Cotton and silk tie manufactured by Ratti, Italy, published for the benefit of UNICEF by Cultural Ties.
Kenji Yanobe was born in Osaka in 1969 and graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1991. Situating his work within the toxic environment of much science fiction, he employsthemes and forms from futuristic media to address the central paradox of technology; its boundless potential and unbridled danger.Yanobe lives and works in Osaka.

Cultural Ties – a celebration of cultural diversity, was a global project and the brain child of London art dealer Kapil Jariwala. The brief was for 77 artists from around the world to design neck ties. A limited edition of 300 of each tie were produced for sale worldwide via selected retail outlets, gallery shops and the internet.
It was hoped that the project would raise $1 million for UNICEF, in particular for their clean water programme. The Italian firm Ratti, a major producer of fine textiles for the fashion world, was chosen and the artists’ designs were transformed into shimmering, sensual velvets, taffeta and densely woven jacquard.