3pm−4:30pm
In Praise of Shadows: An Aesthetics of Rendition
―Arthur Jafa on Free Association
- Speakers: Arthur Jafa and Kurokawa Mitsuharu ｜ Moderator: Yamashita Yukako
This talk brings together American artist Arthur Jafa, whose work has been exhibited internationally at institutions such as Fondazione Prada in Venice and the New Museum in New York, and Mitsuharu Kurokawa of Toraya, a historic Japanese confectionery whose roots date back to the late Muromachi period (1336–1573).
Jafa has developed a body of work that draws on diverse visual materials, including film, news clips, social media, and a personal collection of found imagery, bringing them together in ways that transcend their original meanings. Kurokawa, meanwhile, has upheld the traditions of a long-established confectionery while reinterpreting and communicating Japanese tradition through global expansion and contemporary approaches.
Taking the “aesthetics of shadow,” exemplified by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows, which is referenced in Jafa’s works and writings, as a point of departure, this talk will explore his creative trajectory and his ongoing inquiry into the multilayered history of Black culture through the interplay of moving images, music, and other forms of expression.
By delving into the philosophy of light and shadow inherent in Japanese culture and his unique editing techniques—which transcend context to collage images—we will unravel the future of art and culture from the intersection of Japanese aesthetics and global expression.
Speakers:
Arthur Jafa (Artist / Filmmaker)
Kurokawa Mitsuharu (President, Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd.)
Moderator:
Yamashita Yukako (Art Producer / CEO, YMKY Inc.)
Speaker’s Profiles
- Arthur Jafa
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Artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa has been assembling his substantial catalogue of film and imagery since the 1980s, serving as a rich repository and springboard for still images, videos, paintings and sculptures that celebrate and reflect Black life in America and beyond. Jafa, who studied architecture and filmmaking, choreographs both cinematic and physical space in his visceral, hallucinatory films and expansive installations. He sequences and forces into dialogue fragmented extracts from disparate visuals, including social media videos, low-resolution television recordings, celebrity interviews, raw footage of police encounters, cartoons and video game content. Jafa explores and approximates icons, brutalities and aesthetics associated with Black culture, the radical power of Afro- American music and the prevalence of a white gaze in Western cinema. He forms astute juxtapositions and sensory experiences that heighten emotive responses to the real events and histories portrayed, encouraging witness, empathy and confrontation.
- Kurokawa Mitsuharu
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Mitsuharu Kurokawa is President of Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd.
After graduating from Babson College in the U.S. in 2008, he joined Toraya. Following a period working at the Paris branch, he underwent training at another company from 2011 to 2012, serving overseas as an employee of a trading firm. Upon returning to Toraya, he was appointed Vice President in 2018. He spearheaded projects such as the renovation of the Akasaka store and the opening of Maison KEI, developed in collaboration with Michelin three-star chef Kei Kobayashi, before assuming his current position in June 2020.
Website: https://global.toraya-group.co.jp/ -
- Yamashita Yukako
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Born in Tokyo to a family that runs a 180-year-old tea ceremony utensils business in Kyoto.
After graduating from Keio University, she completed an MA in Art and Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. Following an internship at Sotheby’s London, she joined Sotheby’s Japan, where she oversaw the sales of contemporary art.
From 2017 to 2022, she was the Managing Director of the art gallery THE CLUB, a gallery established as part of CCC (Culture Convenience Club)’s art business initiative, located within GINZA SIX. From 2022, she served as Fair Director of Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) for four years, and in 2026, she assumed the role of Chairperson of the ACK Ambassadors, an intimate global network of established and next-generation collectors and cultural leaders united by a shared commitment to art and community.
She has since founded YMKY Inc., which handles art projects and cultural strategies both in Japan and internationally. Since 2022, she has served as a Growth Strategy Promotion Advisor for the City of Kyoto (focused on revitalizing the art market) and also works as an Artistic & Cultural Strategy Consultant for the Culture Vision Japan Foundation.
