Art Week Tokyo (AWT) will take place from November 7–10, offering a chance to bridge the gap between everyday life and art. With 53 museums and galleries across Tokyo participating, a free shuttle bus will connect venues and program locations, open to all.
This time, we visited the “Louise Bourgeois: Just to Let You Know, It Was Wonderful” exhibition at the Mori Art Museum with haru., the creative director of the lingerie brand HEAP and head of HUG.
Through projects like “HIGH(er) magazine” and the podcast “‘Take me high(er)’”, haru. has sparked conversations on culture and social issues, blending them into daily life. We chatted about the connection between life and art, and haru. also shared their thoughts on AWT’s participating venues and a recommended route.
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Finding Resonance in Creation to Endure Hell
You mentioned that you were already interested in this exhibition. How did you feel after experiencing it?
haru.： While I recognize that the “hell” Louise Bourgeois experienced is different from the challenges we face today, visiting the exhibition made me realize that maybe they’re not so different after all. I’m turning 30 soon, and a lot of my friends around my age often talk about things like whether or not to get married, navigating independence, or dealing with imbalanced relationships with their partners.
Creative Director. Born in 1995, haru. grew up between Japan and Germany. During their student years, they founded the independent magazine HIGH(er)magazine, serving as the editor-in-chief. In 2019, haru. established HUG Inc., where they expanded into creative direction and content production. In April 2024, haru. will launch the innerwear brand “HEAP” as its Creative Director. They will also revive HIGH(er)magazine as a concept magazine for the brand, marking its return after a five-year hiatus. Two collections will be released annually.
The themes of Louise’s relationships with her parents, the people around her, and mental health issues, which can also be read through a feminist lens, still feel incredibly relevant today.
haru.: “Hell” is actually a theme that’s been on my mind lately. In April 2024, I launched an innerwear brand called “HEAP,” and on November 1st, we released a collection titled “Bride of Hell” in collaboration with dress designer Hana Yagi. Hana creates pieces by deconstructing discarded wedding dresses that have been stained or damaged. The concept of “a dress that bleeds and comes back to life” has a lot of backstory behind it. As we worked together on creating the items, we were reflecting on how to survive through hell and how to translate that into our creations, so it was really meaningful to visit the exhibition today.
The spider-themed works, including Maman installed outdoors at Roppongi Hills, are said to carry the meaning of mending wounds with thread, so I feel there’s a shared sense with what you just mentioned.
haru.: The spider had a smooth, sleek image for me at first, but upon revisiting it, I noticed that its texture was still preserved. The fabric works, too, were striking because they left stitching marks on the surface, almost like scars. I think her parents’ influence, running a tapestry gallery and a restoration studio, played a role in that. It feels as though she’s piecing together various fragments within her, and I could really sense a deep determination in her work—this unwavering resolve of “I will not forget.” The sculpture of the head with its tongue sticking out also had pieces of red fabric stitched together in slightly different shades, and the fact that the face wasn’t perfectly smooth seemed to hold some significance. It was nice to be able to notice such details.
