Current ExhibitionsSpecial Exhibition
Does the Future Sleep Here?
――Revisiting the museum’s response to contemporary art after 65 years

Dates

Tuesday, 12 March - Sunday, 12 May 2024

Hours

9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Fridays, Saturdays, 28 April, 29 April, 5 May and 6 May 9:30 am – 8:00 pm
Admission ends 30 mins. before closing time

Closed

Mondays and 7 May (Opens 25 March, 29 April, 30 April and 6 May)

Venue

Special Exhibition Wing

Admission Fees

Adults 2,000 yen, college students 1,300 yen, high school students 1,000 yen

• * Admission is free for junior high school students and under.
• * Disabled visitors admitted free of charge, with one attendant. Please present your disability identification upon arrival.
• * Students and faculty members at National Museum of Art Campus Member institutions may view this exhibition on specially priced tickets (students = 1,100 yen, faculty members = 1,800 yen). These tickets are available at the National Museum of Western Art Ticket Office.
• * You can also see the permanent exhibition on the same day of viewing this exhibition.

Please be aware that some of the works displayed in this exhibition include sexually explicit content as part of the artist’s aesthetic statement. Prior to entering the exhibition we ask for the understanding of those who may find such content disturbing, or those accompanied by children.

Official online tickets

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Organized by

The National Museum of Western Art

With the sponsorship of

NTT ArtTechnology
Dai Nippon Printing (DNP)

With the special cooperation of

Forbes JAPAN

With the cooperation of

The Western Art Foundation

Brochure

PDF file 5.19MB

Does the Future Sleep Here?
——Revisiting the museum’s response to contemporary art after 65 years

This exhibition – the first major display of contemporary art at the National Museum of Western Art (NMWA) – will present works by a gathering of more than 20 artists of all ages pursuing experimental artistic activities in Japan today.

The NMWA has primarily collected, preserved, and displayed Western art dating up through the mid-20th century, and thus does not house contemporary art. Bluntly, it can be said to be a collection solely of works by dead people who lived in the past in distant lands. However, looking back at the overall history of the Matsukata Collection prior to its role as the NMWA’s core collection upon its opening in 1959, we can see, in fact, that the museum was built with the hope that it would be a place that stimulates the creation of future art. Yet, somehow up until now the NMWA has not become a place that gives rise to and fosters the art of the future.

The actual “art museum” system arose in Western Europe during the late 18th century. At that time, the German author Novalis wrote,
  “Galleries are the sleeping chambers of the future world.−
    The historian, philosopher and artist of the future world are at home here−they develop themselves here and live for this world.”

Has the NMWA become such “chambers where the future world sleeps”? We have posed this question to these diverse artists, and their works displayed in this exhibition will provide their answers to that question.

Participating Artists

ENDO Mai, FUSE Rintaro, IIYAMA Yuki, MATSUURA Hisao, MIYAGI Futoshi, NAGASHIMA Yurie, NAITO Rei, NAKABAYASHI Tadayoshi, ODAWARA Nodoka, OZAWA Tsuyoshi, Parplume (UMETSU Yoichi ＋ ANDO Yumi ＋ HOSHIKAWA Asako ＋ TSUZUKIBASHI Hitoko ＋WAKIMOTO Saki), SAKAMOTO Natsuko, SUGITO Hiroshi, TAKANO Ryudai, TAKEMURA Kei, TANAKA Koki, TATSUNO Toeko, Elena TUTATCHIKOVA, UMETSU Yoichi, YUASA Ebosi, YUMISASHI Kanji

Exhibition Checklist (PDF file, about 460KB)