Best Exhibitions to See During Golden Week in Tokyo【2024】
Ho Tzu Nyen "A for Agents" (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
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Golden Week is just around the corner! If you find yourself in the Tokyo area for the holidays this year, here are some recommended exhibitions to see in the city or as a short trip. Bookmark the exhibitions on the TAB website or TAB app and never miss the openings and closings.
*Please note that exhibition dates and content are subject to change without notice. Be sure to check the official websites before your visit.
*Check out featured exhibitions under the #Exhibitions to see during the Golden Week tag.
Giorgio De Chirico: Metaphysical Journey (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum)
A solo exhibition of Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), who greatly influenced Surrealist painters, starts at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The exhibition will introduce de Chirico's work from early to later years and will cover approximately 70 years of his painting career. This is the first large-scale solo exhibition of Giorgio de Chirico's work in Japan in 10 years.
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Schedule: April 27 - August 29
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei (Mori Art Museum)
Theaster Gates has earned international acclaim for his sculptures and ceramics. This is his first solo exhibition in Japan and the largest ever in Asia, with the speculative proposition of "Afro-Mingei" placed as the central backbone of the presentation. The exhibition showcases major bodies of existing and never-before-seen works that demonstrate the influence of Japanese culture on Gates' practice.
Venue: Mori Art Museum
Schedule: April 24 - September 1
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Aquirax Uno (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery)
Continuing to thrive as a renowned illustrator and graphic designer in Japan, Aquirax Uno (1934-) played a significant role in popularizing the terms "illustration" and "illustrator" during the 1960s. Featuring diverse and valuable original drawings and materials, this exhibition showcases Uno's contributions, ranging from corporate advertisements in the 1950s to underground theater posters, children's books from the 1960s, and recent paintings.
Venue: Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
Schedule: April 11 - June 16
Closing days during Golden Week: None
*Discount with MuPon
Henri Matisse – Forms in Freedom (The National Art Center, Tokyo)
Following Henri Matisse: The Path to Color, which was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum last year, The National Art Center is hosting another large exhibition of Matisse's work in Tokyo. With the full cooperation of the Matisse Museum in Nice, France, which boasts an essential collection of paper cutouts, this exhibition introduces approximately 150 works. On display are paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, textiles, and paper cutouts.
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Schedule: February 14 - May 27
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Universal / Remote (The National Art Center, Tokyo)
From the two perspectives of worldwide scale (as the prefix "pan-," which appears in many words including "pandemic") and non-face-to-face isolation (as in "remote" work, school, etc.), this exhibition intends to reframe themes often explored in contemporary art, including global capitalism, and digital society. Exhibiting artists are Daisuke Ida, Xu Bing, Trevor Paglen, Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Hito Steyerl, Miloš Trakilović, Maiko Jinushi, Tina Enghoff, Jeamin Cha, Evan Roth, Natsuko Kiura.
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Schedule: March 6 - June 3
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Ho Tzu Nyen "A for Agents" (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen's films, video installations, and performances traverse historical events, political ideologies, subjectivities, and cultural identities of Southeast Asia. This latest exhibition traces the trajectory of the artist's practice, presenting six film-based installations alongside a new work, T for Time (2023).
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Schedule: April 6 - July 7
Closing days during Golden Week: April 30
*Discount with MuPon
Where My Words Belong (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
This exhibition focuses on "my language," formed by experience and environment in a language with rich variations in dialects and time periods. With Yuni Hong Sharp, Mayun Kiki, Mai Nagumo, Hideo Arai, and In Sook Kim as featured artists, the exhibition showcases works looking at differences within the same language with increased resolution.
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Schedule: April 18 - July 7
Closing days during Golden Week: April 30
*Discount with MuPon
Constantin Brancusi "Carving the Essence" (Artizon Museum)
Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) was a pioneering Romanian artist who, through his exploration of pure form, carved out new territory in twentieth-century sculpture. Including over twenty sculptures from the Brancusi Estate in Paris, 90 works are on display at the Artizon Museum. This is the first exhibition at the museum in Japan to feature Brancusi comprehensively.
Venue: Artizon Museum
Schedule: March 30 - July 7
Closing days during Golden Week: April 30
Does the Future Sleep Here? – Revisiting the Museum's Response to Contemporary Art After 65 Years (National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo)
The first exhibition in the history of the National Museum of Western Art devoted entirely to contemporary art. Returning to its roots, when it was built to become a place that would stimulate the creation of future art, the museum asks, "Has the museum become a chamber where the future sleeps?" Participating artists are Yuki Iiyama, Yoichi Umetsu, Mai Endo, Nodoka Odawara, Ryudai Takano, Koki Tanaka, Elena Tutatchikova, Rei Naito, Yurie Nagashima, Rintaro Fuse, Futoshi Miyagi, Yuasa Ebosi and others.
Venue: National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo
Schedule: March 12 - May 12
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Future Elements: Experimental Laboratory for Prototyping in Science and Design (21_21 Design Sight)
The exhibition director, Shunji Yamanaka, is a design engineer who works on a wide range of industrial products and studies prototypes crystallized from cutting-edge technologies. This exhibition centers on Yamanaka's prototypes and robots from initial sketches made in collaboration with fellow researchers at his university lab. In addition, collaborative works by seven teams of designer-creators and scientist-engineers from different fields are on display.
Venue: 21_21 Design Sight
Schedule: March 29 - August 12
Closing days during Golden Week: April 30
The Magic North: Art from Norway, Sweden and Finland (Sompo Museum of Art)
The term "Nordic" broadly refers to the northern part of Europe, encompassing Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Despite being geographically contiguous with mainland Europe, these countries' unique cultural heritage has flourished under the influence of their northern climates. With the collaboration of the National Gallery of Norway, the National Museum in Sweden, and the Ateneum Art Museum in Finland, this exhibition brings together approximately 70 carefully selected works.
Venue: Sompo Museum of Art
Schedule: March 23 - June 9
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Remembrance Beyond Images (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
How have photography and film sought to capture various forms of "memory"? Starting from the insights of Nobuyoshi Araki in Photo Duel Theory (1976), this exhibition introduces over 70 works by seven pairs and eight individual artists from Japan, Vietnam, and Finland, spanning themes from an aging society to artificial intelligence.
Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Schedule: March 1 - June 9
Closing days during Golden Week: None
MUCA Exhibition Icons of Urban Art - From Banksy to Kaws (Mori Arts Center Gallery)
Located on the site of a former substation in the heart of Munich, Germany, MUCA showcases works by some of the most renowned artists of the 20th and 21st centuries in urban art and contemporary art fields. This exhibition features ten artists who have pioneered the genre of urban art and introduces approximately 70 works, including pieces being shown for the first time in Japan.
Venue: Mori Arts Center Gallery
Schedule: March 15 - June 2
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Yoshiwara (The University Art Museum - Tokyo University of the Arts)
Over a vast area of approximately 100,000 square meters, Yoshiwara in Edo, a licensed red-light district sanctioned by the shogunate, existed for about 250 years, setting it apart from other red-light districts with its formalities and traditions as a public institution. This exhibition aims to historically verify the culture and art of Edo in the now-lost Yoshiwara red-light district, utilizing domestic and international masterpieces to approach the complete picture of its history.
Venue: The University Art Museum - Tokyo University of the Arts
Schedule: March 26 - May 19
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Ecology: Dialogue on Circulations - Dialogue 2 "Ephemeral Anchoring" by Nicolas Floc’h, Kate Newby, Takeshi Yasura, Rafaël Zarka (Ginza Maison Hermès)
Ginza Maison Hermès presents an exhibition focusing on contemporary art's ecological practices. Participating artists are Nicolas Floc’h, Kate Newby, Takeshi Yasura, and Rafaël Zarka. The beautiful architecture by Renzo Piano is also a must-see.
Venue: Ginza Maison Hermès
Schedule: February 16 - May 31
Closing days during Golden Week: Irregular holidays (*Please check the website)
Mark Leckey "Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore Feat. Big Red Soundsystem" (Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo)
Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo is hosting a solo exhibition by British contemporary artist Mark Leckey, whose practice lies at the intersection of pop culture and counterculture, mixing youth, rave, pop, nostalgia, social class studies, and British history, bringing together sculpture, film, sound, performance, and collage. On view are two works from the Espace Louis Vuitton collection.
Venue: Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo
Schedule: February 22 - August 18
Closing days during Golden Week: Irregular holidays (*Please check the website)
Commemorating the Museum’s 40th Anniversary - The A to Z Guide to the Former Residence of Prince Asaka (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum)
To commemorate the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum's 40th anniversary of opening, this exhibition aims to thoroughly explore the history of its architecture, the former Asakanomiya Residence. Drawing on accumulated research and investigations, the exhibition will present key terms from A to Z, each representing aspects such as architectural techniques, the people involved in construction, interior design, materials, and anecdotes from different eras.
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
Schedule: February 17 - May 12
Closing days during Golden Week: April 30
*Reservation Required
Mingei - The Beauty of Everyday Things (Setagaya Art Museum)
This exhibition explores "mingei," or folk art, through the themes of "clothing, food, and shelter." With an emphasis on production areas and the craftsman, the exhibition showcases approximately 150 beautiful mingei items used in daily life. Another exhibition highlight is an installation by Terry Ellis and Keiko Kitamura (director of MOGI Folk Art), who have played a significant role in the current folk art boom.
Venue: Setagaya Art Museum
Schedule: April 24 - June 30
Closing days during Golden Week: None
Haruka Ijima
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