Visit to #DesignFesta

May 18th, 2014, the day I had been waiting for! A colleague of mine who had visited the International Art Festival #DesignFesta last year told me about it (knowing about my artsy inclinations) so this year I just had to go. 


My day started off taking the early train to Big Sight, one of Tokyo's largest exhibition halls. You can tell from the crowds in the picture above that this is certainly a popular spot for young people.


At 11:00, just before the opening, I could see the crowds building up. I had heard that it takes 2 hours to stand in the queue to just buy the tickets so I bought mine ahead of time at Family Mart! Hee hee.

There was so much to see and so many creative people to interact with. I cannot possibly contain all my encounters into one blog post so I will show case just a few that I absolutely loved. The first one that stands out in my mind is this creative LED lamp made with resin mushrooms. How cute are they! The shop was called Great Mushrooming and by the time I reached almost all their items had a SOLD stamp on them. And believe me, they were certainly not cheap! This is their website


Another growing trend that I saw in several stalls was the creative use of 3D printed items. Look at these #kawaii #3D printed houses that are propped up as wall decorations. 



And then there were the miniature jewelry stalls. These pieces are hand woven and then made into jewelry.  They are so tiny you can hardly see them. Only a true Japanese (or someone who has lived here long enough) can appreciate all things miniature! Since I wanted to capture the ambience of the shop I did not get a good close up to show you but I am linking this lovely lady's stall here.




And this next stall was run by a very lovely lady who "weaves" all kinds of useful items like tiny coin purses and paper files/catchers that can go inside your handbag and nicely contain A4 size papers folded twice. The material she uses is kraft paper! I have tried weaving with craft paper myself and believe me, my fingers remembered the painfor days. She must be pretty good at it because she said she could complete her largest piece in about 2 hours! Unfortunately I don't have a link to share.  


Now this next shop, I found interesting primarily because of her use of whimsical creatures that I have only seen in American/Western Whimsical art like this.


Last but not the least was the miniature Doll houses - a craze in Japan. All this art is made by an gentleman by the name of Ichiyoh Haga. None of his art work had a price tag on it (or at least I could not see it!) so I assumed that it would be beyond the buying capacity of a common girl like me. And of course I did not have the courage ask ;) See this miniature shop. Doesn't it look life size? Don't be fooled. Scroll down to the next picture to compare the actual sizes of his work compared with a smart phone. 


See? How tiny and detailed is that!


You can visit Ichiyoh Haga's website here.

My husband thinks I should put up my own jewelry stall at Design Festa next year! Who knows, maybe I will. Take a look at my online store if you are interested and tell me what you think.

Ok, I've done my good deed (blog post) for the week. See you all soon. Send me your comments! And, don't forget to Subscribe to this blog!

Ciao