On our way to the Setouchi Triennale, we took a detour through Japan, where the landscape becomes a showcase for artwork. Shapes and colors are highlighted by hills, bamboo, and sea which offer the slow pace and peace favorable to contemplation.\u00a0This trip to Japan is a beautiful illustration of what Henry Moore used to say:\u00ab\u00a0Sculpture is an art of the open air.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
We first stop at the Hakone Open-Air Museum (Ch\u00f4kaku No Mori Bijustsuku), which opened in 1969 in the Mount Fuji region, about 60\u00a0miles south of Tokyo. The Ch\u00f4kaku No Mori Bijustsuku Museum is an invitation to stroll among approximately a hundred sculptures facing a hilly and\u00a0mountainous views.<\/p>\n
Here, visitors meet Rodin, Maillol, Niki de Saint Phalle\u2019s Miss Black Power<\/em> (1968), Dubuffet, Mir\u00f3 and most of all one of the world\u2019s greatest collection of works by Henry Moore. Don\u2019t be afraid to get lost in nature to enjoy stumbling upon Gabriel Loire\u2019s symphonic sculpture or Arnoldo Pomodoro\u2019s Sphere Whithin Sphere<\/em>.<\/p>\n Our second stop is Isamu Noguchi\u2019s (1904-1988) Garden Museum. Sculptor, garden creator and designer in the \u00ab\u00a0Mingei\u00a0\u00bb spirit, everyone is familiar with his Akari lamps, sculptures made of light. In the village of Mure, located in the Takamitsu district, the artist\u2019s garden and studio host a hundred and fifty works: bronze and majestic granite sculptures. Fulfillment of the artist\u2019s wishes, the museum is an extension of the Noguchi Museum in New York. Isamu Noguchi is burried in the village of Mure, surrounded by his creations.<\/p>\n Our last stop is the Setouchi Triennale 2016, which will run through September 4th on the twelve islands of the Seto Inland Sea. This endeavor, which consists in scattering contemporary art over the land in order to promote this forsaken region, started on Naoshima island, which greets us with Yayoi Kusama\u2019s giant pumpkin. Noashima is the result of the vision and will of businessman Soichiro Fukutate who envisioned three contemporary art museums designed by architect Tadao Ando and, on the beach, a large sculpture park which hosts a circle of rocks by Cai Guo-Qiang, Dan Graham\u2019s Cylinder Bisected by Plane<\/em>, and a series of animals by Niki de Saint Phalle, among others. Naoshima had \u201clittle sisters\u201d and this triennale offers international exposure to these small islands and to the artworks they shelter, some of them permanently.<\/p>\n Setouchi Triennale 2016<\/a><\/strong> Hakone Open-Air Museum
\n12 islands of the Seto sea, plus Takamatsu and Uno
\nsetouchi-artfest.jp<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/a>1121 Ninotaira, Hakone, Pr\u00e9fecture de Kanagawa
\nTel\u00a0+81 (0)46 082 1161
\nOpen everyday 9 AM to 5 PM\u00a0\u00a0from March to November\u00a0and 9 AM to 4 PM\u00a0from December to February. 5 minutes walk to\u00a0Ch\u00f4koku no mori station. The station is on the\u00a0Hakone Tozan line, 30 minutes away from Hakone-Yumoto.
\nhakone-oam.or.jp<\/a><\/p>\n