Yokohama Triennale 2011, the fourth installment of this large-scale art event, differs from its predecessors in that it is being held primarily in a venue designed for showing art — the Yokohama Museum of Art. This has allowed the curators — the director general, Eriko Osaka, and the artistic director, Akiko Miki — to exhibit masterpieces from the museum's collection alongside works of contemporary art from around the world.
Perhaps as a result of its two curators being women, the triennale is characterized by a distinctly feminine perspective. Other important traits are the presence of young Japanese artists, and an element of magic, or wonder, as is implied by the event's theme, "Our Magic Hour: How Much of the World Can We Know?"
One highlight is the work "One Sentence" by Beijing-based female artist Yin Xiuzhen. Yin has taken the everyday clothes of 108 individuals — from their jackets down to their socks and underwear — and returned them to their original forms, which are strips of fabric. The fabric is wound in coils with the underwear in the middle, followed by the next layer of clothing and so on — forming concentric circles like the rings of a tree. The number of participants, 108, is the number of desires in Buddhism. The variations in sizes and colors in the coils indicate differences of climate, geography, and gender — all seen at the level of clothing, which is the border between private and public.