Pushing the Boundaries of Bamboo: Tanabe Chikuunsai IV / Artist

"Direct Talk"

Our guest today is artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV.

Tanabe is known for his skillfully woven bamboo sculptures.

He was born into a family of bamboo artists

that has a 120-year history in the craft.

His works have been exhibited

at some of the world's most prestigious art museums,

including the British Museum in London.

He is also known for his large-scale bamboo installations.

Tanabe carries on a generations-old tradition,

while also drawing attention worldwide as a dynamic contemporary artist.

Today he talks about the limitless possibilities of bamboo.

Bamboo is a natural material

that is emblematic of the Japanese sense of beauty.

It's delicate, but also flexible.

In Japanese archaeological sites,

they've found woven bamboo crafts that date back more than 1,000 years.

The fibers are very strong.

Bamboo is an ancient grass that grows in warm, humid regions,

mainly in Asia.

In Japan, it's served as a construction material,

used to make fences and to decorate ceilings and railings.

It's also been used to make tea ceremony utensils,

flower baskets, and more.

Bamboo is deeply embedded in Japanese life and culture.

Bamboo crafts have developed and been refined over the centuries,

prized not only for their utility, but for their unique beauty.

With bamboo crafts, the natural material is beautiful

and it's also fun to work with.

And you're weaving it with your hands,

without using adhesive or anything like that.

So it's an expression of Japanese craftsmanship.

I think that's what speaks to bamboo craft collectors

in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Tanabe's craftworks highlight the natural beauty of bamboo.

But he also uses his skills to create innovative works of

contemporary art that push the boundaries of bamboo.

He's transformed spaces with large-scale,

site-specific bamboo installations.

His dramatic, immersive sculptures

have made him an international artist to watch.

There are elements of installations that are like jazz,

like improvisational music

that you play in a particular space in the moment.

There's a live element.

You incorporate the energy of all the people

who helped create that piece.

That's very important to me.

Tanabe's studio is located in the city of Sakai in Osaka,

which has a long history as a district for craftspeople and merchants.

He's a fourth-generation craftsman

carrying on the Chikuunsai name and legacy.

His craft begins with making "takehigo," thin strips of bamboo.

We have a saying,

"Three years to split bamboo, eight years to weave it."

That's how long it takes to master each step.

We only use the outermost layer of the bamboo,

so about 5% of the shoot.

The part that has the finest, most beautiful fibers.

The thinnest strands we use are about 0.6 millimeters across

and maybe 0.15 millimeters thick.

They're super thin, even thinner than spaghetti.

You can make a loop like this,

and normally the fibers will give and it'll break,

but when you hone your technique, it'll bend without breaking.

These strands are woven together to create bamboo sculptures.

Artisans have refined their skills and knowledge over generations,

devising about 200 unique weaving techniques.

The Chikuunsai family alone

has devised more than 20 of them through dedication to their craft.

Each technique has its own distinct qualities.

"Sukashiami" is the best technique

for drawing out the inherent beauty of bamboo.

It filters light and creates shadows,

and there's a somewhat airy feel to it.

It can be delicate and subtle in a way

that perfectly fits the Japanese aesthetic.

"Araami" is basically the simplest technique.

But its simplicity also makes it difficult to do well.

You do a coarse weave to create a design that looks random.

It's great for expressing the natural beauty

and charm of the bamboo among other things.

Because it's so simple,

it conveys the artist's humanity, their sensibilities.

Artists in my family have appreciated this technique

in particular for generations.

Tanabe's great-grandfather, Chikuunsai I

exhibited this flower basket at the 1925 World's Fair held in Paris.

Its beauty stunned visitors from around the globe.

Chikuunsai II was a master of the open weave.

He sought to express the Japanese idea of beauty.

Tanabe's father, Chikuunsai III,

was inspired by the straight form of bamboo,

and was known for his bold, innovative use of lines.

All three developed their own unique styles.

Tanabe is the second son of Chikuunsai III.

Both he and his older brother grew up around bamboo crafts.

He says that their father was extremely strict,

expecting big things from them in the future.

My father was especially strict with my older brother, the eldest son.

In his mind, the only career path we could possibly have

was to take on the family mantle.

So from a young age,

we were taught that having been born to this family,

we were expected to take up the craft.

The turning point for Tanabe came when he enrolled

in the sculpture department of an art university in Tokyo.

There, he found himself in a free and open environment

where life didn't revolve around bamboo.

He began to have doubts about his future.

I started wondering if I really wanted to do bamboo.

It was like I was trapped, like my future had been written for me.

I was at that age where I wanted to rebel.

I felt lost, like there could be another life out there for me.

I became determined to try other jobs.

So I did all kinds of part-time work.

And I packed up my tent, got on my motorcycle,

and journeyed across Japan to different places.

The artist name "Chikuunsai"

had traditionally been passed down to the eldest son.

As second son, Tanabe began imagining a life apart from bamboo.

At the time, he was living together with his elder brother,

who was also studying at a Tokyo art school.

One day, his brother came to him with some news.

He told me... he said,

he didn't think he was going to take over the family business.

I was speechless.

My older brother wasn't going to take on that role.

But then, what would happen if I said "no," too?

At the same time, I realized that I'd been running from reality,

and I got fed up with myself.

I thought about my family and my parents,

and this legacy coming to an end.

And then I made up my mind to follow in my father's footsteps.

Ready to dedicate himself to bamboo,

he began training in earnest under his father.

But he had to contend with a harsh reality.

As plastic products became the norm,

the everyday bamboo objects

that people used to use were disappearing.

Draining baskets and chopsticks, for example.

As for traditional crafts,

fewer people were taking up flower arrangement and tea ceremony.

So if we couldn't make everyday products

and we couldn't make traditional crafts,

what were we supposed to make?

There was nothing left.

I became worried about the future of bamboo crafts.

Despite the uncertainty, Tanabe continued to work on his craft.

Hoping to find a path forward,

he turned his attention to overseas markets,

where people were starting to recognize the artistry of bamboo crafts.

Ever since, he's frequently held exhibitions abroad.

During a trip to London in 2009,

he had an encounter that would inspire

a new creative direction in his work.

An art installation by the contemporary artist Anish Kapoor.

I just walked in not really knowing what to expect,

and there was this huge cannon

that shot this red slime-like stuff onto the walls.

He was splattering paint in the Royal Academy of Arts,

in this historic building.

A contemporary art piece.

It blew my mind, I was stunned.

I realized you had to go big

if you wanted to make an impression on people.

With my own bamboo work, I needed to think bigger,

and create something that would make an impact.

That's what my work lacked.

Ever since, Tanabe has been creating massive installations

in Japan and abroad,

using the coarse weaving technique

passed down through his family for generations.

To date, he's created 39 site-specific installations in nine countries.

He exhibited several works at this art fair held in March 2022.

This piece is called "Recirculation."

There's a part where the bamboo fans out against the wall,

which is like the big bang, the force of creation.

You need an explosive power in the beginning.

You need that energy to set things in motion.

That energy is transferred to the ground,

and then it recirculates back up to the top.

The installation is designed for visitors

to walk through and view it from the inside.

When you're inside,

you get to experience how the bamboo gently filters the light.

I've had many people say to me

they were surprised at how beautiful it is.

So installations like these allow me to immerse people

in the beauty of open weaving,

and they can experience the beauty of bamboo firsthand.

The theme of Tanabe's installations is

"art that remains in our memories."

When the exhibition is done,

the installation is taken apart carefully, but without hesitation.

When we finish with an exhibition,

we unweave the bamboo strip by strip.

The bamboo is all reusable.

So using a material like bamboo makes this a sustainable art.

Tanabe continues to breathe new life

into the traditional world of bamboo crafts.

He's currently teaching his craft to his 3 children

as well as 11 apprentices.

Gone are the strict training methods of the past.

And whenever he exhibits his work overseas,

he makes it a point to bring them all along.

Traveling abroad, learning about other cultures,

meeting different people,

and having those experiences will feed into their craft

and shape their personalities in a great way.

In that sense, installations are great educational opportunities.

The work has to be aspirational.

So I try to show my apprentices and children

that this job has so much to offer them.

(Do you have any words to live by?)

"Tradition is about innovation."

Tradition is not about passing on things as they are.

It's about constantly trying new things for the age you live in.

And the spirit of daring,

innovation, is what will keep a tradition alive.

I hope to create a future together with my family and my apprentices.