhibition "The Art of the RAMEN Bowl" from March 7, 2025. Exhibition Directors are Taku Satoh, graphic designer, and Mari Hashimoto, writer.

This exhibition has been developed from the previous "The Art of the RAMEN Bowl" held at several domestic and international venues, which was itself one of a number of projects about Mino ceramics begun by Satoh, graphic designer, and Hashimoto in 2012.
Mino is the general term for wares made predominantly in the western Tono region (Tajimi, Toki and Mizunami cities), where fully 90% of Japanese ramen bowls are produced. By looking at this familiar object from a range of angles, Satoh and Hashimoto have been communicating the fascination of Mino ware's more-than 1300-year history. They have involved contemporary potters while also invoking the huge variety of cultural environments that this seemingly humble and demotic bowl crosses, bringing, as it does so, a richness to everyday life.

This exhibition shows 40 original works from a set titled Artist Ramen Bowls. These Mino ware bowl-and-spoon pairs are designed by artists and creators from a range of productive fields. The Artist Ramen Bowls series has been ongoing since the beginning of Satoh and Hashimoto's Mino projects. Ten new pairs will be included for the first time. Also new are Ramen Stalls designed by three groups of architects and designers. The exhibition employs "design anatomy" to consider ramen and ramen bowls. It also outlines the history and culture of ramen, and introduces the natural environment of the production center of Tono. "Design anatomy" is a research method for analyzing familiar commodities by dissecting and assessing them from a number of "design viewpoints."

Ramen is not only for hurried eating while busy. It can also be enjoyed in a relaxed way, or on holiday. It is eaten in all kinds of situation. Portable and convenient when traveling, it can be for emergency sustenance, and has even been consumed in space. Ramen brings us a moment of happiness. By looking at ramen from the perspective of the bowl, we hope visitors will enjoy the fascination of discovering what goes into making up the everyday ramen experience, and people and designs lying behind it.