Can you imagine a life without...

ART?

One of the greatest points about UK is that the museums are free. I took the advantage of it and so far visited several museums. You will see so many paintings and art works that appeared in your text books, however, they are for all the people. Whether you are rich or poor, people have the right to embrace the treasure of history, and have the right to educate themselves with the art pieces.

It's hard for me to think that the government just let people go there for free. As Japanese, museums are the places you have to pay for, moreover need some energy and background information to go. Of course it is better to learn some of the art works before you go, but the important thing is that you really want to go there. It makes it much easier for us(not knowing so much about art people) to visit museums and appreciate the masterpieces also to catch up with contemporary arts. To tell the truth, I don't want to be the person who just can't help showing off their knowledge about art, but I merely want to enjoy the pieces and make my life fruitful.

So today I want to talk about some of the museums that I visited.


TATE MODERN
I always wanted to visit here, because I love contemporary art!!! And also I recently learned about British contemporary art in my afternoon pre-sessional class, so I wanted to see with my own eyes. Sadly, it ended last week, but the special exhibition done by Damien Hirst was one the most exciting ones(although, you had to pay for that one) I will talk about him next time. TATE MODERN is the place you need to visit before you die, I guess. The building itself is just incredible. It's huge and you feel like you are in a different world, sometimes there some art performances. This time, suddenly the people on the ground started to walk backwards slowly. It was creepy to watch but made a strange feeling towards human. Some people think that contemporary art is very complicated and hard to observe, but actually it is quite fun. Just ignore the meaning and purpose of the creator and enjoy your time with it. I think that is the hint to see contemporary art. Contemporary art is not popular in Japan, but I guess without knowing it, you cannot "see" what is going on this modern world.


TATE BRITAIN
It's located a little far from TATE MODERN. When I visited there, it was still renovating some parts. The museum is famous for Turner art works. Personally I don't enjoy his works, it makes me sleepy with the blurry atmosphere, sorry. However the special exhibition of photography was just wonderful. ANOTHER LONDON, is the photograph collections of 41photographers who took pictures of London. There were only black and white photos, but they succeeded in sharply expressing many faces of the city. I got interested in photos from last year so it gave me some inspirations of photography. Bruce Davidson was my favorite photographer.

NATIONAL GALLERY
The huge gallery containing historical paintings since 12th century. I went there today, but because of its size, we decided to choose only 2 sections to go. I personally loved the works of Vincent Van Gogh so chose Impressionism.  The famous picture called Sunflower was on the wall. There were too many people surrounding the picture, though. It's better to go there in three days or so since it contains soooo many art works. Also I felt that you need some basic knowledge of religious before visiting there because without it, you just be exhausted of man with dripping blood from his body.

I thought I went more, but it was three. Still three is enough for 2 weeks. I will try to write more when I visited the others.

Before I close my computer, I want to introduce some of the contemporary Japanese museums.

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY OF ARTS
This is not really popular, but it is worth going. The price is not bad. If you need some basic idea of Japanese contemporary art, just go here.

MORI MUSEUM
Located on the top floor of Roppongi Hills. It is worth going with a lover since the view is beautiful. There was ONEPIECE exhibition and they always have the latest trends of Japanese art. The price is quite high, so save some money and go with some you like:)

TARO OKAMOTO MEMORIAL MUSEUM
One of the favorite artists in Japan. His personality the way of thinking are something different and respectful. Most Japanese would once heard about him because he was the designer of the TAIYOU NO TOU in Osaka. The museum was originally his house near Omotesando. Once a month, there is a museum staff explaining some of his art works so you better search on the internet about the date and go there. It is a small museum but I really recommend you to go there.

Last but not least....
Of course!!!!

GHIBLI MUSEUM
The famous director Hayao Miyazaki created the museum. It is very cute and worth visiting at least once. But don't forget that you need to reserve the ticket. There is a big park next to the museum so enjoy the nature, too. If you like his movies, why didn't you go there? Just book the ticket online and rush to it:)


Ok, so I hope some information was useful. I will sleep now, I walked too much today. Good night and have a nice weekend!!!!