ArtMuseums in Tokyo

Lilyenn · (#1 (**permalink**))

Hi; I´m going to Tokyo whithin three weeks and wonder for som good advice about visit any Museum of Art in Tokyo. Does anyone know a good place for visiting?

nihonga · (#2 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lilyenn

Hi; I´m going to Tokyo whithin three weeks and wonder for som good advice about visit any Museum of Art in Tokyo. Does anyone know a good place for visiting?

The Mori Museum at Roppongi Hills usually has some interesting shows! If you are looking for contemporary art museums in Tokyo, maybe it's the best one. There are a lot of other museums too, but it depends what kind of art you want to see?

Are you looking for contemporary Japanese art, ancient Japanese art, Modern Japanese art, Japanese design, or something else?

If you are looking for contemporary art, there are also some places in Tokyo that have groups of contemporary galleries that are worth visiting - you can see several contemporary Japanese art galleries all in the same building - and it's free.

ivyart · (#3 (**permalink**))

Well... that is a tall order.
I suppose the museum in Ueno is not so bad. The Mori Museum seems well... is more interested in splash and flash than Art and Ideas. Many of their shows begin on excellent premises but end up going beyond curatorial control, or the perimeters of the exhibitions collapse under the inability to collect enough specimens to fluff out the shows.
Most smaller museums/public art spaces tend to be run by civil servants who have no art background- get a Government job and they just place you somewhere, anywhere and Violla you are workin' in the art world now. So unfortunately the galleries control the museum staff and programming, and through "honest" ignorance are sincere, but unwilling shills for a few less than scrupulous galleries.

P.S. if you don't believe this, look closely at where the museum artists are represented, then try finding an (living) artist in a museum who does not have a financial allegiance to a local gallery. This might be less apparent had tokyo more than ~25 semi-serious galleries.