Tokyo's 21_21 Design Sight Hosts 'Pooploop' Exhibition on Waste and Human Excrement

The 21_21 Design Sight museum in Tokyo, founded by Issey Miyake and designed by Tadao Ando, is presenting 'Pooploop,' an exhibition curated by Taku Satoh and Shinichi Takemura that runs until February 16, 2025. The show challenges visitors to reconsider human waste as an integral part of natural material cycles rather than mere refuse. It draws on historical examples like the Edo period in Japan, where excrement was integrated into social life, contrasting with modern capitalism's fragmented approach. The exhibition features works such as sculptures and wall panels by Koro Ihara made from animal manure, accessories by Studio Swine created from human hair, and an archive including 190 soil types, fossils, shells, bodily waste, and fermentation objects. The curators argue that environmental challenges like climate change, pollution, and resource depletion can drive innovation and new ways of thinking, with design playing a key role in transforming waste into resources.