Three art museums in Hiroshima to issue message of peace
Dec. 26, 2012
Exhibit next summer on theme of Isamu Noguchi
by Aya Nishimura, Staff Writer
Three art museums in Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum and Hiroshima Museum of Art in Naka Ward and the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in Minami Ward, will cooperate on a joint exhibition called “Art Arch Hiroshima 2013” to be held next summer. At a December 21 press conference at the prefectural government offices, the directors of the facilities expressed their desire to issue a message of peace to Japan through art.
The museums are run by different parent organizations (the prefecture, a foundation and the city), making the joint exhibition a rare undertaking in Japan. The exhibition will run from July 20 through October 14, and the museum directors hope to attract a total of 100,000 visitors. The common theme of the exhibition will be the works of Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese-American sculptor who designed the Peace Bridges in the city’s Naka Ward, and each museum will examine the issue of peace from its own standpoint. A total of 170 works from the collections of museums in Japan and abroad will be exhibited, including works by Pablo Picasso, Taro Okamoto and Issey Miyake as well Noguchi.
“By working together, the three museums can hold a large-scale exhibition,” said Yujiro Ochi, director of the Prefectural Art Museum. “I would like to make it a region-wide art event.” Yasuo Harada, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, said he hoped the exhibition would attract many people from all over Japan to Hiroshima.
The three museums have been working together since 2000 in an effort to boost the number of visitors to their facilities. They are preparing for next summer’s exhibition, making use of a grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
(Originally published on December 22, 2012)
by Aya Nishimura, Staff Writer
Three art museums in Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum and Hiroshima Museum of Art in Naka Ward and the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in Minami Ward, will cooperate on a joint exhibition called “Art Arch Hiroshima 2013” to be held next summer. At a December 21 press conference at the prefectural government offices, the directors of the facilities expressed their desire to issue a message of peace to Japan through art.
The museums are run by different parent organizations (the prefecture, a foundation and the city), making the joint exhibition a rare undertaking in Japan. The exhibition will run from July 20 through October 14, and the museum directors hope to attract a total of 100,000 visitors. The common theme of the exhibition will be the works of Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese-American sculptor who designed the Peace Bridges in the city’s Naka Ward, and each museum will examine the issue of peace from its own standpoint. A total of 170 works from the collections of museums in Japan and abroad will be exhibited, including works by Pablo Picasso, Taro Okamoto and Issey Miyake as well Noguchi.
“By working together, the three museums can hold a large-scale exhibition,” said Yujiro Ochi, director of the Prefectural Art Museum. “I would like to make it a region-wide art event.” Yasuo Harada, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, said he hoped the exhibition would attract many people from all over Japan to Hiroshima.
The three museums have been working together since 2000 in an effort to boost the number of visitors to their facilities. They are preparing for next summer’s exhibition, making use of a grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
(Originally published on December 22, 2012)
