June 30 to Aug. 19; Tall Galleries, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila; for more information, visit www.metmuseum.ph
 
 
The Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET), in partnership with the Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM) and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, with the support of and JT International (Philippines) Inc., celebrate the long-serving excellence of Japanese design and its continuing influence in global design with a special exhibition, Japanese Design Today 100, which presents the finest examples of Japanese design with a focus everyday products.
 
 
The exhibit features modern designs from the 1950s through the 1990s that have influenced the design of today, as well as product designs from recent years.
 
 
Aside from highlighting the uniqueness and practicality of Japanese design, this exhibition will look into Japanese lifestyle and society. Fresh and minimalist forms capture the hopes and dreams of the designers and corporations that created them, as well as of the people who make use of the products. To promote further understanding about Japanese design and culture, two dialogues have been scheduled throughout the course of this exhibition. On July 2 (Saturday) at 10:30 a.m., the exhibition’s chief curator, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, will have a talk entitled, “Japanese Design Today: Unique and Evolving.” Here, he will relate Japanese contemporary design to Japanese culture, and its characteristic qualities of being craft-like, minimal, thoughtful, compact and cute.
 
 
The second talk aligned with this exhibit deals with Design for Disaster, which will be held on July 30 (Saturday) at 10:30 a.m. It features Keiji Ashizawa of Ishinomaki Lab, whose designs are showcased in the exhibit’s Disaster Relief category.
 
 
 
Since this year marks the 60th anniversary of Japanese-Filipino friendship, the MET will also launch a parallel exhibition on local design. Scheduled to also open on June 29 in the MET’s Galeriya Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP Gallery), Conversations on Philippine Design, which presents works by celebrated and emerging Filipino designers, showcases contemporary Philippine design while fostering dialogue between the two countries.
 
 
The Japanese Design Today 100 exhibition can be viewed at MET’s Tall Galleries from July 1 to August 19, 2016. This traveling exhibition will be brought to Singapore after its run at the MET.