Mori Art Museum marks its 20th anniversary with this highly pertinent exhibition, which explores the response of contemporary art to the ongoing environmental crisis. Around 100 works from 34 Japanese and international artists, including pieces created especially for this event, form four exhibition ‘chapters’: together these urge us to consider environmental issues from a broader perspective that transcends the human-centric.
‘All Is Connected’, the first chapter, touches upon how human activity intertwines with ecosystems, while the subsequent ‘Return to Earth’ explores Japanese art from the 1950s to the ’80s, a period in which the country’s economic boom brought with it industrial pollution. ‘The Great Acceleration’ features works revealing humankind’s exploitation of natural resources, yet also offers a sense of hope.
Finally, ‘The Future is Within Us’ looks at contemporary discussion around using technologies to draft possible futures through artistic expressions of feminism, spirituality, and more.
Text by Darren Gore