Experiencing Art History in Tokyo
Reason for the visit
Visiting art museums especially contemporary art museums are always feels like an adventure to me. Since I'm not well educated in art, especially in the background of the different art styles and artistic approaches, it always excited me to learn more about it.
Places I've been to…
During my visit in Tokyo I decided to visit two art museums, because it has been to long since I visited any kinds of art museums. I decided to take a look at the The National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT, 国立新美術館) and the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi.
The National Art Center, Tokyo
The NACT is an exciting place for so many reasons. The museum itself is something we can call an empty museum! This means that it doesn't have a fix and permanent collection and exhibition. The idea of a museum without a collection and permanent exhibition gives the museum a chance to freely explore the different kinds of art and give a blank page for the artists/organizations/institutions to show off their own approach to art in Tokyo. We shouldn't forger about the magnificent architecture of the building (Kisho Kurokawa architect & associates + NIHON SEKKEI, INC.)
The approach for the structure was to express the closeness of the nature. The glass wall, which gives the guests a smooth and uninterrupted opportunity to enjoy the green scenery surrounding the museum. Even if you don't want to enter the exhibitions, visiting the museum buildings itself is more than enough to have a good time.
This time the special exhibition called Museum Ludwig, Cologne - History of a Collection with Civic Commitments. The famous Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany is specializing collecting artworks from the 20th century including contemporary artworks as well. The importance of the museum lies in the fact that one part of the collection are a donation from ordinary citizens, throughout the history of the museum. The museums contains the biggest Picasso collection in Europe.
The concept behind the NACT's exhibition is quite interesting. Instead of focusing on one artist, or art historical period, in this exhibition the focus was on the collectors, on who donated each piece of artwork. This approach made it possible to tell the history of art and history of the Museum Ludwig through the civic donations. This effort made it possible, to explain and experience most prominent artworks - 152 notable works were presented. In these works we can find paintings, photographs, videos, movies, sculptures and so on. The artwork can be categorized in the following terms:
German Modernism - Looking for the New Artistic Expression
Russian Avant-garde - Revolutionary Innovation in the Arts
Pablo Picasso and His Environment - Liberation in Color and Form
From Surreal Creation to Abstraction - Post-war Movements in Europe and America
Pop Art and Everyday Reality
Aspects of Avant-garde Art in the 1960s
Expanding the Frame of the Art from the 1970s to Today
You can find more information about it: Guide for the Exhibtion
The idea behind the exhibition was great, the idea to show a prominent museum's collection through the history of donators is indeed a fresh take on how should we think about museum collections, but the realization and the exhibition form was following the classical museology, guiding the visitors through each art historical time periods, with a little explanation on the donator or on the art form. The initial approach to tell a story through the donators were amazing, but the exhibition ended up as a typical exhibition, with typical way of presenting artworks.
It was great to see all the famous artists and their artworks and mixing up all the different artforms made the whole exhibition more exciting. It is definitely worth a visit, since traveling to Germany takes time and money, so this opportunity to visit one of the most famous museum in Europe coming all the way to Japan is an extraordinary chance.
Mori Art Museum, Roppongi
As we can read on the Mori Art Museum's statement the whole idea of the museum is to create a new museum in the Roppongi Hills, which is a synonym for the urban development, and urban lifestyle for the upper class. The Mori Tower - in which the museum is located, can be seen all over from Japan and stands tall as an example of a contemporary, post-modern museum idea. In a sense, the exhibitions in the Mori Art Museum working as an opposite to the classical museum spaces we are used to. The Mori Art Museum is trying to give a new museum experience for the visitors who decide to go there. The philosophy behind the museum is to create a space for discussion, stimulation, enjoyment through contemporary artwork. In my understanding the Mori Art Museum trying to show and use the latest trends to show something new for the visitors to create a wow-effect, a shocking experience.
The exhibition I visited is the Listen to the Sound of the Earth Turning: Our Wellbeing since the Pandemic (地球がまわる音を聴く：パンデミック以降のウェルビーイング) The initial idea and the concept of the exhibition is a perfect example of the philosophy of the Mori Art Museum.
As a reflection on the current world pandemic, which has changed/stole our everyday life and totally distorted our state of mind. In these chaotic world the contemporary artform is a perfect way to express on how individuals are dealing with a new way of living our everyday in order to save our sanity. During the pandemic we got keenly aware of your own existence and our own life. More than ever in our modern word, the banality and fatality of life became a first hand experience. This closeness to death made us to rethink our own existence and relations with each other and also with ourselves. The exhibition not just satisfied our eyes, but all of our sense needed in order to experience - not just see the exhibition. In the whole chaos on the world itself and during the exhibition our only lead in Yoko Ono's conceptual instruction art, which has the same title as the current exhibition.
In my opinion the exhibition felt very fresh, and the concept to use the pandemic as an inspiration for art is exciting and important to explore it in order to move on and discuss the last years from a different point of view. Using Yoko Ono's instruction art to give the visitors a framework and structure for the whole exhibition was the most exciting and fun part of it. I think this time the museum wanted to show too many things in this concept and during going through the different halls and different artists, who had completely different approach sometimes I felt lost, and during those moments I was looking for Yoko Ono's instructions on how should I move on. This exhibition is more than just an art exhibition, it is a discussion between the artists and our current world, where the everyday life has changed dramatically.
Summary
Visiting both museums gave me the chance to explore the modern art starting from the 20th century up until our current days, where the pandemic serves as an inspiration for art. Both museums and both places are significant and important actors in the art world, the Ludwig Museum (through NACT) showing us the classical way of art appreciation through the big artist's big works. This classical approach which shows us the way to the contemporary artwork is actually a good starting point before visiting Mori Art Museum, because Mori Art Museum is a symbol for all what is trendy and contemporary in the art. This travel not just through time but also art forms was a great experience for me. I would recommend visiting them both, since it's a good escape from the hot summer days.
Thank you for reading, see you later ~
p.s.: let's visit more museum