Message from the Light

Born 1974 in Kyoto. In 2008, Miyanaga completed her graduate courses at Tokyo University of the Arts. She became well known for works that visualize time through traces of presence, such as everyday objects shaped by naphthalene and installations using salt, leaf veins and the sounds of ceramics cracking. Miyanaga was awarded with the 2013 Nissan Art Award Grand Prix. Major solo exhibitions include “between waxing and waning” at Ohara Museum of Art, Yurinso (Okayama, 2017), “MIYANAGA Aiko: NAKASORA –the reason for eternity-” at The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2012), and others.

Photo by MATSUKAGE ©MIYANAGA Aiko Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery

《Praying for Tokyo》

“If the axis of time were turned vertically, there would be a flow from Tokyo’s past to its future. If it were viewed horizontally, there would be an axis showing the connections between people and spaces. Standing at this intersection, we realize our present state of confusion. Without forgetting the tregedies of the past, what can we do today to move toward our future? Let’s start by praying together, with art.” (Kazuko Koike)

Together with three female artists – Rei Naito, Aiko Miyanaga, and Shino Yanai – the project will create “spaces of prayer”, providing requiems of the past from each Tokyo community, that are dedicated to our future.

Shino Yanai
“Well Temperament”

Up-and-coming artist Shino Yanai sees the space of Yushima Seido as a place of sound. Yanai’s production studio is located near the Olympic Stadium in London, and her observation of the surrounding environment and human behavior has inspired recent work. “Well-Tempered” is taken from the English name of Bach’s “The Well-tempered Clavier”. In this project, Yanai adopts the word “良律 (pronounced “liáng lǜ”)”, the Chinese translation of “well-tempered”, to create an installation that brings us to consider the meaning of “well-tempered” by overlaying the harmonic tones sought by musicians with the current social situation.