Image: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, has announced 'From Today to Tomorrow: Passing On Works', an exhibition opening 31 October 2026 and running through 18 April 2027. The museum says the show will look ahead to its long closure beginning in May 2027 and examine what it means to preserve artworks for the future.
According to the museum, the exhibition is built around a direct question: how should works be carried forward over the next 20 years, and beyond that, into the next century? The title frames “today” as both the present moment in contemporary art and the more than two decades since the museum opened in 2004, while “tomorrow” points to the period after renovation and reopening, and to the decades that follow.
Rather than treating conservation as a behind-the-scenes function, the museum says the exhibition will present the processes involved in sustaining works as part of the display itself. Research, conservation, repair, equipment upgrades, re-performance and documentation will all be considered as elements of the exhibition. The focus is on the practical uncertainties that affect long-term survival, including changes in materials, outdated technology, altered display conditions and shifts in society.
The exhibition will center on collection works that require conservation, restoration, display planning or other forms of inheritance. The museum says this will include craft, mixed media, media art, installations and works involving performance. Among the works highlighted in the announcement are Patrick Blanc’s 'Green Bridge' (2004), which was incorporated into the museum’s design from the architectural planning stage, and James Turrell’s 'Gasworks' (1993), a light-based work for which the museum is examining updates to lighting and control equipment.
Also listed is Anish Kapoor’s 'The Origin of the World', one of the museum’s commission works, which the institution describes as a key part of its distinctive identity. The museum says the exhibition will consider how such works can be maintained and updated over time in relation to the building, installation environment and the museum’s own activities.
Another featured work is Chiharu Shiota and Toshiki Okada’s 'About the Room of Memory' (2009), a piece in which Okada responded theatrically to Shiota’s installation 'The Room of Memory'. The museum notes that it holds the script for the work in its collection and plans multiple performances by artists with different backgrounds and methods during the exhibition period.
The announcement also points to Aiko Miyanaga’s 'waiting for awakening -chair-' (2012), which uses materials that change over time, and Kenji Yanobe’s 'Viva River Project — Stander' (2001), a mechanized work that senses radiation and causes a childlike figure about three metres tall to stand up. The museum says the work stopped operating during a 2024 presentation because of a mechanical fault and has since undergone major repair; it will be restarted for the first time in this exhibition. Guest artists Kenta Ishige, Sen Takahashi and Miyu Hosoi will also take part, with details of new works and installations to be announced later.
The exhibition will be shown in Exhibition Rooms 1 to 6 and the museum’s exchange zone. Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00, with Friday and Saturday hours extended to 20:00. Admission is 1,200 yen for adults, 800 yen for university students, 400 yen for elementary, junior high and high school students, and 1,000 yen for visitors aged 65 and older. The museum says the show will be closed on Mondays, with several holiday exceptions, as well as on specific dates around late November, the New Year period and late March.
