Museums in Japan

A museum's modern works are housed in an innovative setting.

Thanks to its new venue, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, is now as much of a work of art as the Japanese and foreign contemporary masterpieces it houses.

The museum, which originally opened in 1977 in the Expo '70 Commemoration Park-the site of the 1970 Japan World Exposition-in Senri, Osaka Prefecture, moved to Osaka City's Nakanoshima district in November 2004. The original museum building had become too old and its storage space too limited.

Argentine-born, U.S.-based architect Cesar Pelli was tapped to design the new museum facility, which is almost entirely subterranean. With its prime location in central Osaka and cutting-edge building, the reopened museum is set to take its place among Osaka's cultural hubs.

Visitors enter the museum through a huge, sculpturelike entrance of steel and glass. Although the rest of the museum is located underground, a glass ceiling and open space that let in abundant natural light give the exhibition halls a warm and airy feel.

The museum's first basement level has a museum shop, a restaurant, an information desk and a kids room. ``Shadow'' (1977) by avant-garde artist Jiro Takamatsu, a huge wrap-around canvas created for the original museum building, decorates a similarly curved wall on this level.

Visitors to the permanent exhibition hall on the second basement level are greeted by an enormous artwork, Spanish abstract painter Joan Miro's ``Innocent Laughter'' (1969). The symbol of the museum, the piece was originally created for the Japan Gas Association's pavilion at Expo '70. The pavilion building, which was constructed to resemble a laughing face, celebrated ``a world of laughter,'' with Miro's masterpiece as the pavilion's concluding exhibit. The 5-by-12-meter work, composed of 640 ceramic plates, was donated to the museum following the exposition.

Exhibitions that transcend national borders and artistic time periods are held on the third basement level. To mark the reopening of the museum, an exhibition featuring French artist Marcel Duchamp was held late last year, and ``Treasures of Ancient China'' is now under way.

The museum's collection includes works by masters of 20th-century art such as ``Picture within Picture'' (1929) by Wassily Kandinsky, modern artwork from Japan by pioneers such as Takamatsu and pieces by contemporary artists on the forefront of artistic activity today.

With its relocation, the museum will not only continue to display contemporary artwork, but also expand its exhibits to cover a wider range of modern art and conduct activities to respond to the needs and expectations of visitors. The National Museum of Art, Osaka, aims to become a public forum where people can interact with and appreciate art at ease.

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The National Museum of Art, Osaka, is a 10-minute walk from Higobashi subway station. Call 06-4860-8600 or visit < www.nmao.go.jp >.(IHT/Asahi: January 24,2005)