From 1 September to 1 November, you can see an exhibition of Japanese artist Tatsuya Tanaka’s work in the MUJI HOTEL in Beijing. The Japanese lifestyle brand not only brought the artist’s work to the ground floor of the hotel but also the artist for curation. The exhibition is fittingly named “small MUJI”.
There are in total 16 pieces of art on display at the MUJI-themed exhibition. Each piece was created around MUJI products and miniature models, in the typical style of Tanaka. Each installation recreates a scene from everyday life with everyday objects, such as a busy restaurant kitchen made from staples and a crop harvest scene recreated with brushes. Tanaka explores the stackability, connectivity and replaceability of MUJI items while creating these pieces. Both the installation and photograph taken are exhibited at the hotel so visitors can see both the final product and its model.
The “small MUJI” initiative was a collaborative effort created between Tanaka and MUJI that started in 2019 and has since then been on tour. It just finished its Singapore leg back in April. Exclusively for the Beijing exhibition, a larger scale installation made with many homeware and fashion items was created. Tastuya Tanaka created a sprawling mountain view inspired by the Great Wall of China, from villages below to the cable cars taking victors up to the wall.
MUJI has been expanding its lifestyle products and services beyond homeware, stationery, fashion and accessories. It launched its hotel chain MUJI HOTEL, first in Shenzhen in January 2018 and then in Beijing in March of the same year, before opening its latest location in Ginza, Tokyo in 2019. It has also opened its Café MUJI coffee shop, which started in Shanghai and most recently opened a pop-up in Suzhou this August. Opening hotels and coffee shops is a great way for MUJI to showcase its lifestyle products. The current MUJI exhibition in Beijing, not only provides a “check-in” spot in its hotel but also brings some playfulness to its minimalist designs. The homage to the Great Wall is also a great touch for localisation.
