Joseph Walsh takes part in Ireland-Japan dialogue for Osaka World Expo 2025

JWS, Magnus Modus, National Gallery of Ireland Dublin, ©Joseph Walsh Studio

If you can be in Osaka, Japan from 13 April to 13 October 2025 you have the opportunity to see RINN, a group exhibition which marks a unique collaboration. Joseph Walsh will unveil Magnus Rinn at the Irish Pavilion Expo Osaka, a monumental outdoor sculpture that showcases exceptional craftsmanship and artistic vision. 

The Government of Ireland commissioned Joseph Walsh Studio and the Making In Cultural Program – a not-for-profit foundation conceived and developed by the Irish designer – to undertake a creative program of engagement with Japan in 2024 and 2025, through major participation in Osaka World Expo 2025 and a group exhibition in Tokyo. 

Form research ©Joseph Walsh Studio

Japanese art and craft shares with its Irish counterparts a focus on natural materials and features of the landscape, with a similar blurring of the Western distinction between ‘art’ and ‘craft’. Both cultures emphasize a deep respect for the past and an awareness of the ephemeral nature of existence, thus fostering a sense of continuity and reverence, which is visible across all art forms.

As an established ambassador of Irish arts and crafts, Joseph Walsh is committed to championing those who care deeply about making since the creation of his studio in 1999. He has notably fostered collaborations with Japanese makers, and - through the creation and development of the Making In Cultural Program – reasserted the value of making across all creative disciplines.

JWS, Magnus V, 2018 ©Joseph Walsh Studio

Presented in partnership with A Lighthouse Called Kanata Gallery, RINN / 輪 Ireland and Japan: a dialogue on making, place and time is an exhibition that delves into the culture of making and the relationship to place and time, between Ireland and Japan, specially created for the opening cultural programme of Ireland House Tokyo. Overlooking a park in central Tokyo, Ireland House is scheduled to open in 2025, and will serve as a 3,000 square metre flagship example of the Ireland House concept, serving as a vibrant hub for business, community events, and Irish arts and culture. This state-of-the art facility will house the Irish Embassy, the official residence, as well as an exhibition and performance area and library.

RINN will also be reflected at Expo 2025, through imagery and related exhibition objects. The exhibition will return to Ireland later in 2025.

Inspired by Making In and the connections that have developed between makers from Japan and Ireland, Rinn, is jointly curated by Joseph Walsh and Wahei Aoyama of A Lighthouse Called Kanata Gallery. Featuring both new and collaborative works from Irish and Japanese makers in art and architecture, the exhibition will explore the idea of circularity; connections between people, relationship to place; relationship to the past and the future, through material form-finding.

Magnus Rinn is a circular form, transitioning from bronze to wood and finished in a gold gilding. The work symbolizes the relationship between man and nature, representing the passing of time and Nature’s cycles. This singular form will be made of bronze and wood; the lower half in bronze with the texture of the maker’s hand, while the upper section is made of high-performance oak. A three-dimensional free form lamination will be achieved through newly-innovated processes at Joseph Walsh Studio. The shape of this element will be influenced by the material employed and its growing conditions. The entire work will be gilded. The wood grain will read through the gilding, as will the texture of the hands forming the mould for the bronze. These textures will speak to the relationship between man and nature; the circular movement reflecting time passing and our coexistence and harmony.