From Hara Museum Tokyo, and Hara Museum ARC, Gunma
Residents of Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture Treated to Special Outing to Hara Museum ARC
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Hara Museum invited 80-some citizens of Minami Soma, Fukushima prefecture to spend the day at our annex museum Hara Museum ARC in Shibukawa. The residents, evacuees of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, are now residing in Higashi Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture, 40 minutes away from Shibukawa by car.
Playing a central role in this special event was BloomBUS!, the free shuttle bus that ordinarily runs between the Hara Museum in Tokyo and Shinagawa Station every Sunday. Thanks to Bloomberg L.P., sponsor of the service, two large chartered buses were used instead of the normal micro bus. Design magnets which adorn the BloomBUS! were used to decorate the buses also.
Jean-Michel Othoniel, Kokoro, 2009
The guests toured the museum and enjoyed the outdoor installations by Jean-Michel Othoniel and Olafur Eliasson. Yayoi Kusama’s work, Mirror Room (Pumpkin), was a special hit among the children.
Yayoi Kusama, Mirror Room (Pumpkin), 1991
Olafur Eliasson, Sunspace for Shibukawa, 2009
The day turned out to be a particularly hot one in Shibukawa, perhaps more so for those used to living along the coast cooled by sea breezes. One of the participants called it “one of the hottest ever”. But everyone seemed to enjoy the day’s outing. After all the walking, “we will “certainly sleep well tonight!,” another participant noted.
Hot or not, the day will be remembered by everyone as a special one indeed, particularly by those of us at the museum who worked hard to make it happen, who believe in the power of art.
*Another effort by the Hara Museum to help with the relief and reconstruction of the areas affected by the earthquake is the Yoshitomo Nara x Hara Museum “My Drawing Room” Charity Large-sized Postcard Set (on sale at the Museum Shop). Proceeds from the sale of the postcards will be donated to the charity organization Japan Platform.
—————————————————
Please check here for Hara Museum access information
For Hara Museum ARC, please check here.
Now on sale. Yoshitmo Nara Charity Large-sized Postcard Set
“Be Alive!—Selections from the Hara Museum Collection”
Dates: January 14 (Sat.) – June 12 (Sun.), 2011
Project “Mickalene Thomas–Mama Bush: One of a Kind Two”
Dates: February 17 (Thurs.) – June 12 (Sun.), 2011
Next exhibition “Ming Wong: Life of Imitations”
Dates: June 28(Sat.) – August 28 (Sun.), 2011
Hara Museum is now participating in MuPon (museum discount ticket system using iPhone application)! http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/apps/mupon
Visit Hara Museum Twitter (in Japanese only) (account name: @haramuseum)
http://twitter.com/haramuseum
http://www.haramuseum.or.jp (museum website)
http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp (mobile site)
Hara Museum ARC (Gunma)
“Cosmos: Selections from the Hara Museum Collection”
March 19 (Sat.) – June 26 (Sun.)
There has been temporary changes in museum opening hours for Hara Museum (Tokyo) and Hara Museum ARC (Gunma). Please click here for further details.