Japanese Art Pearl in the Seto Inland Sea
Seto Inland Sea from Naoshima Island
Location of Naoshima Recently, we had the chance to travel to Japan for a few days and visit Naoshima. It is a small island located to the north of Shikoku Island in Kagawa prefecture in the Seto Inland Sea in the south. Japan consists of 6852 islands altogether but most of the population live on the four large islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Apparently only 470 of these islands are inhabited. Japan has become a huge attraction for foreigners and i'm not exactly sure why. I suspect the mystery and seductive beauty of older cultural traditions like the Samurai, Geisha and Wood block printing combined with more modern offerings like Manga and Anime characters, Monkey Magic, Pokemon, Hello Kitty and Martial arts among others are responsible for increasing Japans visibility and titillating the curiosity of a younger generation in the West! Strange new lifestyle practices by young Japanese also add allure to the mix on offer to strangers in a strange land. Art tourism is also becoming increasingly more important to countries around the world for revenue as the industrial paradigm fades. Japan is trying to maximise its benefit with art sites like Naoshima in order to revitalise a dying island economy once based primarily on fishing. Aside from the Mitsubishi refinery there, art is offering new hope of employment for some of the 3300 or so island inhabitants.
The art installations on Naoshima were built and are managed by the Benesse Corporation the largest education resource provider in Japan. Essentially they contracted Tadao Ando to design the seven buildings (including 3 museums) housing the artworks. He in turn worked hand in glove in consultation with many artists to place custom art installations in and around the different sites. Some of these artists include Walter De Maria (USA), James Turrell (USA), Lee Ufan (Korea), Niki De Saint Phalle (France), Claude Monet (France), Yayoi Kusama (Japan), David Hockney (UK), George Ricky (USA), Bruce Nauman (USA), Cy Twombly (USA), Jasper Johns (USA) and Shinro Ohtake (Japan) to name just a few. There are more artworks on the other two islands of Teshima and Inujima which are also being developed along with Naoshima.
Tadao Ando is an award winning self taught architect with a philosophy of preserving the natural environment and keeping the human footprint as small as possible. He has won many awards including both the Pritzker and Alvo Aaltar prizes during his career. He has designed different kinds of buildings all over the world incorporating a personal "Zen" philosophy of "simplicity" and "inner feeling" believing that buildings can "reform" society. Using primarily concrete to achieve his clean lines, he aims for a sense of "cleanliness" and "weightlessness!" Although the structure exteriors are simple he orders very specifically the construction and organisation of the inner space in order to achieve his aesthetic of "sensation." Ando believes that people should experience the spirit and beauty of nature through architecture and that it is responsible for performing the "attitude" of the site. A visit to Naoshima and Ando's buildings there make visibly evident his attempt to integrate "art" and "environment" into a "seamless" visual experience for the visitor.
Naoshima Island covers about 3 square kilometres and has a number of different art sites including old abandoned buildings that have been re-invested with new meaning/life by many visiting artists. To get around you can bring your own car on the ferry from Okayama in the north or Takamatsu in the south or rent a bike for the day or just walk if the weather is ok. You could stay in the big city and come back every day or stay at one of the smaller guesthouses on the island.
Watch out for the summer months though, it is hot and humid and usually more expensive at peak times like this!!
Below is a look at the "I Love You" art bath house created by Shinro Ohtake, where you can unwind after a hard day looking at art and maybe meet some of the locals.
Watch out for the summer months though, it is hot and humid and usually more expensive at peak times like this!!
Below is a look at the "I Love You" art bath house created by Shinro Ohtake, where you can unwind after a hard day looking at art and maybe meet some of the locals.
I wish we'd had more time to stay and look around Naoshima and the other islands. Maybe a good look would require 2-3 days. There is actually a fair bit of art and it is spread around the islands, so to do the art justice and also squeeze in some relaxation time, it would be ideal to stay on the island. I hope we get a chance to return someday and preferably in a cooler season.
I'm inspired by places like Naoshima irregardless of the fact that they have become commercial tourist ventures, simply because i understand that if you want excellence then it's going to cost and someone has to pay. There is a great cultural legacy preserved here! If anyone is unable to travel then at least they can visit online where the art is documented reasonably.
Art isn't cheap and should always be valued for what it is; a lifetime invested, often at great personal cost and with the highest form of human sensitivity and inventiveness at work! The philanthropic art collector/owner of Benesse has made a valiant effort to create something of lasting value for future generations.
On these islands Benesse has attempted to construct a peaceful and elegant sanctuary for human expression without it ever having to be dismantled and removed from context. It is a prime example of Donald Judd's mandate that art be maintained in situ in perpetuity, in order that it be seen for what it "is" and not what a curator thinks it "could or should be!"
Here's a short video tour of some of the sights!
I'm inspired by places like Naoshima irregardless of the fact that they have become commercial tourist ventures, simply because i understand that if you want excellence then it's going to cost and someone has to pay. There is a great cultural legacy preserved here! If anyone is unable to travel then at least they can visit online where the art is documented reasonably.
Art isn't cheap and should always be valued for what it is; a lifetime invested, often at great personal cost and with the highest form of human sensitivity and inventiveness at work! The philanthropic art collector/owner of Benesse has made a valiant effort to create something of lasting value for future generations.
On these islands Benesse has attempted to construct a peaceful and elegant sanctuary for human expression without it ever having to be dismantled and removed from context. It is a prime example of Donald Judd's mandate that art be maintained in situ in perpetuity, in order that it be seen for what it "is" and not what a curator thinks it "could or should be!"
Here's a short video tour of some of the sights!
Read more about Naoshima at the following links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/travel/naoshima-japan-an-unlikely-island-as-art- attraction.html?_r=0
http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/jul/10/japan-travel-art-island-naoshima
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/03/travel/naoshima-japan-art-island/
