The Mori Art Museum: A New Museum in Tokyo Breathes Life into the City's Art Scene
Tokyo's new museum, the Mori Art Museum, situated at the top of a skyscraper, is now Asia's biggest contemporary art space and the topic of conversation amongst Japanese and international art lovers.
The art scene in Tokyo has always been minimal, but recently galleries are joining together and fighting the international perception of Japanese aesthetic as "cute" and dominated by comics.
The opening of the Mori signals a new movement in Japan. The museum itself is set in Roopongi Hills, a mini city with residential and commercial buildings, and now a museum.
The museum itself developed with the input of Glenn Lowry of the NY MoMA, Norman Rosenthal of the Royal Academy in London, Alfred Pacquemont of the Pompidou, Nicholas Serota from the Tate, and other top museum directors who brought their expertise to the project, making the Mori very special.
While it won't have a permanent collection for now, there is speculation that it may someday. In the meantime, the museum has committed itself to showing and promoting the work of Japanese and Asian artists, while exhibiting the work of Western artists in a new way.