The exhibition "Towards the Realization of a Japanese Design Museum" is running at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Roppongi, Tokyo, through February 9th. This exhibition, organized with the aim of realizing the establishment of a national design museum in Japan, explores the role of a 21st-century design museum. It reconstructs 23 previous exhibitions held at the museum under four themes, while also introducing design museums around the world and art museums run by Japanese corporations. Designer Issey Miyake and art historian and director of the National Museum of Western Art, Masanori Aoyagi, founded the "Society for the Creation of a National Design Museum" in September 2012. The purpose of the group's activities is to widely communicate the importance of design in Japan and build momentum toward the establishment of a national design museum. The first public symposium, "Let's Create a National Design Museum!", was held at Tokyo Midtown Hall on November 27th, 2012. This year, the second public symposium, "The Design Museum We Want to Create!", was held at Sendai Mediatheque on April 21st. This exhibition is part of these efforts.

In the space just down the stairs, an introduction features 24 keywords, including "wrapping," "cute," and "consideration," selected from 50 keywords used in Japanese design exhibitions held overseas between 1975 and 2008, and introduces design museums around the world and art galleries and museums run by Japanese companies through looped footage. On the other side is a photo exhibition titled "Tadao Ando: The Struggles at the Site in 2006," which introduces the process of creating 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. In the back, Nakagawa Yukio's calligraphy piece "Earthen" is on display. The main Galleries 1 and 2 feature 23 exhibitions, ranging from "REALITY LAB: Regeneration and Re-creation," "Tohoku's Strength, Heart and Light: 'Clothing' by Miyake Issei," and "Irving Penn and Miyake Issei," to "Christo and Jeanne-Claude," "Shiro Kuramata and Ettore Sottsass," "Tableware: Lucie Rie, Jennifer Lee, Ernst Gamper," the "Design Ah! Exhibition" that attracted over 220,000 visitors, and the previous "Color Hunting: Design Beginning with Color." These exhibitions have been reconstructed and presented along four themes: "Understanding the World from Familiar Subjects (FINDING)," "Making Design (MAKING)," "Linking the Region to the World (LINKING)," and "Showcasing the Deepening of Individual Creativity (CREATING)." Akiko Moriyama, the design journalist who organized the exhibition, said at the preview, "I want to create an exhibition that encourages a wide exchange of opinions about what a design museum is and what a 21st-century design museum needs." Taku Sato said, "There is a lot of design that originated in Japan, so I think it might be possible to create a design museum in Japan that has never existed anywhere else in the world. This exhibition is positioned as the zeroth in our journey to creating a design museum. It will take time, but by continuing, I hope to link it to the realization of a national design museum in Japan." Naoto Fukasawa said, "It's like an invisible man that existed in tacit knowledge has half-emerged. I think that with each exhibition, (a Japanese design museum) will become clearer."


[Event Information]
Exhibition: Towards the Realization of a Japanese Design Museum
Venue: 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
Address: Tokyo Midtown Garden, 9-7-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Dates: Until February 9, 2014
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 20:00
Closed: Tuesdays
Admission: 1,000 yen for adults, 800 yen for university students, 500 yen for junior and senior high school students, free for elementary school students and younger