TOP Collection: Serendipity

Wondrous Discoveries in Daily Life

Apr. 7—Jul. 9, 2023

• Apr. 7—Jul. 9, 2023
• Closed Mondays (except May 1st is open)
• Admission：Adults ￥700 (560)／College Students ￥560 (440)／High School and Junior High School Students, Over 65 ￥350 (280) *Prices in parenthesis apply to groups of 20 or more. (Reservation is required.) , admission is free for grade school children or younger; junior high school students living or attending schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area and holders of Japan’s disability identification cards (shogaisha techo) together with two caregiver, and holders of the museum’s annual passport (check the Passport benefits at a glance)

It is recommended that you use the online ticket system (timed entry reservation.)

click here for online ticket system: Webket

At the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, we present collection exhibitions based on a variety of themes, and examine the works in our holdings from a diverse range of perspectives. The theme of this edition is “serendipity.” This word, derived from a Persian fairytale, means to have a gift or luck to accidentally make unexpected discoveries.

Maybe you have had an experience like this. For example, you come across a picture postcard that you find moving or soothing, so you decide to stick it on your wall or carefully keep it in a notebook. Or as you are looking back at a bunch of photographs you took, you suddenly discover a link between two of them that transcends place and time. These are perfect examples of serendipity. And the act of viewing an exhibition is another serendipitous experience that is filled with encounters with unexpected events.

In this exhibition, drawn from the museum’s collection of over 37,000 items, we introduce works that capture an ordinary moment in everyday life, while exploring the delicate workings of the photographers’ hearts. Although we sometimes experience different kinds of painful and difficult events for short periods over many years, we may be able to return to the state of healing or emotional richness achieved through serendipity by understanding the viewpoints of these photographers.

Chapter 1 | Quiet Gazes, Contented Times
Artist: Yoshino Erika, Gocho Shigeo, Kitai Kazuo, Shimao Shinzo, Ushioda Tokuko, Imai Tomoki

  
Yoshino Erika, from the series JOBIM, 2022, Collection of the artist


Gocho Shigeo, from the series Days, 1967-1970, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Ushioda Tokuko, Refrigerator, 1999, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Chapter 2 | Scenes Through Windows, or Simply Capturing What is There
Artist: Suzuki Nozomi, Sanai Masafumi, Casai Hideki, Eadweard Muybridge, Yamazaki Hiroshi, Hamada Ryo, Aikawa Masaru


Suzuki Nozomi, Windows from the east side of the second floor of the Kakinoki apartment from the series Other Days, Other Eyes,  2016, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Eadweard Muybridge, Dog; galloping; white racing hound, Maggie from the series Muybridge Plates, 1887, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Aikawa Masaru, from the series landscape, 2019, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Chapter 3 | Photographs Side by Side
Artist: Nara Yoshitomo, Saito Harumichi, Nakahira Takuma, Elliott Erwitt

  
Saito Harumichi, from the series Sansation, 2011, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

  
NAKAHIRA Takuma, from the series Everyday Life, 1990-1996, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Chapter 4 | Serendipity in Art
Artists: Honjo Naoki, Inoue Sayuki, Ishikawa Naoki, Homma Takashi, Hatakeyama Naoya


Honjo Naoki, Tokyo, Japan 2005  from the series small planet, 2005, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Ishikawa Naoki, from the series Mt. Fuji, 2008, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Homma Takashi, from the series Tokyo and my Daughter, 1999-2010, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

*The schedule is subject to change. Any further changes will be announced.

Organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum