An island known for contemporary art located in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. One of the most magical places I have been to.
In 1988 Soichiro Fukutake announced that he had a plan to make Naoshima an 'Island of Art'. the scheme was to place works of art and construct museums on the island to make the whole area an exhibition site. The remnants of old houses that used to be prosperous roughly two hundred years ago were remodelled into exhibition spaces.
The Chichu Art Museum
The Chichu Art Museum (which literally means "art museum in the earth") is a museum built directly into a southern portion of the island of Naoshima. Designed by Japan's most prominent architect Tadao Ando, It exists as part of an ongoing initiative to "rethink the relationship between nature and people" and is one of several arts-related sites on the island. The site features permanent installations by Walter De Maria and James Turrell, as well as painted works in the Water Lilies series by Claude Monet.
Lee Ufan Museum
Opened in time for the 2010 Setouchi Triennale, the Lee Ufan Museum is one of the more recent additions to Naoshima. On display are large installations made of stone, concrete and huge slabs of iron, as well as a number of paintings from earlier in his career. The museum is also designed by Ando.
Benesse House Museum
Tadao Ando Museum
A Tadao Ando-designed inner space, framed by unadorned concrete walls, infuses this about 100-year-old traditional wooden house in Honmura with new life. Here, contrasting elements of past/present, wood/concrete, and light/shadow overlap in a microcosm of Ando's architectural style.
