Can you survive and thrive in the "Art Restoration"?

Hello everyone. I am Takashi Murakami, the chairman of this event "GEISAI".

It has been one year since the launch of GEISAI. We want to be a revolutionary event that is a competition for young artists, an art flea market, and an art festival at the same time! The "GEISAI" series, a festival of the arts, has finally entered its third year.

Looking back, GEISAI-1 (Tokyo Tower Amusement Hall) in the spring of last year was followed by GEISAI-2 (Tokyo Big Sight) in the summer without a pause! We were also struggling with the unfamiliarity of managing an event, but with your instructions, encouragement, and overwhelming pep talks, we were able to hold the event this time as well, while generating controversy from the industry. However, we had no idea that the third event would be so difficult. In 2003, we would like to change the theme of "GEISAI" to "Rehabilitate the world through art" and "Restoration of art". We are currently cultivating the wasteland that is "Japan without an art scene," but a hole is definitely beginning to open up in the art scene. And it is not only in Japan. A revolution has already begun.

This year's GEISAI-3 has been changed from a two-day event to a one-day event. This is a major change of direction for us, and a new proposal from GEISAI, which is always changing. In other words, it is a "new mechanism" to increase the tension and excessive enthusiasm among the organizers, exhibitors, and customers.

Speaking of other changes, the exhibition will be held at the new venue, Pacifico Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan. This is the site of the international exhibition "Yokohama Triennale" and the international art fair "NICAF," both of which are fresh in the minds of art fans, and therefore provides a rich context in which to raise objections to the art industry.

What will "GEISAI" show in response to these preceding events? We would like to initialize history and memory, and together with you, we would like to launch the site of a new art revolution. In this sense, please pay attention to the general exhibitors at this year's "GEISAI-3. That being said, we have been inundated with booth applications this time, exceeding the 1,015 we had planned to launch. As a result of the committee's consideration of this situation, the "artist booths" by planned professional artists, which were so well received at "GEISAI-2," have been completely eliminated. The number of general participation booths was increased to compensate for this.

With this change in policy, we hope to leave the excitement of this year's event in the hands of each and every one of you in the general public booths. Visitors' eyes will be focused on each and every one of your booths and works, without being bound by name value. This is a great responsibility. Serious competition awaits you, not only with the judges, but also with the visitors. Each participant is truly the star of the show, and each visitor creates his or her own situation.

In addition, "GEISAI University," a related event by "GEISAI," which presents "art rehabilitation," is also becoming more active. In order to nurture stronger artists, I, Takashi Murakami, provide monthly support to GEISAI exhibitors, such as "how to become a professional artist" and "how to explain the fair price of artworks" under the guidance of Takashi Murakami. The realistic lectures from the "front line" that are not taught in art school classes are, so to speak, like Yoshida Shoin's "Shoukasonjuku," which produced many of the people who became the driving force behind the "Meiji Restoration. Will "GEISAI-3" bring about a revolution in consciousness among the exhibitors who receive the lectures? Well, this is an exaggeration.... This is one of the highlights to look forward to.

The phrase "make the uninteresting world interesting" was coined by Shinsaku Takasugi, a central figure in the Meiji Restoration, and sums up the spirit of GEISAI, which aims to build an "art festival" in Japan, a country without an art scene. We hope that all visitors will keep their eyes peeled from every corner of the exhibition hall to feel the touch of "art in the rough" and participate in this "festival of the unusual".

(From the GEISAI#3 pamphlet)