The National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT)

Emerging in the wake of the Margaret Thatcher era, the Young British Artists (YBAs) and their contemporaries embraced shock, irreverence and entrepreneurial flair. While the YBA label (applied after the landmark 1988 ‘Freeze’ exhibition organised by Damien Hirst) was often contested, it came to define a generation that reimagined what art could be. Painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation all became tools for probing themes of identity, consumer culture and shifting social structures.  The National Art Center’s ‘YBA & Beyond: British Art in the 90s from the Tate Collection’ is the first exhibition in Japan devoted exclusively to British art of the 1990s. Featuring around 100 works by some 60 artists, the show captures a turbulent and transformative period in British culture, when politics, society and art collided to spark a wave of radical experimentation. Highlights include works by Hirst, Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen, Lubaina Himid, Wolfgang Tillmans and Julian Opie, alongside others who reshaped contemporary art on a global stage. More than a retrospective, ‘YBA & Beyond’ offers a vivid portrait of 1990s Britain, an era when art intersected with music, fashion and subculture, leaving a legacy that continues to resonate today.

Marking a century since the birth of one of the most remarkable people Shimane prefecture has ever produced, the National Art Center, Tokyo celebrates world-renowned fashion designer Hanae Mori with this extensive retrospective, the first such exhibition to be held after Mori’s death in 2022. A comprehensive look at Mori’s astonishing career in high fashion, which took her from one of the most rural corners of Japan to the hallowed halls of Parisian haute couture, the exhibition showcases its protagonist’s signature East-meets-West style and her dedication to traditional Japanese materials and techniques. Some 400 items, from Mori’s iconic butterfly-adorned dresses to photographs and personal belongings, are used to illustrate the designer’s life, convictions and philosophy of the ‘vital type’ – a vibrant, dedicated and forward-looking woman, reflecting her own approach to life. What emerges is the image of not only a brilliant fashion trailblazer, but also that of a pioneering professional whose example inspired a generation of women during Japan’s period of rapid postwar economic growth.

When the boundless imagination of Pablo Picasso meets the vibrant creativity of Sir Paul Smith, fireworks follow. Picasso (1881–1973), one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, revolutionised modern art with his radical innovations in form and colour. British designer Smith, noted for his playful approach to tailoring and his masterful sense of colour and pattern, brings his unique sensibility to the table, transforming the NACT’s galleries into a dialogue between art and fashion, and tradition and reinvention. ‘Adventure of Playful Spirits’ offers a fresh encounter with approximately 80 works from the Musée National Picasso-Paris. Following the success of the 2023 Paris exhibition ‘Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light!’, this Japan edition invites visitors to rediscover the painter’s creative evolution from his early Portrait of a Man to the tender Paulo as Harlequin, through Smith’s imaginative spatial design. From colour-splashed walls to whimsical décor, every element of the exhibition reflects Smith’s joyful spirit and his fascination with artistic play. This meeting of two creative giants – one who shaped modern art and another who redefined contemporary design – conjures up a vibrant, immersive world where curiosity, humour and craftsmanship intertwine.