Rei Naito: Come and Live – Go and LiveTokyo National Museum 09:30
Adults ¥1,500, university students ¥1,000, free for high school, junior high school and younger children
Rei Naito (b. 1961) has spent her distinguished artistic career creating works that ask, ‘Is our existence on the earth a blessing in itself?’ Through examining both the scenery of the world’s overlooked corners, and subtle, minuscule phenomena, she creates what have been described as primordial scenes of life. Naito’s large-scale installations, such as ‘Being Given’ (2001) which is permanently situated on the art island of Naoshima, are especially acclaimed.
This exhibition came about through the artist’s encounter with both the architectural spaces of the Tokyo National Museum and its Jomon-period clay objects which date back as far as 10,000 years. In these artefacts, which were born out of awe and worship for nature and human existence, Naito perceived a spirit that resonates with her own work.
She has subsequently filled this museum’s natural light-flooded exhibition halls with a mix of her own original work, and museum-held Jomon objects such as a clay tablet featuring the impression of a child’s foot created sometime in 2,000-1,000 BC. An accompanying Rei Naito show, its title the same as this Tokyo National Museum exhibition, will be held at Ginza’s Maison Hermès Le Forum from September 7 2024 to January 13 2025 – the two shows will form one continuous, flowing story.
The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except August 12, September 16 and 23) as well as August 13 and September 17.