A documentation exhibition of "Umbrella," a work by New York-based artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, known for their large-scale landscape-transforming projects, is running at the Mito Art Museum in Ibaraki Prefecture until December 4th.
"Umbrella" by Christo and Jeanne-Claude was a temporary artwork that took place in southern California and northern Ibaraki Prefecture in the fall of 1991. It was a spectacular installation that simultaneously placed 1,760 yellow umbrellas in the hills of California and 1,340 blue umbrellas in the rice paddies of Ibaraki Prefecture. During its 18-day run, it was viewed by 500,000 people in Japan and 2 million people in the United States.
The exhibition looks back on the 1991 "Umbrella" through Christo's drawings, collages, photographs, and umbrellas themselves, as well as the actual materials and scale models. At the same time as the exhibition, Ibaraki Prefecture's first international art festival is being held in six cities and towns in northern Ibaraki Prefecture, including Hitachiota City, Hitachi City, and the former Satomi Village, which were the Japanese settings for "Umbrella." You can enjoy around 100 works and projects that were born from the encounters between outstanding artists from Japan and abroad and the creative local resources of the northern part of the prefecture, such as history, culture, food, and traditional crafts.
[Exhibition Information]
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Umbrellas, Japan = USA 1984-91"
Venue: Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito
Address: 1-6-8 Gokencho, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Dates: October 1st - December 4th
Time: 9:30am - 6:00pm
Closed: Mondays
Admission Fee: 800 yen for adults, 600 yen for groups (20 or more people)
Free for junior high school students and younger, those 65 years of age and older, and those with a disability certificate and one accompanying person
[Art Festival Information]
"KENPOKU ART 2016 Ibaraki Prefectural Northern Art Festival"
Locations: Hitachi City, Takahagi City, Kitaibaraki City, Hitachiota City, Hitachiomiya City, Daigo Town
Dates: September 17th - November 20th
