Karine Arabian and Franck Blais were laureates at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto for four months, from September to December 2023. Their research residency at the Villa focused on two essential aspects of their work: by immersing themselves in the heart of Kansai, the ancestral cradle of leatherworking in Japan, they were able to study leather finishing techniques and research forgotten know-how. How to show what cannot be seen but can be felt: emotion and sensitivity. The duo also studied the rules and rituals of monstration through the Tokonoma, that enclave in private space dedicated to the exhibition of nature, preciousness, and the meeting of poetry and the spiritual—notions that resonated with their approach to the object.