A Retrospective of 美
It has been 4 years now that 美: a series of creative talks, a team of students from the University of Tokyo, has been organizing talk events with artists of the Tokyo scene. This article offers a retrospective of the passed nine chapters of 美 (read bi) through the amazing posters that have been made for each event.
As 美 was just starting under Manasa Sitaram’s impulse in 2014, Chapters 1 and 2 did not have a proper poster for them.
Two guest speakers came to the very first chapter of 美, Chapter 1: Childhood and Heritage. First guest was James Sutherland, the founder and director of the International Center for Theatre Arts (C.I.T.A), officially founded in Tokyo in 2012. The second one was Divya Cherian, an International freelance artist and designer, and founder of Bite The Rainbow, company for Freelance International Art & Design, founded in 2011.
A few months later came Chapter 2: Education. This time, two professors of the University of Tokyo, Jonathan Woodward, a band vocalist and environmental sciences professor, and Fusako Beuckmann, a pottery artist and Japanese language professor, came to talk about their second artistic life. Read more about this event here.
From Chapter 3 to Chapter 7, Erin Kawazu, one of the first 美人 (bijin) as we like to call ourselves, took on the artistic direction and designed a poster for each event.
Chapter 8 was somehow transitional as it was the last one with the original team, and the first one with many new recruits. This time Nina Belova took on the creation of the poster.
For 美’s latest chapter, two new members paired up to create the design of the poster: Alexine Yap and Lexa Kai Brieck.
Autumn has come and a new academic year is now starting. This post is my last one as 美’s leader, for as I have just graduated from the University of Tokyo, I am also retiring from the team. I am passing the baton to Dhriti Mehta, Alexine Yap and everyone else for the rest! Many new projects and events are coming up and I am excited to see, as an outsider now, what will become of 美. Check out the team’s Facebook page to stay updated about next creative talk, and 美’s Medium publication for some upcoming inspiring articles.
