ARTISTS

Atsunobu Katagiri is a flower arranger/artist and the master of the Misasagi Ikebana school. He studied in the United States after graduating from middle school, and returned to Japan in 1994. He succeeded to the aforementioned position of ikebana master in 1997. In 2005, he opened Monde Books, which serves as both a classroom and gallery, in the city of Sakai, Osaka, and embarked on a wide range of activities, including the unearthing of young artists, holding of exhibitions, and publication. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, he visited Fukushima Prefecture, where he produced and photographed works conveying hopes for recovery in areas affected by the catastrophe at the nuclear power station. He documented these works in the book Sacrifice: The Ikebana of Regeneration, Offered to the Future, which was published by Seigensha Art Publishing in 2015.
In style, his works cover a wide range extending from arrangements of little wild plants to installations in the nature of contemporary art. He delves into the animistic aspect that forms part of the wellsprings of ikebana, and aspires to gain insights into the relationship between plants and human beings from the perspective of cultural anthropology. His activities center on solo exhibitions and workshops in Japan and other countries.