Umekita Art Picnic

Spring is the perfect season for picnics, and Umekita is just the place to enjoy them. For about two weeks, this lively area next to Osaka Station transforms its open lawns and public spaces into an outdoor gallery, showcasing a series of large-scale installations by local artists.

Over at Grand Green Osaka and Grand Front Osaka – the two main anchors of the Umekita area – large curtain-like installations titled ‘Super Open’ act as doorways, welcoming visitors to explore the grounds and hang out with art.

‘Unfolding the Giant Furoshiki’ is another interesting piece. It will move between two sites: Grand Front Osaka’s Umekita Plaza on the weekend of April 4–5, and Grand Green Osaka’s Lawn Plaza on subsequent weekends, April 11–12 and April 18–19.

Here, a giant furoshiki, measuring up to 50m × 30m and made from smaller pieces of fabric sewn together, will be laid on the ground from 9am to 6pm to form a massive communal space. Everyone is welcome to sit, relax and spend time on it.

Other highlights include a faceless human-like figure titled ‘Anonymous’ (10am–7pm) at Grand Green Osaka’s Lawn Plaza, which encourages passersby to pause and perhaps project their emotions onto the sculpture, as well as ‘Spiral Lumina’, a rope installation at Grand Green Osaka’s Gate Lantern, featuring a spiral form reminiscent of a DNA helix.

Also check out ‘Machikururi’ (10am–8pm) over at Grand Green Osaka North Park, an interactive artwork that revolves around the idea of people coming together to build a town. ‘Waku Waku’, also in North Park, is an ikebana-inspired installation made using materials found on the grounds of Grand Green Osaka. On the last day of the event, the public can participate in a co-creation process (12.30pm–1.30pm) by adding flowers and plants to the installation.

Umekita is shaping up to be one of Osaka’s most vibrant districts this spring. Aside from the Art Picnic, the area will also host a series of concurrent events, including a cherry blossom illumination every evening from 6 pm to midnight. For entertainment, there’s street music busking on the weekend of April 4–5, followed by Yosete Umekita on April 19. The latter is an annual cross-genre performance series featuring traditional and modern music, DJs and rakugo (Japanese storytelling).

For more details on the Umekita Art Picnic installations and programme, see the event website.