Kazuko Koike
Visiting Fellow - 2007
Professor at Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Kazuko Koike is the founder of the art and design studio Kitchen (1976-present), founder and artistic director of Sagacho Exhibit Space (1983-2000) and a founding member of the Mujirushi Ryohin (MUJI) Board of Creative Directors (1979-present).
Koike is one of the most highly respected professionals in contemporary creative life in Japan, having amassed an impressive curatorial record though both Kitchen and Sagacho, which was Japan’s first alternative space for young artists. In more than 100 innovative exhibitions, Sagacho presented works by emerging artists as well as established names including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Anselm Kiefer and Tadao Ando. The space launched the international careers of many local artists, such as Rei Nato and Yasumasa Morimura.
Koike’s work has held significant importance in the establishment and development of crossover exhibitions that blur the line between art and design. Early on she featured the work of Issey Miyake in a museum, and was editor of Issey Miyake East meets West (1978). The Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibition she curated in the late 1970s established the Scottish architect and designer as a household name in Japan. In 2000, she curated the Japanese pavilion at the Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
