Image: Akita Museum of Modern Art
Akita Museum of Modern Art will open the second part of its 2026 collection exhibition, ‘みんなのMuseumプロジェクト企画「みる」をあじわう’ (‘Minna no Museum Project’ planning, ‘Experiencing Looking’), on August 14. The exhibition runs through November 1 in the museum’s sixth-floor exhibition room at Akita Furusato Village, and admission is free.
The museum describes the project as part of its broader ‘みんなのMuseumプロジェクト,’ which has focused on creating an environment where people can enjoy art regardless of age or disability. For this exhibition, the museum says it aims to move beyond viewing only with the eyes and encourage visitors to approach the collection through multiple senses and through the perspectives of others. The stated goal is to deepen imagination around the works’ backgrounds and to build a more inclusive viewing space in which anyone can engage with art comfortably.
The exhibition is organized into three sections. The first, ‘からだじゅうでみる’ (‘Seeing with the Whole Body’), includes works such as Minagawa Yoshihiro’s ‘土の水による膨張’ (‘Expansion by Soil and Water’) from 1992 and Sasaaki Ei’s ‘秋の日’ (‘Autumn Day’) from 1978. The second section, ‘作者が“みていたもの”をみる’ (‘Seeing What the Artist Was Seeing’), brings together works including Odano Naotake’s ‘不忍池図’ (‘Shinobazu Pond’) and ‘岩に牡丹図’ (‘Peonies on a Rock’), both from the 1770s, as well as ‘鱒図’ (‘Trout’) from the same decade and Yokoyama Tsue’s ‘珊瑚礁Ⅳ’ (‘Coral Reef IV’) from 1981.
The third section, ‘他者の視点でみる、そして新しい自分の視点でみる’ (‘Seeing Through Others’ Perspectives, and Then Through a New Personal Perspective’), features works including Fukuda Toyoshirō’s ‘六月の森’ (‘Forest in June’) from 1936, Kawamura Chiyozo’s ‘残雪の花’ (‘Flowers in Lingering Snow’) from 1956, Kasai Yasushi’s ‘雪讃歌D’ (‘Snow Hymn D’) from 1964, and Kanazawa Hidenosuke’s ‘樹下弾琴’ (‘Playing the Lute Under a Tree’) from 1966.
Alongside the exhibition, the museum will host three related workshops and guided viewing events. On September 19, it will hold a dialogue-based viewing session for up to 10 participants, inviting people to talk freely about what they notice while looking closely at the works. The museum says the program is open to people with dementia, older visitors, and anyone who is new to museum-going.
A second dialogue-based session, limited to five participants, is scheduled for October 3 and is designed for people with visual impairments alongside sighted and partially sighted participants. The museum says the group will gather around artworks and share observations and impressions through words, making differences in perspective visible through discussion.
The third event, on October 25, is a workshop titled ‘さわって、みがいて、あじわって 大理石のペーパーウェイト作り’ (‘Touch, Polish, and Taste: Making a Marble Paperweight’). Participants will make an original paperweight from marble used in the exhibition work ‘こんにゃく石 —浮遊する虚体 ’93-Ⅲ’ (‘Konnyaku Stone — Floating Void ’93-III’), learning about the material by touching and polishing it. Registration for the events is required through Google Forms or by phone.
