A Sorrowful Goodbye to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Posted on November 9, 2020
The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art has been home to countless exhibits between 1979, but at the end of 2020, we wave it a sad farewell.
photo: @shii.o9
The Hara Museum is a unique museum, tucked away within a quiet neighborhood in Shinagawa. Originally built as a private estate in 1938, it was later converted into the quaint museum that it has been for the past 40 years.
photo: @shii.o9
Their current, and unfortunately last, exhibit is entitled “Time Flows: Reflections by 5 Artists,” and features the works of Tomoki Imai, Tamotsu Kido, Lee Kit, Masaharu Sato, and Tokihiro Sato.
photo: @michicoaizawa
Photography is restricted within the museum, and the museum includes a statement on their website that “it is [their] hope that visitors remember their time at the museum not in the form of recorded images, but in the form of actual memories.”
photo: @esqeon
The Hara Museum has been a loving home to permanent exhibits such as Yoshitomo Nara’s “My Drawing Room” and Yasumasa Morimura’s “Rondo,” but as the building ages, it is time to let it rest.
photo: @shanniiiie
photo: @esqeon
However, the Hara Museum will continue being a home to contemporary art in Gunma, at the Hara Museum ARC. Established by the Foundation Arc-en-Ciel 10 years after the Museum of Contemporary Art was opened, the Hara Museum ARC will be trusted with pushing on the legacy of Hara and contemporary art.
photo: @so1ree
While the closure of the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art was announced back in 2018, as its final days near, it is still hard to imagine this as goodbye. Perhaps give the museum one last stop, enjoy a nice coffee, and reminisce on all the beautiful contemporary art that has been shared with the world.
ACCESS
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa City, Tokyo
Hara Museum ARC
2855-1 Kanai, Shibukawa, Gunma
written by: Shannan Tanaka
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