When Akio Harada's work was exhibited in Miami, we learned that a large art festival was being held in Miami, so this year, following on from last year, Kotoe-sensei, myself and my son Aoi will be attending!
This year, I had a general understanding of Miami's geography and was able to move around efficiently because I was able to decide on the location of my hotel and get a sense of distances to travel.
Art festivals are held all over Miami. I was able to visit three venues: Context Art Miami + Art Miami, which I was excited about last year, and Red Dot Miami, where Professor Harada's work is being exhibited this time. Signature Fine Art, with whom Professor Harada has a contract, arranged for me a valuable admission pass, which allowed me to take my time and enjoy the works. I'm really grateful for all their help! Thank you very much!
First, there were works by Professor Harada that were exhibited at Red Dot Miami. The entire booth was filled with works by Professor Harada. Most of the visitors were looking to purchase works, and they were cheerful and calm, and it was easy to talk to them, and they were also easy to talk to (lol). They would say things like "This is a friend's work and came from Japan. Which work do you like?" in some fluent English.
"Wow! Kawaii!" The "cuteness" of Harada-sensei's works has captivated people all over the world! It's really exciting to see the reactions of foreigners! And please work harder on your English (lol)
Other works are also available (mostly photographed by Aoi).
My son took about 1,000 pictures (lol), so these are just a few of them.
I hardly ever meet any Asians in Miami, and people I met on the bus or my Uber driver were amused by the fact that I was a rare Japanese person, saying things like, "A Japanese person? Really?! That's rare in Miami!" "I've been to Japan! Tokyo! Shinjuku!" "A Japanese person? I went last year! I'm really interested in Japan!" (:
