Michito Taniguchi

(born 1988)

This emerging artist on the Japanese bamboo arts scene is originally from Tottori in Chūgoku Province on the main island of Honshū. Having received his training, like many of his peers, at the Oita Institute of Technology and later at the Beppu Advanced Industrial Arts and Technology Institute, he pursued an apprenticeship with artist Nakatomi Hajime in the small town of Takeda in Oita Prefecture.

Subsequently, and as an independent artist going forward, Taniguchi Michito wished to imbue his works with the concept of memory and remembrances. He thus declares his works bring the forgotten divinities and the Japanese gods of antiquity back to life by invoking them through a particularly energetic and complex style of weaving. He is also fascinated by the trajectories of objects that come from the oceans or are abandoned by the tides on unknown beaches.

"Shells, pebbles, bottles and driftwood with mysterious forms give meaning to my life. I wonder about their histories, and they are precious as they are. My heart is aroused by this feeling of nostalgia, and the fact of keeping traces of the past leads me to create new forms."