OSAKA-KANSAI WORLD EXPO 2025

CELINE is proud to join the France Pavilion at the Osaka-Kansai World Expo 2025.
Part of the LVMH Group –gold partner of the event– the Parisian fashion house inaugurates the temporary exhibition space, from April 13th to May 11th.

THE FRENCH PAVILION

CELINE, together with Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chaumet and Moët Hennessy, will serve as French ambassadors for the theme and guiding thread of the Pavilion, “a hymn to Love”.

Designed by Thomas Coldefy & CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, the France Pavilion is a powerful expression of French identity, located directly by the main entrance to the expo.

CELINE MAKI-E EXHIBITION

In Japanese arts, lacquerware is a traditional craft which has evolved through thousands of years and remains alive today. Amongst other techniques, Maki-e stands out as one of the most refined methods of decoration, inspired by waka poems being translated into motifs. It affirms artisanal excellence while establishing a link with an object that is at once cultural, personal, and rare. Rooted in CELINE’s deepest values, transmission and respect are, in the same way, together fueled by the heritage of its rich past and considered as one of the strongest pillars on which to build its vision for the future.

Through an immersive experience, visitors are invited to witness how the elegance of CELINE’s heritage is infused with the unique spirit of Japanese aesthetics.

The exhibition features reinterpretations of the iconic Triomphe logo, engaging with elements from Japan’s illustrious history and vibrant modernity, in a cultural exchange between Japanese artists and the house’s emblem.

This symbolic journey, imagined as a visual and conceptual passage, builds the bridge between rich traditions and contemporary art forms, underlining the unequalled savoir-faire that lives in every creation, as well as the fifty-five years of CELINE’s presence in Japan.

A SPACE WITHIN A SPACE

CELINE’s exhibition is held within the France Pavilion’s temporary space, for one month, which has been built as an ephemeral but timeless setting.

The first room intimately resonates with the traditional Japanese home, granting access to a decor that seems to have always existed, thanks to the shoji paper-covered walls. Then, lights and mirrors start engaging guests to reflect on the present moment.

It is home to several art pieces and video installations, highlighting Japanese Urushi art pieces from Hikoju Makie, alongside CELINE’s exclusive precious bags.

Then, a theatrical and immersive set up brings life to a collaborative video work between Japanese artist Soshi Nakamura and CELINE, displayed in an embracing and futuristic manner by a led screen wall facing multiple mirrors.

The overall CELINE design, here more minimalist, has been concentrated to the very essence of the house’s codes in order to give way to the space’s content itself, allowing visitants to consider the architecture as a guide.
Metal and basaltina stone convey the mineral, the inanimate, as opposed to the paper walls, linked to living matter. The play made on mirrors creates this “mise en abyme” effect, putting all subjects into a form of relativity; while the symmetry allows a kinetic visual effect, reinforced by neon lights, leading the eye, and mind, onto what’s next.

The tailor-made ensemble, in its momentary monumentality, crafts a feeling of being out of time while still being present, expressing the core values of Japanese spirituality.

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN ARTS & TRADITIONS

The exhibition showcases the works of the following artists and artisans:
– Hikoju Makie’s series of exclusive Urushi lacquered Triomphe art pieces.
– CELINE exclusive Triomphe bags.
– Two videos directed by Soshi Nakamura, “Hands at Work” highlighting the craftsmanship from both Hikoju Makie & CELINE, filmed in Kanazawa, Japan & Radda in Chianti, Italy.
– “Ten Landscapes of Dreams”, a collaborative video installation by Soshi Nakamura, where the Triomphe is found exploring the beauty of Japan.

URUSHI LACQUERWARE
BY HIKOJU MAKIE

Hikoju Makie is a group of Japanese artists, specialized in the production of traditional lacquered pieces and artworks, based in Wajima (Ishiwaka prefecture).

Lacquerware has existed for thousands of years, used as a tool to interconnect elements from Japanese traditions and culture. Hikoju Makie incorporates contemporary sense and humor into their work, conveying important thoughts left by ancestors for posterity.

The group, founded in 2004, discovered the singularity and ethnicity of Japan’s identity through folk philosophy, classical literature, and the wisdom and reflexion from daily life rituals. The mastery of lacquer, in the hands of the craftsmen, receives the role of messenger, to unite it to other art forms and new dimensions.

As a bridge between past, present and future, Hikoju Makie is taking various measures to ensure lacquer art will be handed down to later generations, whether by working with different materials and mediums, collaborating with different industries or engaging in sustainable projects.

Various pieces from the collective are permanently featured in the museum of lacquer arts (Münster, Germany) as well as in the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK), while temporary exhibitions included, amongst others: the Pola Museum of Art (Hakone, Japan), Tainan City Cultural Festival (Taiwan), Bahrain National Museum, Gallery 27 (London), Museum of Urushi Art (Wajima, Japan), Museum & Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, Suntory Museum of Art (Tokyo).

Master Takashi Wakamiya who founded and led Hikoju Makie for 20 years has received several awards including the Japan Ishikawa International Urushi Grand Prize (2014), Ishikawa Design Award (2015), Grand Prize in the Art and Life culture category, Cultural Foundation Award (2024), the Mitsui Golden Takumi Award (2025), and was appointed Japan cultural envoy by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2014.

“It is necessary, for people who grew up in contemporary times, to study the past.
I think there’s meaning in absorbing the traditions that we’re passing on,
destroying and reinterpreting them within ourselves, in order to create something new again.
[…] by doing so, we are forming traditions, which i believe, embodies the essence of inheritance.”

Master Takashi Wakamiya

CELINE would like to pay homage to the memory of Master Takashi Wakamiya (1964-2025), founder and representative leader of Hikoju Makie.

THE TRIOMPHE BAG
BY CELINE ATELIERS

Instilled with the French spirit of the House, CELINE’s leather goods collections attain the highest standards of excellence. At CELINE, a bag is always imbued with the aesthetic codes of the Couture House; its singular allure marries functional design with timeless craftsmanship.

In the 1960s, Céline Vipiana envisioned her first CELINE leathergoods collection, forging a lasting bond that unites her renowned Parisian style with exceptional craftsmanship.

Today that story continues, as the intuition of the maker’s hand and the precision of modern technology achieve exquisite artisanal “maroquinerie” for CELINE. Highly skilled workers with generations of experience apply their knowledge to create objects from the finest certified materials, placing CELINE leathergoods as the utmost luxury.

The longevity of CELINE leather goods is due to the unsurpassed quality of materials and the artisanal workmanship undertaken by meticulous artisans. Every piece fully reveals its uniqueness and character throughout the years, demonstrating CELINE’s devotion to creativity as well as to crafts.

Developed exclusively for the Osaka Expo, the three Triomphe bags showcased are colored in red, black and gold, recalling the Urushi art pieces built specially by Hikoju Makie. Together, they express the most traditional values of the Japanese culture: vermillon red for resurrection & rebirth, black for elegance & formality, and gold for sunshine & nature.

Made of precious leathers, they are lined on the inside with lambskin and decorated with a gold-stamped plum motif, used widely in Japanese symbolism for its auspicious wish of continuity & longevity. As a testimony of their exclusivity, each bag receives an unique number, also gold-stamped on the interior lining.

HANDS AT WORK
BY SOSHI NAKAMURA

Soshi Nakamura is a visual artist & filmmaker.

Born in Kumamoto prefecture in 1991, his interdisciplinary practice includes flat works, sculpture, sound, and performance, with a focus on video installations.

Nakamura explores what makes us human by interweaving hidden narratives and relationships between changing phenomena, transient moments, and ethereal subjects. In his recent work, he has been interested in contemporary spirituality residing in intangible subjects such as Japan’s classic noh plays, “lost” films, group performances, and artificial intelligence.

He is also part of “Mantle”, a visual art collective with artist Shu Isaka, examining natural phenomena and the global environment over time and their relationship to human activities and the present.

Major exhibitions and performances include, amongst others: “Echoes” (Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, 2025), “Dance in the Haze” (The 5th Floor, Tokyo, 2023), “Pineal Gland Sashimi” (United Art Museum, Wuhan, 2024), “End of Summer” (Yale Union, Portland, 2019). His “Mantle” collective was also featured during the “DXP-Towards the next interface-“ Exhibition (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2023).

Soshi Nakamura has partnered with CELINE to produce two videos, showing Hikoju Makie and CELINE artisans mastering their very own techniques. Filmed in the Japanese workshop of the lacquer group in Kanazawa, as well as within CELINE ateliers in Italy, these short movies highlight the strong link that craftsmanship creates between different hands at work, without any distinction as to moment or place.

TEN LANDSCAPES OF DREAMS
BY SOSHI NAKAMURA

Within the final room of the exhibition, visitors get immersed in a larger and darker environment, which hosts an impressive set up made of a mirror installation facing a ten-by-three meters LED screen, the futuristic structure works as a frame for Soshi Nakamura’s “Ten Landcapes of Dreams”, conceived by the artist in collaboration with CELINE.

In this video installation, CELINE’s iconic Triomphe appears in the landscape as a phenomenon, depicting a moment of quiet overlap between CELINE’s spirituality and Japanese aesthetics. The landscape changes expression according to the viewer’s perspective and emotions, transforming the experience into a dream, where the triomphe is portrayed as an entity, continuing its journey quietly and eternally.

CELINE HAUTE MAROQUINERIE

The CELINE Haute Maroquinerie collection transmits exceptional savoir-faire through a set of unique pieces, crafted in the most precious leathers.

Cautious about preserving traditional techniques in a strict respect of the environment, CELINE works with skins sourced from a certified ICFA* supplier. They are then handled to a tannery associated with the ICFA-certified ISO 14001, which consists of standards based on environmental management compliance.

Recognisable for its large oval scales, Crocodylus Niloticus (known as Nile crocodile) is a precious leather used in high-end artisanal maroquinerie.

According to centuries-old practices unique to each tanner, different sections of leather are traditionally polished with an agate stone as a glazing process that preserves the skin’s incomparable shine and depth of colour. Additionally, this smoothing effect maintains the natural relief of the scales.

This leather, both rare and rooted in tradition, requires specific, artisanal handwork. Each leather artisan is responsible for a bag’s entire assembly: the selection of skin, the cutting, and the precise handling of leathers that are equally delicate and stiff.

Much like CELINE Couture, Haute Parfumerie & Beauté, this offering reaffirms artisanal excellence while establishing a rapport with an object that is at once cultural, personal, and rare.