From April 29 to May 5, 2025, B-OWND participated in the “Future Life Experience,” part of the Future Society Showcase Program at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. In the booth produced by B-OWND, under the theme of “Future Culture,” we presented the question and proposal of “spirituality in Japanese traditional culture,” creating a space where tea ceremony experiences and art exhibitions merged.

Where is the boundary between craft and art? Some 400–500 years ago, tea gatherings were the pinnacle of art events, integrating various tools and spatial design into a total work of art that led the cultural movement of the time. Yet functional craft has long been translated as “craft,” separated from art.
Taking into account this ambiguous relationship that has continued since the World Expositions of the Meiji era, B-OWND made it the central theme of this exhibition to ask whether the works of today’s craft artists should be regarded as “tools” or as “art,” within the context of the modern Expo.

The booth produced by B-OWND featured diverse works by 18 ceramic and glass artists, including the premiere of a digital hanging scroll that combined gaming elements with traditional scroll aesthetics. At the center of the venue, a tearoom was installed, where a tea master from TeaRoom Inc. served tea. Visitors not only viewed the artists’ works but also had the special opportunity to touch and use them, experiencing their appeal more deeply.

So Ikegami, Toru Ichikawa, Noriaki Imamura, Yuki Inoue, Kodai Ujie, Naoko Oku, Ryotaro Kato, Takahiro Koga, Tomoya Sakai, Nami Takahashi, Mieko Noguchi, Jasmine Noda, Tomoyuki Hoshino, Yoshiko Masumoto, Hosai Matsubayashi, Satoshi Miyashita, Yosuke Yamaura, Gentaro Yokoyama

・Event Title: Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai – Future Life Experience
・Dates: April 29 (Tue) – May 5 (Mon), 2025
・Venue: Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai – Future Life Village, Booth No. D1, D2
・Related Program: Simultaneously, B-OWND Gallery in Tokyo (Hankyu Men’s Tokyo) presented an exhibition under the same theme, “TOOL or ART,” featuring works by the same 18 artists.