Tanabe Chikuunsai IV (b. 1973, Japan)

Peony flower basket arrow bamboo

At the end of the nineteenth century, Tanabe Chikuunsai I was seeking to renew his artistic language when a collector and patron encouraged him to create something entirely unprecedented. In a former samurai residence, he came across arrows made of bamboo. With the end of the Edo period and the advent of the Meiji government, the profound transformations of Japanese society had rendered these weapons obsolete. Chikuunsai I conceived the idea of repurposing their bamboo and incorporating it into his compositions. This material, imbued with the history of a bygone era, became the starting point for a new form of creation and gave rise to some of his most emblematic works.

More than a century later, Tanabe Chikuunsai IV revisits this family history with Peony Flower Basket – Arrow Bamboo. This time, rather than working with antique samurai arrows, the bamboo arrows were specially made for the work. By returning to this distinctive material, Chikuunsai IV makes a direct reference to the explorations of his great-grandfather, while bringing this historic form into his own contemporary practice.