Visited 21.05.2016 (Sat)
Visited two art museums in Aomori Prefecture - Aomori Museum of Art 青森県立美術館 and Towada Art Center 十和田市現代美術館 on my second trip to Tohoku region. After a memorable experience with Aomori Museum of Art (on Day 4), I was definitely looking forward to visit this contemporary art museum situated in Towada city. Opened in 2008, Towada Art Center was created as part of Arts Towada Project to revitalise Towada city, by adding a variety of artworks into the townscape and providing platforms for artists, citizens and visitors to promote and exchange ideas. Currently, Towada Art Center houses a permanent collection of 38 artworks all created exclusively for this art museum by both local and international artists.
Affinity to art. There is a lot of novelties injected into the design of Towada Art Center. Each artwork is housed in an independent exhibition room and these rooms are interspersed throughout the facility and connected to one another by glass corridors. The art museum is made up of a mixture of small and large buildings in order to create a sense of continuity with Kanchodai-dori 官庁街通り, which is also lined with small and tall buildings. The design of the art museum enabled the placement of outdoor exhibition spaces, thus allowing visitors to admire both indoor and outdoor art concurrently. Some of the exhibition rooms have wide glass openings making it possible for the artworks to be viewed from the outside by passerby too, thus bringing art closer to public. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, exploring the magnificent art works inside and outside of Towada Art Center for the entire afternoon. One other noteworthy point is that the 1.1 km long Kanchodai-dori is also lined with 156 cherry blossom trees on both sides of the road, making it a popular hanami spot during spring between mid April to early May. Found another good reason to return to this city one day!
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Highlights:
Affinity to art. There is a lot of novelties injected into the design of Towada Art Center. Each artwork is housed in an independent exhibition room and these rooms are interspersed throughout the facility and connected to one another by glass corridors. The art museum is made up of a mixture of small and large buildings in order to create a sense of continuity with Kanchodai-dori 官庁街通り, which is also lined with small and tall buildings. The design of the art museum enabled the placement of outdoor exhibition spaces, thus allowing visitors to admire both indoor and outdoor art concurrently. Some of the exhibition rooms have wide glass openings making it possible for the artworks to be viewed from the outside by passerby too, thus bringing art closer to public. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, exploring the magnificent art works inside and outside of Towada Art Center for the entire afternoon. One other noteworthy point is that the 1.1 km long Kanchodai-dori is also lined with 156 cherry blossom trees on both sides of the road, making it a popular hanami spot during spring between mid April to early May. Found another good reason to return to this city one day!
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Highlights:
Vibrancy. The very first eye-catching artwork is this gigantic 5.5 m tall, vibrant flower horse (Flower Horse by Choi Jeonghwa) that stands gallantly near the entrance of the museum. Horse is closely linked to Towada city because it was the site of a war horse supply center for the Imperial Japanese Ministry of War until the end of WWII. Apart from this art installation in Towada Art Center which highlighted the historical relationship between the city and horse, I also spotted another horse statues and horseshoes embedded into the pedestrian pavements along Kanchodai-dori.
Mind blowing. Similar to most museums, photography is not allowed inside the facility. In fact, the main website of Towada Art Center has published comprehensive write up for each of the permanent exhibit showcased in the museum, and it has helped me better understand the messages that respective artist was trying to convey through their installations. I like how each exhibit is given its dedicated space, allowing visitors to appreciate the artwork from various angles. It excites me to move from one room to another, and be overwhelmed over and over again by these intriguing and mind blowing artworks. My favourite installation was Ron Mueck's "Standing Woman", the first artwork that I encountered at the start of the museum tour. Felt so puny instantaneously while standing in front of this stunning looking, 4 m tall statue of a woman. I was extremely amazed by how "real" the statue looked like - the melancholic facial expression, the rough skin texture, the wrinkles and even the grey strands of hair were recreated, nearing perfection.
Art is everywhere! Opposite to Towada Art Center, there are more artworks awaiting to be uncovered in the Art Square. The most prominent of them all is Yayoi Kusama's "Love Forever, Singing in Towada" which serves as a playground for children as well. This bright and colourful installation is made up of eight sculptures, which include the familiar yellow pumpkin, a girl, a dog and multiple mushrooms, and they are all donned in Yayoi Kusama's signature polka dots pattern. Not forgetting the very "talkative" Fat House, with a Fat Car sitting beside it. Created by Erwin Wurm, the odd shaped house and car amuses its audience by applying the term "fat", which is usually used on living things, onto non living things.
Designer furniture. Keep a lookout for several other artworks, known as Street Furniture, decorated along Kanchodai-dori. Don't be surprised if you walk into a gigantic green pillow sculpture with an indentation lying on the street - this is an artwork part of Street Furniture series for pedestrians to take a rest on. If you are unsure where these "designer furniture" are situated, there are map display boards found along the street, indicating the exact locations of these artworks.
Break. Had a late lunch in the cafe housed in a giant white cube, situated at the east side of Towada Art Center. Art can be experienced even in this cafe as the floor is covered by a beautiful collage of floral patterns inspired by Nambu Weaving, a traditional craft of Towada, a masterpiece by Micheal Lin. Here, I had a beef jerky and egg sandwich accompanied by a cup of hot honey milk to fill up my empty stomach.
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Towada Art Center 十和田市現代美術館
〒034-0082 青森県十和田市西二番町10-9
Opening hours:
- Museum: 0900 - 1700 hrs (last entry at 1630 hrs)
- Cafe: 0900 - 1630 hrs
- Shop: 0900 - 1700 hrs
Closed on Mondays
Admission fee = 1,200 yen
- Museum: 0900 - 1700 hrs (last entry at 1630 hrs)
- Cafe: 0900 - 1630 hrs
- Shop: 0900 - 1700 hrs
Closed on Mondays
Admission fee = 1,200 yen
How to get there?
(1) By bus.
- From Hachinohe JR Station East Exit 八戸駅東口 Platform 5, board Towada Kanko Tetsudo Bus 十和田観光電鉄バス (Hachinohe~Towada line 八戸~十和田線) and alight at Kancho machi-dori 官庁街通. 5 mins walk from the bus stop.
Bus schedule: http://www.toutetsu.co.jp/jikoku/towada-hachinohe.html
- From Hachinohe JR Station West Exit 八戸駅西口, board JR Bus Tohoku Oirase-go おいらせ号 and alight at Towada Art Center 十和田市現代美術館.
- From Yakeyama 焼山 (bus stop nearest to Oirase Keiryu Hotel, opposite to Cosmo petrol kiosk), board Towada Kanko Tetsudo Bus 十和田観光電鉄バス (Yakeyama~Towada Onsenkyo~Towada-shi line 焼山～十和田湖温泉郷～十和田市線) and alight at Towada Art Center 十和田市現代美術館.
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