| The Home of Modern Sculpture |
| Honoring longest history and tradition of
contemporary sculpture in Japan. |
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| The devastating aftermath of World War II
left Ube city in ruins. As the people began
to rebuild their city they felt a desire
to transform the desolate land into utopia.
Projects along with reconstruction were started
with people's hopes to maintain a strong
tie with nature. The urban renewal projects
brought in landscaping and horticultural
programs. And in 1961 the Yamaguchi Open-air
Museum was born. Its objective is to call
to sculptors nation wide to create new works.
To do this the museum began a biennial competition.
Each new competition deals with a new theme
that the artists were to express though their
work. The ever-changing themes are also modern
in that they reflect local and global issues
covering a vast array of themes from nature
to humanistic topics. The traditional objective
of the exhibition has been to pursue new
possibilities and concepts within the medium. |
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| The Exhibition in 1961 |
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The Exhibition in 1971 |
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| The competition has been a starting point
for world-renowned artist such as Yoshitatsu
Yanagihara, Churyo Sato, Yasutake Funakoshi
and Ryokichi Mukai. Even after their success
artist return to the competition to compete
with the new artist to see how the art world
is progressing. Yoshitatsu Yanagihara and
Ryokichi Mukai have selected the Ube Open-air
Museum as a place to preserve their work
and the museum now holds the majority of
the works they have created. The museum has
also acquired works from masters such as
Kotaro Takamura and Morie Ogiwara. |
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| The Exhibition Corner of Y.Yanagihara and
R.Mukai |
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| The competition is unique in that it isn't
held to honor an artist nor is it to exhibit
past works. Its interest is in what is new.
To do this the competition levels the playing
field to allow any artist to compete. The
artist's status, legacy, and experience are
not taken into consideration. People from
all sorts of backgrounds such as architects,
graphic designers, painters and many others
compete. The competition is also open to
any category of sculpture from abstract expressionism
to realism. A wide variety of materials are
also used in the competition. Anything from
plastics, metals, and organic materials are
permitted and the museum will provide space
to preserve the works after the completion.
What is honored is skill and commitment to
the work. |
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| "Undercurrent" |
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"Tokiwa Lake Spiral" |
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| The competition has sparked interest outside
of the art community, bringing in people
from places such as urban designers, critics,
analysts, and many others outside of the
field to come and discuss what has, is, and
is going to happen through the works. |
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| As a new objective project the museum has
embarked on the enhancement of the city environment
of Ube, not only through the museum itself
but also incorporating new sites for exhibition
within the surrounding environment. The Ube
Open-air Museum is the first to bridge the
gap between people and art by bringing the
work itself into the community. Some 200
works have accumulated over the years, half
of which have found their way into the local
community. |
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| "Blue Canoes-Inner Sea and Sky-" |
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"Poka Poka, Sun Shine and Grow Up" |
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