Visited the exhibition "Our Ecology: Toward a Planetary Living-Mori Art Museum 20th Anniversary Exhibition [Report].

Hi there, it's Minami.

In this issue, I would like to write a report on the exhibition "How does contemporary art face the environmental crisis?" I would like to report on my visit to the "Our Ecology" exhibition, which was held under the concept of "How does contemporary art face the environmental crisis?

I thought I could see the exhibit in an hour, but I was a little rushed and it took me a little over an hour.

If you do not want to be spoiled, please read this article after visiting the exhibit.

So here you go!

Entrance is futuristic

Mori Art Museum, as expected, is located in the center of Roppongi in Tokyo. From the entrance, it was futuristic.

There were two other events going on at the same time when I was there.

It is a great way to see some other exhibitions while visiting this one!

MAM Collection 017: Sawa Hiraki、MAM Screen 018: Carabin Film Collective.、MAM Project 031: Maiko JishuThose museum sections are also open to the public.

By the way, if you take this ticket to a restaurant on the lower floor of the same building in Roppongi Hills,They're offering some discounts.. This is the first time I have heard of it. This is the first time I learned about it. (I didn't use it, but I want to next time!)

Many customers are foreign nationals.

I don't know if it was the location or the fact that it was in Roppongi, but many of the customers were foreign nationals (especially Westerners).
Maybe he stopped by on his way to the parley (what an eye opener).

The Japanese were no longer the minority. I wonder why.

It was an international exhibition because the display was such that you could see pieces from all over the world, from those made in Japan to those from all over the world!

organization of chapters

This exhibition consists of 4 chapters in total.

Chapter 1, "Everything is Connected," refers to the reality of the complex intertwining of the environment and ecosystems with human activities. Chapter 2, "Return to the Soil," reexamines art created and exhibited in Japan, where environmental pollution became a problem during the period of rapid economic growth from the 1950s to the 1980s, and reexamines environmental issues from the standpoint of Japan. Chapter 3, "The Great Acceleration," introduces works that reveal the effects of mankind's excessive exploitation of the earth's resources, while at the same time offering a kind of "hope" for the future. Chapter 4, "The Future is Within Us," the final chapter, presents the possibilities of the future through an examination of both cutting-edge and ancient technologies, including activism, indigenous wisdom, feminism, AI, collective intelligence (CI), spirituality, and various other expressions.

From the official website: https://www.mori.art.museum/jp/exhibitions/eco/

Excerpt from the official

The importance of art is there as a clue to communicate

When it comes to art, an absent-minded person might perhaps say, "That's not necessary.

For example, the art that particularly impressed me personally in terms of the way it was conveyed was this work, Monira Arcadiri's "Resentment" (2023).

There are many people in Japan who are victims of the environmental crisis, or who have lost family members or things they have lost as a result of people's continued destruction and consumption of the environment without consideration for it.

In Japan, environment-derived itai-itai disease is also well known, but most people probably have a strong sense that it is now part of history.

The "voices" of such victims can be heard when approaching these spheres.

I thought this was a really interesting concept! If something like this were to be found in a passageway at a train station or the like, it would have a strong impact and I would definitely listen to it. It was interesting art that could be implemented in the real world.

Don't shells return to nature?

If you look at this one up close... it is actually not just a floor, but a floor made of scallop shells.

It is hard for the uninitiated to imagine, but there are five tons of shells laid out here.

And what is even more surprising is that these shells appear to be scallops all caught in Hokkaido.

The message is that the scallops that we eat with pleasure every day are actually scallops that, when farmed, produce shells as waste, and it takes many years and a lot of work to return them to nature.

Personally, I think it would be interesting if there were more parts like this on actual roads, because it makes a pleasant sound like being on a sandy beach when you step on the top and walk.

This kind of sensory art is also interesting.

This is,Nina Kanel's "Muscle Memory (5 tons)" (2023).

I wish it were more accessible in our daily lives, as I feel that walking on shells usually has a healing effect.

Environment in general rather than climate change

Since this exhibit is more about the environment in general rather than climate change, there was a wide range of environmental pollution discussed. I think it was mainly about the environment from the local to the national level.

The above photo was a chronological list of Japanese environmental laws, such as the Forest Law and the Sewerage Law, and the events that took place during the period when these laws were enacted. I.

Shocking that until 1960 Japan was considered a dirty country.

It is shocking that until 1960, Japan was considered a dirty country. I now know that Japan can do it if it tries.

The visual beauty is also amazing.

The visual beauty is also incredible.

The exhibition included a variety of historical images of various historical strikes and activities, images that capture natural objects as art, and images about the relationship between humans and the environment.

Especially for me personally, the flames are amazing. I was totally taken by the sensual flames.

A personal note is that there were also several exhibits by artists from Latin America.

This Chilean artist who fled to New York during the Pinochet dictatorship [.Cecilia Vicuña] When I saw the work, I was like, "Oh!

This is an exhibit that, incidentally, reminds us of the days when we used to count numbers with the "keep" method used during the Inca Empire, which everyone in Peru, Chile's neighbor country, loves.

We tend to think that the latest is always the best, but I reminded him again that there are many wonderful methods and expressions in the past, and we should not forget the history.

Incidentally, there are other articles written about ChileClicking here.

The hallway was not painted at the time of the main store, by the way.

This one seems to be an attempt to eliminate unnecessary decorations in line with the ecology exhibit.

Personally, depending on the theme and atmosphere, I felt that this was not at all isolated from the atmosphere of the other exhibits.

Perhaps this is because environmental exhibits are supposed to be in a "natural" state (their original state before human intervention).

At the same time, however, I wonder if art is the last thing we should be stingy with (I feel that we should focus first on daily energy-related issues, etc., which account for a large percentage of the total).

This is of course a wonderful initiative, but that does not mean that I want to condemn the other art forms that have already made up their hands. I think both are wonderful.

Full of high-impact works

We have already introduced some examples, but this exhibition provides methods to appeal for art and ecology from various angles, which will surely give you new ideas as a viewer.

All exhibits provide new knowledge.

The term "ecofeminism" was used surprisingly often in this exhibit, which struck me personally.

(It refers to the ideology and social and economic activities that cross the concepts of ecology and feminism. It is based on the idea that the environmental destruction caused by human exploitation of nature and the inequality surrounding women in a male-dominated society have the same underlying structure, and that neither problem can be solved without changing these values to alternative ones. The "Mere Old Man" believes that the "Mere Old Man" is a man.from IDEAS FOR GOOD）

Agnes Denes titled "Wheat Field - Conflict: Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan" transformed a landfill in southern Manhattan Island, New York City, into a wheat field in 1982.

The message of this one is to question developmentalism and symbolize protest against global warming and economic disparity.

While this is something that can only be done with assets, it is a bold revelation, don't you think?

The scale is amazing, and this is a point that impressed me personally!

A wide range of souvenirs

There are also many artistic exhibits. As one would expect from an environment-related event, there were many recycling-related artists.

Personally, I would have preferred a wallet made from recycled stylish foreign cardboard.

Voice guidance is recommended when crowded.

The audio guide is good when there are too many people to see the explanations.

Other than that, I honestly don't know if I need much else. Explanations are written on the board in Japanese and English, so I don't think it would be a problem on weekday evenings when there are few people around.

Conclusion

How was the article?
You may not go to the Mori Art Museum very often, but why not take the opportunity to visit at least once while enjoying the urban atmosphere?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the exhibition is located in the Roppongi Hills Tower, a futuristic facility that uses the latest technology and offers a variety of new experiences.

Exhibition Information

Mori Art Museum 20th Anniversary Exhibition: Our Ecology

To live on the planet Earth

Dates: October 18, 2023 (Wed) - March 31, 2024 (Sun)

Mori Art Museum 20th Anniversary Exhibition
Our Ecology: Toward a Planetary Living