52 53 ARTLINES 3 | 2025 CONTEMPORARY PATRONS IN JAPAN CONTEMPORARY PATRONS IN JAPAN The QAGOMA Foundation’s Contemporary Patrons program not only takes you on bespoke tours across the world, but also, members enjoy access to art fairs, exhibitions and private events, led by the Gallery’s Director and senior curatorial staff. Here, Kerry Gillett reflects on the Contemporary Patrons’ art tour to Japan earlier this year. In May, members of the Contemporary Patrons were excited to arrive in Japan, where we spent time in Tokyo, to the south on Naoshima Island, and at Hakone. As a group of 20, we embraced travelling by plane, high-speed train, ferry and Shank’s pony1 to explore art old and new, architecture ranging from traditional shrines to modern creations designed by Tadao Ando, and revelled in the recognisable connections QAGOMA has made with Japanese art and artists, mostly through the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Naturally, we also enjoyed the food, cultural experiences and welcoming hospitality of our hosts wherever we ventured, including through private galleries and collections, artist studios and public museums. On tour, every day is an adventure and being fit, loving stairs and being inquisitive are essentials. Our first day included a private tour of the Obayashi Collection in the Yu-un Guest House, led by Mr Takeo Obayashi himself. The guest house was designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who specialises in minimal constructions that emphasise the creative use natural light. We also stopped at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, which reminded the group of the strength of the relationships between QAGOMA and Japan: it was especially wonderful to see and participate in Kusama’s The Obliteration Room, a QAGOMA Collection work, which was on loan to the museum when we visited. Travelling south by bullet train to the island of Naoshima, we took in Benesse House (built by Mr Soichiro Fukutake), which encompasses both a museum and a hotel. Having visited four museums by this point on the tour, the Contemporary Patrons group was well-practised in respectful art-viewing in Japan. (To ensure that all guests have the Opposite Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Sphere within a Sphere 1978–80, Hakone Open Air Museum / © Arnaldo Pomodoro Estate / Photograph: Kerry Gillett This page, from top Members of the Contemporary Patrons Japan Art Tour in The Obliteration Room, presented at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo / Photograph: Kerry Gillett; tour participants outside the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo / Photograph: Dominique Jones; and viewing Richard Long’s Inland Sea Driftwood Circle 1997 at Benesse House Museum, Naoshima, Japan / © Richard Long/DACS/Copyright Agency / Photograph: Greg and Wendy O’Meara best possible experience, many museums do not allow photography and may require you to remove your shoes.) Benesse House Museum, which was also designed by Tadao Ando, is surrounded by the Seto Inland Sea, in keeping with Fukutake’s vision for his museum: for nature, art and architecture to work in harmony; and for his private collection to live for eternity, providing a space that encourages visitors to think deeply and contemplate life through art. Returning to Tokyo, we discovered that everything old is new again: in examining the techniques of the Edo period, we saw works of art ranging from fourteenth-century scrolls at the Suntory Museum to contemporary woodblock prints by contemporary artist Sachiko Kazama. Engaging with Kazama in her studio was especially fascinating, in part because her workspace is tiny relative to the substantial nature of her works; using long scrolls of paper and black ink, Kazama creates meticulous grayscale drawings that can take her up to five years to complete. She then engraves them onto timber or lino, creating a fusion of history, contemporary society and humour. Next, we ventured south-west from Tokyo to Hakone, where the Hakone Open Air Museum balances art and nature, dotting over 150 sculptures across the hills of the site’s stunning landscape. The museum also hosts the Picasso Pavillion, which houses more than 300 works of art. On our way back to Tokyo, the Patrons stopped at Hakone-jinja — the Shinto shrine at the foot of Mount Hakone, on the shores of Lake Ashinoko — which dates to 757AD. The shrine also boasts the iconic Heiwa no Torii (‘gate of peace’). Back in Tokyo, at Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, we viewed the exhibition ‘the life of Y’, featuring artworks and a book by contemporary artist and award-winning author Erika Kobayashi. The works chronicle the history of the Japanese schoolgirls who were conscripted to factories to make paper balloon bombs during World War Two, for which Kobayashi researched and wove together private documents and the recollections of some of the women involved. Through the lens of Japanese art, the Contemporary Patrons explored themes of nature, spirituality and cultural tradition, and enjoyed visiting more than 20 galleries, collections and museums, as well as embracing the culinary delights (and shopping!) Japan has to offer. Kerry Gillett is a freelance arts writer and a Contemporary Patron. For information on the Contemporary Patrons giving group, or on the QAGOMA Foundation, please visit qagoma.qld.gov.au/foundation or contact the Foundation office by calling (07) 3840 7316 or email [email protected] Endnote 1 ‘Shank’s pony’ is British idiom for travelling on foot.
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