From Tuesday, October 7, 2025, an exhibition by artist Morimura Yasumasa, titled “Nostalgia, Where To?”—Bringing Art, Literature, and Music Together—is being held at the Ohara Museum of Art, Yurin-so Villa, and Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery.
To mark the exhibition, a symposium titled “Thinking About Intersecting Gazes—West, Japan, and Asia” was held on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
The speakers were artist Morimura Yasumasa; Dorian Chong, Artistic Director and Chief Curator of Hong Kong’s contemporary art museum M+; and Miura Atsushi, Director of the Ohara Museum of Art, Ohara Museum of Art Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation.
Here is a look at a symposium that offered a sense of art’s possibilities.
The information presented was current when this article was published in November 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Why Ask About “Intersecting Gazes” Now?
First, Director Miura Atsushi explained that this exhibition is not simply a solo show, but a groundbreaking endeavor in which the contemporary “gaze” of artist Morimura Yasumasa intersects with the historical “gaze” embodied by the Ohara Museum of Art collection.
Miura Atsushi
The purpose of this exhibition is to create a one-of-a-kind exhibition space that could only come about by bringing Morimura’s art and the history and collection of the Ohara Museum of Art face to face and into dialogue.
Furthermore, we tend to view culture through the binary of “the West” and “Japan.” We believe that adding Dorian Chong’s “perspective from Asia” to this framework will spark a chemical reaction at this symposium.
A Map of Creation—Reading Morimura Yasumasa’s Present Position Through Oe Kenzaburo’s Theory
(Image courtesy of the Ohara Museum of Art, Ohara Museum of Art Foundation)
Next, to clarify where he currently stands in his creative work, Morimura Yasumasa introduced a discussion by writer Oe Kenzaburo, who classified modern Japanese literature, and applied it to art history.
Morimura Yasumasa
Oe Kenzaburo divided Japanese writers into three groups.
The first consists of writers such as Tanizaki Junichiro and Katabata Yasunari, who established uniquely Japanese forms of expression precisely because they were, in a sense, isolated from the world. In art, this may be comparable to the world of ukiyo-e, which flourished during Japan’s period of isolation.
The second is the generation to which Oe himself and Abe Kobo belonged. They struggled to learn from Western culture and values and acquire a “world language” that would enable them to engage in dialogue with the world.
The third consists of writers such as Murakami Haruki, who were born into a world connected by subculture, which serves as a common language. In the art world, this would correspond to the generation of Murakami Takashi and Nara Yoshitomo.
I see myself as belonging to the second group. At the root of my creative work has always been a yearning for this “world language.”
However, toward the West, the object of my learning, I felt not only intense admiration but also resistance, asking “why?” It was an emotion that could truly be called “love and hate.”
There is also a field that belongs to none of these three categories: Japanese “modern Western-style painting.” Its artists were neither completely isolated nor connected to the world through sufficient information.
Their works, created through a struggle with the West amid limited information, existed, so to speak, between cultures. To us today, they may feel somewhat like an archaic language.
My aim in this exhibition is to translate that archaic language anew in a contemporary context and reconsider the universal value of their struggles and passions.
A Perspective from Asia—Morimura Yasumasa’s Art as a Critical Strategy
Next, Dorian Chong discussed the critical nature and importance of Morimura Yasumasa’s art from an international Asian perspective.
Dorian Chong
Morimura confronts giants such as Picasso and Duchamp, who form the foundations of modern Western art. This embodies an extremely important question: how do artists from outside the West engage with the West?
One term that helps us understand Morimura’s art is “anthropophagy.” It describes an approach that does not imitate external cultures, but actively consumes Western culture and makes it part of oneself, using it as nourishment for entirely new creation.
Morimura’s practice is an advanced and intellectual strategy: he accepts Western art history with respect, while critically dismantling it and reconstructing it as his own expression.
As for modern Japanese Western-style painting, I do not see it as “imitation of the West.”
Using “modernity,” the most universal language of the time, these artists sought to take part in a global artistic project. The passion and determination behind that effort have value in art history.
Intersecting Perspectives
In the discussion that followed, the three speakers’ perspectives intersected, deepening the conversation further.
Morimura reflected that within him, “the Picasso-like” impulse to create works that exist as physical objects, like paintings and sculptures, and “the Duchamp-like” critical spirit that dismantles established ideas coexist in contradiction. He said that this conflict is the source of his creativity.
Chong also described modern Western-style painting as evidence of a passion for connecting with the world. Artists may have viewed their own country’s art as an imitation of the West. But from a global perspective, it was a courageous challenge, pointing to the possibility of reappraising it positively as part of global history.
Exploring Artistic Thought in the West, Japan, and Asia
Photographed in front of his new work, “From Where, To Where?” (Study)
The auditorium at the Kurashiki City Art Museum, where the symposium was held, was full, reflecting the high level of interest among visitors. The event offered an opportunity to appreciate anew the richness of art in the West, Japan, and Asia.
After hearing these discussions, when visiting the galleries at the Ohara Museum of Art, Yurin-so Villa, and the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery, visitors may find themselves viewing Morimura Yasumasa’s works and paintings at the Ohara Museum of Art from a new perspective.
Morimura Yasumasa: “Nostalgia, Where To?”—Bringing Art, Literature, and Music Together—is scheduled to run through Sunday, November 9, 2025.
Take this opportunity to enjoy the many wonderful works on display.
Morimura Yasumasa: “Nostalgia, Where To?”—Bringing Art, Literature, and Music Together— Information
| Name | Morimura Yasumasa: “Nostalgia, Where To?”—Bringing Art, Literature, and Music Together— |
|---|---|
| Dates | Tuesday, October 7–Sunday, November 9, 2025 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (last admission at 3:30 p.m.) |
| Location | 1-1-15 Chuo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission (tax included) | Ohara Museum of Art combination ticket Admission to all venues for the Morimura Yasumasa exhibition (Main Building, Yurin-so Villa, and Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery). [Combination ticket] Yurin-so Villa + Ohara Museum of Art: Adults ¥2,500 [Combination ticket] Yurin-so Villa + Ohara Museum of Art: High school, junior high school, and elementary school students (under 18) ¥1,000 Yurin-so Villa only ※Admission to some venues for the Morimura exhibition. Adults ¥1,000 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students (under 18) ¥500 ※Visitors with a disability certificate (Mirairo ID) should present it to receive a discount. ※Free for preschool children. |
| Website | Ohara Museum of Art Official Website |
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