Yokohama Triennale 2001: Mega-Wave and 340,000 Visitors

The first Yokohama Triennale, held from September 2 to November 11, 2001, in Yokohama, Japan, featured 109 artists from 38 countries. 45% were from Western countries, 55% from Asia, and 73% were born after 1960. The event occupied 15,000 square meters across two exhibition halls, plus two museums, three galleries, and a hotel. Organized by four Japanese artistic directors under the theme 'MEGA-WAVE – Towards a New Synthesis,' the triennale aimed to foster dialogue between art and other fields like science, philosophy, and medicine. Notable works included Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba's video of cyclo drivers pedaling underwater, Pipilotti Rist's lace curtain installation with short films, a 35-meter grasshopper balloon by Tsubaki Norobu and Muroi Hisashi, and Chiharu Shiota's 'Memory of Skin' with five 30-meter mud-stained dresses. The triennale attracted 340,000 visitors, exceeding the expected 300,000. Despite some harsh criticism comparing it to a commercial fair, many appreciated the encounter with marginal art in Japan.