Hara Museum ARC

As the second installment of the “Sensitivity Development Program for Next-Generation Leaders,” we organized a bus tour for art students to Hara Museum ARC on September 23, 2022 from Shinjuku, Tokyo. In organizing the tour, we were motivated by the somewhat difficult task of students in the capital to travel to Shibukawa and desire to do something for them in light of their confinement to the city during the coronavirus pandemic. We thus planned it as a free round-trip tour that would let them take in the beauties of nature while immersing themselves in art.


The tour included a special lecture by Tatsuo Miyajima and participation in a workshop he held at the museum (on September 23 and 24) as part of the Sea of Time – TOHOKU project. The art-packed schedule included not only the lecture and the workshop, but also a guided tour of the Open-View Storage by museum director Kazuko Aono and of the works in the exhibition by the head of the curatorial department. Many of the 25 participants, some of whom joined the tour on-site from schools within Gunma prefecture, praised it as a rare chance unavailable at school to hear an artist active on the front lines talk directly about his artistic process and other topics.


Using digital counters with digits that represent the eternal nature of life, Mr. Miyajima has continued to make art that expresses his thoughts about life and death based on the core concepts of “continuous change, relatedness to all things, eternal continuity.” His close connection with the museum dates back to 1989 with his permanent installation Time Link at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. At present, the installation has been relocated to the museum’s Gallery B where it continues to be open to the public.



In the workshop, each participant “created” one digital counter each by setting the rate at which it advanced. Everyone then shared their setting with the others, as well as episodes related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, their thoughts about the Northeastern region of Japan known as “Tohoku” and their messages to loved ones. In this way, with their counters in their hand, it was as if time was being reset back to when the earthquake occurred, or a message had been embedded and sent that would restart time that had come to a standstill.



Workshops are currently being held in various places in the country with the aim of eventually combining the small counters that are sent in as part of a larger Sea of Time – TOHOKU Project. In addition to the workshop, a related project, Demonstration Exhibition ‘Sea of Time – TOHOKU Project, was held in the Kankai Pavilion from September 10 (Sat.) to November 9 (Wed.), 2022.

Sea of Time – TOHOKU
https://seaoftime.org/

Photography: Shinya Kigure

Bus Tour Information
The Program to Develop the Sensitivity of the Next Generation of Leaders
Bus Tour and Special Lecture and Workshop by Tatsuo Miyajima for Art Students
Date: Friday/national holiday, September 23, 2022 8:30 (gathering and departure time)-18:30 (time of return and dispersal)
Venue: Hara Museum ARC
Number of participants: 25
Support provided by: MRA Foundation
Lecturer: Tatsuo Miyajima

Event Information
The Sea of Time – TOHOKU Project Time Setting Workshop
Date: Friday/national holiday, September 23 14:00 and Saturday, September 24, 2022 Session I: 11:00 /Session II: 14:00
Venue: Corridor Space at Hara Museum ARC
Number of participants: 88 (over both days)
　 Organized by: The Executive Committee of the Sea of Time – TOHOKU Project
Cooperation provided by: Hara Museum ARC