The collection exhibition “50th Anniversary Pre-event: Collection 1: Self/Action” was held at The National Museum of Art, Osaka, until November 3, 2026.
It serves as a pre-event exhibition leading up to the museum’s 50th anniversary next year.
The content aims to look at art trends up to 1977, the year the National Museum of Art, Osaka opened, through works in its collection. This “Collection 1” traces works from the museum’s oldest piece, Paul Cézanne’s “Preparation for the Feast” from 1890, up to the 1960s.
Collection 2 will likely focus on the 1960s and 70s, and I think I might prefer that. Since this exhibition focused on the post-war era, there were many Informel works. I enjoyed being able to clearly see the differences within abstraction when viewing avant-garde works side-by-side.
And for some reason, the final chapter focused heavily on “Anti-Action.” Just recently, a special exhibition themed around “Anti-Action” toured three venues, so I felt like, “Okay, that’s enough.” Plus, that venue wasn’t even the National Museum of Art, Osaka…
I assume this reflects the interests and research of the curator in charge this time.
I plan to touch upon the curators when I write about the symposium later, so more on that then.
Still, the collection exhibitions at the National Museum of Art, Osaka are truly good. That is, assuming I’m not exhausted, since I usually see them after a special exhibition.
Even so, since the special exhibition ticket includes admission, I want to see everything on the same day for financial reasons, but… hmm! Maybe I should buy an OK Passport.
Overall, because the theme was clearly “looking back,” it felt more accessible than previous collection exhibitions.
Now, from here on, I will write down my thoughts while touching upon the symposium “Museums and Collections: Collecting, Preserving, and Opening,” which was held on November 3 to commemorate the collection utilization project between the National Museum of Art, Osaka and the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, known as “Korenaka.”
The speakers were the directors of both the National Museum of Art, Osaka and the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, sculptor Keiji Uematsu, and contemporary artist Aiko Miyanaga.
The content mainly focused on the importance of museum collections (collecting) from both the museum’s and the artist’s perspectives.
During the symposium, Keiji Uematsu mentioned that collecting means preserving the past for the future, and that museums have a responsibility to provide a space to show that to people.
I completely agree with that, but currently, the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts does not hold regular collection exhibitions. In the overview of the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Director Ueki also mentioned that because the opening coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to forgo collection exhibitions, as it was unclear if they would be profitable.
However, since it is operated by the Osaka City Museum Organization, a local independent administrative agency, I understand that even public museums have budgetary constraints, but I really want to see a collection exhibition at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts!
That is quite selfish of me.
But, and I apologize for bringing up the National Museum of Art, Osaka again, I feel like I don’t know the faces of the curators at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts.
The National Museum of Art, Osaka holds regular collection exhibitions, and during this symposium, they touched upon last year’s special exhibition “No Boundaries,” which was curated by Ms. Uematsu, the head curator who served as the moderator this time. I recall she was also the one who pushed for the acquisition of Louise Bourgeois’s work.
More recently, the special exhibition “For Placards” held around February this year was curated by senior researcher Masaji, and since Masaji is also in charge of this collection exhibition, I believe they focus on gender and women’s participation. Therefore, I understand why “Anti-Action” was placed at the end of this collection exhibition, and I find it interesting to see the curator’s critical perspective through the exhibition.
As you can see, I can talk a bit about the curators at the National Museum of Art, Osaka, but I really can’t for the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts. I tried looking up the curator for the current “NHK Sunday Museum 50th Anniversary Exhibition,” but I couldn’t find them… (My apologies if this is due to my lack of research!)
Recently, as someone who has been viewing exhibitions with a focus on the curators in charge, I really want to see how they express themselves using their own museum’s collection.
They seem to be planning a special exhibition next year for their 5th anniversary called “Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts All-Stars: I wanted to see it all together!,” which I am looking forward to, but I also want to see regular collection exhibitions that can be done more freely.
I actually wanted to say these things during the Q&A session at the symposium…! It was a shame that the scheduled two-hour event ran over to two and a half hours, leaving almost no time for Q&A, but the theme of the relationship between artists and museums is so interesting and worth discussing that it couldn’t be helped.
I had come that day with the intention of seeing the National Museum of Art, Osaka’s collection exhibition one last time.
In the end, I couldn’t go because I was at the symposium lol
Because of that, my impressions of the collection exhibition are thin and the symposium part is thick, but please forgive me.
For me, it was a day where I felt a bit of indigestion, but also a sense of satisfaction because I was able to keep up with the content of the symposium.
It was interesting.
