The National Museum of Osaka
25th July - 23rd Sep. 2015
The Time of others exhibition was jointly organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, Singapore Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and the Japan Foundation Asia Center. After starting in Tokyo in April 2015, the exhibition is scheduled to travel to Osaka, Singapore, and Queensland (Australia), presenting work by a total of 25 artists, primarily younger creators from the Asia-Pacific region, including pieces from each facility's own collection. The exhibition features different artists at each venue, and the second stop, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, will the largest offering, with works by 20 artists. The countries where the events are being held (Japan, Singapore, Australia) have been engaging in an ongoing effort to introduce and research Asian contemporary art since the 1990s. At the heart of this collaborative undertaking is the question of how to go about updating our view of Asia. The exhibition does not attempt to uniformly deal with the Asian and Oceania region, which currently faces more complex problems than ever before. Instead, it sets out to consider relationships in cultural pluralism, historical concerns, and the subject of those who live in the region from several concrete perspectives and to provide a place that can be shared by the viewers.
Exhibition Concept
How much distance lies between us? How are our views of each other formed? And how is it possible for us to create new relationships, given the ideas that we have about each other?
Our relationships, as people who are alive in the same era, can be seen as part of a complex network of connections and divisions. Due to the accelerating and expanding movement of information and things, it is no longer unusual for people to feel connected to those in some remote place. On the other hand, exclusionism, nationalism, and an indifference to others borne out of divergent beliefs, cultural conflicts, and social unrest are growing increasingly strong. And without our realizing it, we sometimes adopt a view of people as "others," turning away from them due to our inability or unwillingness to understand them.
While referring to these circumstances, the exhibition begins with the aforementioned question, and presents works that provide us with ideas about how to deal with the time of "others." Easily transcending frameworks such as nationality and identity, the works attempt to capture the subject nature of the multilayered self. Referring to memories and events that are missing from official records, the works refute the views of authoritarian history. Some also provide us with hints about how the legacy of colonialism and the neoliberal economic system has created "others." The profound thoughts and inquiries that inform these works suggest that the walls between us and "others" actually exist within ourselves. And since it is possible for us to alter these walls, it is also be possible for us to create new kinds of relationships with "others."
While referring to these circumstances, the exhibition begins with the aforementioned question, and presents works that provide us with ideas about how to deal with the time of "others." Easily transcending frameworks such as nationality and identity, the works attempt to capture the subject nature of the multilayered self. Referring to memories and events that are missing from official records, the works refute the views of authoritarian history. Some also provide us with hints about how the legacy of colonialism and the neoliberal economic system has created "others." The profound thoughts and inquiries that inform these works suggest that the walls between us and "others" actually exist within ourselves. And since it is possible for us to alter these walls, it is also be possible for us to create new kinds of relationships with "others."
http://www.nmao.go.jp/en/exhibition/
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