Featuring Films and Installations by 13 Internationally Acclaimed Artists

While films are typically 'watched,' the exhibition 'Art Around Cinema – Starting with Marcel Broodthaers' presents an attempt to 'read' them. As the subtitle suggests, the exhibition draws inspiration from the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976), a singular figure during the post-war art transition from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. It showcases works that perceive moving images as an extension of language.

Broodthaers, who began his career as a poet, engaged in a wide range of creative activities, including the production of objects, photographs, short films, and writing. His films are characterized not by a focus on so-called 'moving images,' but by how words and images, normally overlooked due to their familiarity, emerge as something opaque, unfamiliar, and innocent. Faced with such a phenomenon, one is invited to leap between words and images, draw connections, and thus 'read' the film.

Designed by architect Tetsuo Nishizawa, this exhibition features films, photographs, videos, and installations by 13 internationally active artists, including works by Broodthaers, Erik Baudelaire (b. 1973) with 'Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years Without Images,' and Koki Tanaka (b. 1975) with 'Five Poets Write a Poem (First Attempt).'

This stimulating experience of 'reading' cinema at the museum offers an opportunity to contemplate 'art around cinema,' using Broodthaers' practice of revealing the relationship between words and images as a guide.

'Art Around Cinema – Starting with Marcel Broodthaers'
Dates: April 22 (Tue) – June 1 (Sun) *Closed Mondays, except May 5. Closed May 7.
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (Fridays until 20:00)
Venue: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery (1F)
3-1 Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-5777-8600 (Hello Dial)
Admission: General ¥850, University Students ¥450
www.momat.go.jp