teamLab: Digitized Kanazawa Castle | teamLab

Kanazawa Castle was the residence of the Maeda clan for 14 generations, from the end of the Sengoku period (1467 - 1590) through the Edo period (1603 - 1868). As it was initially built in 1546 as a base for the Ikko Ikki (a group of monks from the branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism called Ikko-shu that rose to national power), it was originally known as “Kanazawa Mido*” (or “Oyama Gobo**”). However, once Maeda Toshiie, one of Oda Nobunaga’s retainers, took over the Kaga domain (which corresponded roughly to present-day Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures), the building was reconstructed as a castle under the supervision of Takayama Ukon, known as the Kirishitan (Catholic) daimyo. Since then, the castle underwent multiple fires and lost its main castle tower when it was hit by lightning in 1602. The building was used as a base for the army after the Meiji restoration and once the war was over, it became one of Kanazawa University’s campuses. Over time, Kanazawa Castle has served as a place for religion, politics, war, and learning, and with this exhibition, is transformed into an art space where the past and present intersect, changing through the interactions and existence of the people of today.

This exhibition is a part of teamLab’s Digitized City art project, in which teamLab explores how non-material digital technology can turn a city and its buildings into art without physically altering it.

teamLab: Digitized Kanazawa Castle will transform the grounds and historic castle of Kanazawa into an art space that transforms interactively. The artworks are influenced by the wind and rain, as well as by the behavior of people, making nature and the people become a part of the artworks, and a part of the long continuity of time.

The artworks, people, and nature; the self and others; the past and the present; all form a continuity without boundaries.

*meaning: Kanazawa Temple
**meaning: Oyama Temple. Oyama was the former name of Kanazawa city