Art Gallery sights in Asia
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Mori Art Museum
Enviably ensconced atop Mori Tower is the Mori Art Museum, forming one corner of the Roppongi Art Triangle. Exhibitions at this contemporary-art space tend towards the (mind-bogglingly myriad) multimedia variety and are of a consistently high calibre.
Admission to the museum also gets you into Tokyo City View, with 360- degrees' worth of Tokyo. If the floor-to- ceiling windows aren't enough of an eyeful, a roof deck (which doubles as an emergency heli-pad – think Inception) is open when weather permits. It costs an additional ¥300.
reviewed
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Watari-Um
This alternative art space is squeezed into a four-storey building in Harajuku's outer orbit. Regularly changing shows explore a variety of fascinating topics ranging from the conceptual and cultural to the architectural and industrial. Even if the current exhibit isn't your cup of tea, it's worth stopping by to check out the killer bookstore on the ground and basement levels.
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National Art Center Tokyo
With 42 gallery spaces, this is one of the largest museums in Japan. And there are no permanent collections, which makes it the go-to spot for many of the world's most engaging exhibitions. The structure itself is also a work of art. Designed by Kurokawa Kisho, the beautifully curvaceous facade reveals an eye-catching realm of cantilevered cones within. You'll find a wonderful art library on the top floor, and a branch of celeb-chef Paul Bocuse's Michelin-starred restaurant hovering over the grand lobby.
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House of Shiseido
Often showcases modern decorative objects and artfully crafted items of consumer consumption.
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Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
On the upper floors of the large Hakata Riverain Centre (博多リバレイン), the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum houses the world-renowned Asia Gallery and additional galleries for special exhibits (note that the admission fee varies) and artists in residence. Changing exhibits cover contemporary works from 23 countries, from East Asia to Pakistan.
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Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
In Hijiyama-kōen, this gallery has frequently changing exhibits by modern Japanese and international artists.
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Symon Studio
'Danger! Art!' screams the sign in Campuan. With this you know you've found the gallery/studio of the irrepressible American artist Symon. The gallery is a spacious and airy place full of huge, colourful and exotic portraits. The work ranges from the sublime to the profane. Symon, however, is most often found in his gallery in north Bali.
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Courtyard Gallery
A good-looking pit stop on the way to the imperial palace, this micro-gallery and blank white minimalist space in the basement of its namesake moat-side restaurant, across the way from the Forbidden City's Dōnghuá Gate, displays a thoughtful range of contemporary works.
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Neka Gallery
Operated by Suteja Neka, the low-key Neka Gallery is a separate entity from the Neka Art Museum. It has an extensive selection from all the schools of Balinese art, as well as works by European residents such as the renowned Arie Smit.
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Ginza Graphic Gallery
An interesting graphic design showcase funded by one of the country's biggest printing conglomerates. The gallery hosts workshops and talks by visiting artists, covering everything from tiny typography to monumental architecture.
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Agung Rai Gallery
This gallery is in a pretty compound and its collection covers the full range of Balinese styles. It functions as a cooperative, with the work priced by the artist and the gallery adding a percentage.
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Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women
This gallery exhibits works by more than 70 Balinese, Indonesian and resident foreign women artists. The information on many of the artists makes for fascinating reading. Works span all media.
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Komaneka Art Gallery
Exhibiting works from established Balinese artists, this gallery is a good place to see high-profile art, in a large and lofty space.
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Hiroshima Museum of Art
In an interesting 1970s building, this museum has a decent collection of minor works by well-known painters, including Picasso, Gauguin, Monet and Van Gogh.
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Taketomi Mingei-kan
Where the island's woven minsā belts and other textiles are produced.
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Takamatsu City Museum of Art
This impressive inner-city gallery is testament to Takamatsu's quality art scene. The light and spacious refitting of a former Bank of Japan building is a stroke of curatorial genius, well served by interesting exhibitions on rotation from across Japan and the world.
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Shimane Prefectural Art Museum
With its white undulating roof and huge glass windows facing the lake, the Shimane Prefectural Art Museum building itself is an impressive sight. Inside, it displays rotating exhibits from its collection of wood-block prints (there are some Hokusai among them), as well as European paintings and contemporary art. The sunset views from the museum's 2nd-floor platform or outside by the water also draw crowds here – see the website for a sunset schedule. The museum is a 15-minute walk west of the station.
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Propaganda Poster Art Centre
If phalanxes of red tractors, bumper harvests, muscled peasants and lantern-jawed proletariat get you going, this small gallery in the bowels of a residential block will truly fire you up. Go weak-kneed at the cartoon-world of anti-US defiance, and size up a collection of 3000 original posters from the 1950s, '60s and '70s – the golden age of Maoist poster production. The centre divides into a showroom and a shop featuring posters and postcards for sale. Once you find the main entrance, a guard will point the way.
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Pranoto's Art Gallery
The husband-wife pair of artists Pranoto and Kerry Pendergrast display their works here. The scenes of Indonesian life are lovely.
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Ōhara Museum of Art
This is Kurashiki's premier museum, housing the predominantly Western art collection amassed by local textile magnate Ōhara Magosaburō (1880–1943), with the help of artist Kojima Torajirō (1881–1929). The varied assemblage of paintings, prints and sculpture features works by Picasso, Cézanne, El Greco and Matisse, and one of Monet's water-lilies paintings (said to have been bought from the man himself by Torajirō while visiting Monet's home in 1920). While no rival to the major galleries of Europe, it's an interesting collection and one of the town's biggest attractions for Japanese tourists.
The valid-all-day ticket gets you into the museum's Craft and Asiatic Ar…
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Nakazato Tarōemon
This kiln-gallery is dedicated to the life and work of the otter responsible for the revival of Karatsu ware. His work is in the inner gallery.
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Naha City Traditional Arts and Crafts Center
Right on Kokusai-dōri, this place houses a collection of traditional Okinawan crafts. Staff members demonstrate glass-blowing, weaving and pottery-making in the workshops. Enter by 5.30pm.
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Miyako Traditional Arts & Crafts Centre
If you can pry yourself away from the beaches for a moment, there are a few sights in Hirara, including the Miyako Traditional Arts & Crafts Centre, which displays traditional island crafts – be sure to check out the minsā weaving looms on the 2nd floor. It's next to the small Miyako-jinja (宮古神社) and behind shops facing the Miyako Dai-ichi Hotel.
On the southeast corner of Miyako-jima are several attractions including Boraga Beach (保良川ビーチ), which is a popular spot for snorkelling and kayaking (with a hair-raisingly steep access road). Around the cape to the north, you'll find Yoshino Beach (吉野海岸) and Aragusuku Beach (新城海岸), two relatively sha…
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Kumamoto Prefectural Traditional Crafts Centre
Has displays of local Higo inlay, Yamaga lanterns, porcelain and woodcarvings, many for sale in the excellent museum shop, which is free to enter.
The Kumamotonear the Kōtsū bus centre also sells craft items (plus foods and shōchū liquor).
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Ketut Rudi Gallery
These sprawling galleries showcase the works of more than 50 Ubud artists with techniques as varied as primitive and new realism. The gallery's namesake is on display as well; he favours an entertaining style best described as 'comical realism'.
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