Alibaba, the world’s largest retailer and e-commerce company, is getting into Japanese art in a big way.
It’s part of a campaign to back the Tokyo Olympics in July-August via Japanese artistic talent, using Alibaba’s considerable technical expertise. Alibaba is an official partner with the International Olympic Committee.
Unlike the usual advertising campaigns, this is a non-commercial collaboration with Narita Airport.
Visitors to the massive airport, the gateway to Tokyo, are being greeted by displays of digital art.
“This is Alibaba's first creative campaign to support the Olympic games, Tokyo 2020,” Chris Tung, Alibaba Group CMO, told AdNews.
“The idea is to bring Japanese culture, art and sports together with cloud technology in an enriched experience for visitors arriving at Narita Airport in the upcoming month.
“The digital art -- serious creative by the young, talented local Japanese -- aims to help travelers to truly embrace the experience of the biggest worldwide sports event taking place in a city full of rich heritage and a vibrant culture.”
The works include, The Sound of the Ocean by Noriko Kinouchi: “Utilising the techniques of traditional Japanese prints, the work expresses the sea full of strength and beauty. Japan is an island nation born from the sea, and the work represents the nature and traditional art characterised by the island country’s culture and its calm aesthetics. The sky and the sea are expressed in the same blue, and it represents the Japanese landscape as it is.”
Noriko Kinouchi, originally from Kanagawa, lives in Tokyo. She graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts Print Making Lab 2, and has been focusing on creating digital artworks.
Chris Tung at Alibaba says the creative collaboration with Narita airport provides a platform for budding, local artists to showcase their creative passion.
“Most of the young artists have been focusing on creating their work on the canvas,” he says.
“Many of them have been thinking to really express themselves on a much broader, much more powerful platform, such as the digital one.
“But there was never an initiative with a focus to support them. So this gallery in the airport for them but to us it’s actually a platform to showcase to the young creators our work, especially with the cloud.
“They will be able to process a large volume of images and videos with cloud technology to digitise their designs, their artwork.
"And this is essentially about how technologies from Alibaba can support young generations.”
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