Design Festa 09

Design Festa is a huge community art event held twice a year in the Tokyo Big Sight convention hall on Odaiba. 1000 yen gets you a one day pass to explore the 2500 plus art spaces set up inside. Most of the "creators" are amateur artists and hobbyists, but their skill level and creativity is well developed and you won't be disappointed. I went on Saturday, May 16 and after spending seven hours there, my feet were worn out!

There is a fashion section with hand-made apparel, funky t-shirts and accessories for sale. The craft area is chock full of dolls, paper craft and other original creations. But the bulk of the event is devoted to art. From illustrations of cute characters to live performances to inventive photography, you will be overloaded by the amount of talent. And in-between all this creativity, you're sure to find a number of surprises and just plain wackiness.

What I enjoy the most about Design Festa is the spirit of the people. They are there not just to make sales, but rather to share their art with others. Even with the language barrier, everyone I spoke with enjoyed telling me about their works. For more info check out www.designfesta.com.


Many of the artists offer postcards of their work for sale for 100 or 150 yen. It's fun to collect the art you like this way. I bought ten postcards.


This young girl made these stuffed creatures. The detail of each doll is amazing!


This guy was wearing a signboard offering to take a photo of you as you jump. On his table he displayed postcards of jumpers from previous Design Festa events. After I did it, I asked him to jump for me!


Some of the artists offered to draw your portrait for only 100 yen! I want to get mine next time.


A young artist in her booth space. A small space costs about $200 for the two day event.


Some Design Festa fun!

For more Design Festa pics, go to my Flickr.

F.O.B. II: Art Speaks - Vietnamese American Art Show

Tram Le and Lan Duong, Co-Curators of F.O.B. II: Art Speaks

F.O.B. II: Art Speaks was an art show featuring over 50 visual and performing artists from the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American community. The event was organized by the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) and co-curated by Tram Le and Lan Duong. It was held at the VAALA Center in Santa Ana, CA. The show was scheduled to run from January 9-18, 2009, but within the community where bitter memories of the war in Vietnam still run deep, political activists came out to protest the art show when they falsely believed that the art supported communism. The show organizers shut down the show three days early.

I intended to interview Tram and Lan at the VAALA Center on the night of a live performance event that was part of the show. But I arrived in Orange County only to find the doors locked and the show canceled. Fortunately I was able to catch up with the co-curators at a restaurant where they were having dinner with some of the artists and other supporters. Even though it had been a long hard day dealing with the protesters, the local law and the media, they agreed to do an interview. Inside the restaurant was too dark and noisy, so the only place I could do the interview was in the parking lot.

For more information on VAALA visit www.vaala.org

Part 1


Part 2