There has been a distinct absence of posts lately as I have been caught up in all sorts of artistic goings on.
Just after my last post we headed off to Setouchi, or the Japanese Inland Sea, to experience some of the Setouchi Triennial. A truly amazing collection of art installations, performances and exhibitions held across the small islands and nearby port cities of central Japan.
Sea Vine, Haruki Takehashi, porcelain vines suspended by fine threads, installation on Ogijima
Like the local fishermen we set out from the port of Takamatsu each day to catch the art.
Straw baboons made by the Straw Art Team of Musashino University
The Triennial is an amazing experience, due in no small part to the army of staff who manage the sites across the islands. I would highly recommend this experience to any art lover. Apart from which we saw beautiful scenery every day.
Sunset over Ozuchi island, with the Great Seto Bridge in the background
We dragged ourselves away after four and a half days, but decided to stop in Kyoto on the way back, in order to visit the nearby Miho Museum. The Miho is a private museum that presents it’s own collection of ancient artefacts as well as special exhibitions.
The entrance to the Miho Museum. The museum was designed by I M Pei
At the Miho we saw an awesome display of the wealth of the Mughal emperors and various Indian royal families since that time. These now form part of The Al Thani collection.
Also on display were the Miho’s own collection of ceramics by Ogata Kenzan, beauties of an entirely different order.
Side dishes with Tatsuta River design, from the Miho collection
After a very relaxing week away it was time to get back to the studio and turning some my ideas into reality.
leonieandrews 
SO interesting….!! Japan is definitely on my list!!
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Sheryl it’s a fantastically interesting place to visit. However it seems to me to be a bit patchy regarding mobility access. In Tokyo there are ‘no step’ buses and assistance at the train stations, and most buildings are pretty good, but I am not sure how widespread that is. But I know that is something that you can research. Happy planning!
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You have really been having some wonderful experiences. Thanks for sharing them with us. Will be looking forward to hearing some more stories somewhere down the track!
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Don’t start me or I might bore you to death. Hopefully will get a few more posts written now that the residency is finished.
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This looks as though it has been the most fascinating experience – my appetite is thoroughly whetted! Its only recently that I have become interested in Japan as a destination, but it is heading to the top of my list. The art island looks fab.
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I warn you that Japan can become a recurring destination. This is my 5th visit! The good thing about the art islands are that some of the art works are open year round so you can fit a visit in even if it isn’t a triennial year.
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The sea vine piece looks amazing
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It most certainly was. My only regret was that the viewing area was so small that I couldn’t just ‘sit’ with the piece for a bit.
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that porcelain vine!!!!
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Yes!
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