9th Yokohama Triennale Announces Theme
The 9th Yokohama Triennale, opening in April 2027, has announced its theme "Whales' Sleeping Place, Tidings from the Dragon Palace," along with its concept and key visual.Summary
On November 4, 2026, the Yokohama Triennale Organizing Committee announced the title of the 9th Yokohama Triennale, opening April 23, 2027, as "Whales' Sleeping Place, Tidings from the Dragon Palace," along with its concept and key visual. Artistic Directors Cosmin Costinaș and Inti Guerrero built the theme around two deep-sea motifs: the oarfish (Ryugu no tsukai) and whale falls. In Japan, the oarfish is known as a messenger from the legendary Dragon Palace and has long been regarded as an omen of disaster, while a whale fall reverses direction and meaning—a dead whale's body sinks to the seafloor and sustains an ecosystem for decades or more. The directors position this downward movement, which finds beginnings in death and richness in endings, as the exhibition's central metaphor. Inspired by the "port" where people and cultures intersect, the exhibition traces the history of information transmission—from the Manila galleon trade and the telegraph networks of Yokohama's opening period to today's internet, social media, and AI—while exploring hope for the future budding in the depths of a world that seems to be sinking under the weight of crises. Yokohama Museum of Art will be treated as a giant whale's body through architectural intervention, with the Grand Gallery transformed into its interior or the hull of a great ship. The key visual was designed by Berlin-based creative agency Studio YUKIKO, using spiral lettering, a fossil-like "Y" logo, and a palette of deep-sea blue and deep red with coral red and soft green to express hope and new life emerging from the dark deep sea. The triennale runs from April 23 to September 12, 2027.
(Source：ART iT)