A lot has happened in Japan since the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo held its last triennial art exhibition in 2010 – the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power plant. With a selection process similar to the Whitney Biennial, the curators of Mori’s Triennial (aka “Roppongi Crossing” named after Tokyo’s infamous nightlife neighborhood) invite contemporary artists whose work reflects the current state of the country. That’s a tough job, since the disasters have rendered the country raw and volatile, by Japanese standards. 29 artists (most born in the 1970s and 1980s) have been selected including 8 ex-pats (3 live in the US, 3 Australia, 1 Germany, and 1 Belgium).
A variety of media and emotions will be on view. From artist Sachiko Kazama‘s solemn-satirical woodblock print “Prison NUKE FISSION 235” to Mika Tajima‘s wooden moving storage rack, “The Extras”, which takes aim at priorities and the notion of value. There is outrage, beauty, wit, and as witnessed in Endo Ichiro’s “Go for Future Bus Project” (he invites strangers on the street to write their hopes and dreams on the yellow bus he drives and lives in) – there is hope.
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