April 4–July 7, 2024
Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita
Meguro-ku Tokyo 153-0062
Japan
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm,
Thursday–Friday 10am–8pm
T +81 3 3280 0099
The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is pleased to present the exhibition TOP Collection: A Traveler from 1200 Months in the Past. This exhibition of works from the collection of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum has the theme of time travel.
The science-fictional fantasy of people freely traversing all the eras of history has existed since time immemorial. However, in the world of the imagination and the realm of art, it is no fantasy, and anyone can break free of the conventional bounds of time and space.
In 1924, the poet and author of children’s literature Miyazawa Kenji published Spring and Asura, poetically describing the inner landscape of “the phenomenon called I” and envisioning “the fourth dimensional continuum” in which all things overlap at a cosmic time-scale. Miyazawa Kenji’s imagination was sparked by the latest developments in science and thought of his day, but although he set his vision down in words a hundred years ago, there is something about it that still resonates in our hearts in this fragmented current era.
This exhibition begins its journey through time in the year 1924, exactly a century ago, and presents photographic and film works and materials primarily drawn from our collection of over 37,000 items. With the theme of “a traveler from 1,200 months in the past,” it enables visitors to encounter narratives woven in various times and places. It is also a trip through time and space that connects the pre-World War II, postwar, and contemporary periods through the power of imagination, with the words of the poetic preface to Miyazawa’s Spring and Asura serving as a guide. We invite you to enjoy this journey through a wealth of still and moving images.
Room I: 1924–Taisho 13 / Room II: The Modern City in the Showa Era / Room III: What Was Once Here: Memories of Yebisu Beer / Room IV: 20th Century Memories: History as Seen in Photographic Magazines / Room V: Space-Time Travel: The Cenozoic Alluvial Epoch.
Organisers
Curated by Tetsuro Ishida (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
Organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
More details here.
For press: If you have any press enquiries about this exhibition, please contact our Department of Public Relations—press-info [at] topmuseum.jp.