Light Up THE SKY

From daytime fireworks to large-scale gunpowder paintings, Saint Laurent champions contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang with a special pyrotechnic commission and solo exhibition in Japan.

- ABDUL AZIZ DRAIM

Fireworks that blast through the night sky are always a spectacular sight, but would they be just as captivating when viewed during the day? BAZAAR received exclusive invitation to experience the phenomenon firsthand last June, when we joined a two and a half hours convoy from Tokyo to the coastline of Iwaki City in the Fukushima prefecture, where we were to bear witness to the launch of “When the Sky Blooms with Sakura”, a spectacular daytime fireworks display from contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Commissioned by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent, the artwork—along with the organisation of Cai GuoQiang’s solo exhibition at the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT)—is only the latest instance of Saint Laurent’s ongoing mission, under the initiative of Anthony Vaccarello, to support excellence in various creative fields the likes of visual arts, cinema and music.