Our world loses many things to “progress.” Because progress advances at an imperceptible pace, however, it is impossible to restore such things no matter what efforts might be made to peer back into the past. Still, imagining them can lead to the discovery of possibilities that might have been. The progression from past to present is perhaps not so much a tightly knit continuum as a kind of patchwork, something timeless. Perhaps, therefore, the true role of art in our world today is to enable individuals to affirm their own imaginings and perceptions while avoiding self-centeredness and becoming tolerant of what others imagine.

The development of information and mobility technology in modern society has caused people to experience both proximity and alienation and boosted what Walter Benjamin called “organizational value.” Even as we experience such proximity and alienation—sometimes called a crisis of democracy—we must also turn our eyes toward generating new creativity that reverses the relationship between the dominant and the peripheral, by continually communicating the potential of expression.

With this point in mind, I want to draw attention to the new public domain that has been created in local communities in recent years as community art projects that have entered the realm of everyday life, drawing in non-artists. This change is surely related to the multicultural shift away from the Western-centered modern art tradition, that is, to the larger trend toward reexamining local values.

This exhibition, The Flower with the Color of Wind –Dialogues for the future, seeks to promote dialogues with local artists in light of this enormous recent change in values: dialogues with works of art in the collection, dialogues with local composer/scientists/writers from different fields, dialogues with the natural landscapes and materials found in traditional forms of expression, and dialogues with everyday spaces and people outside the museum. Another important part of the show is exhibits that address how artists cope with events such as war and earthquakes.

The natural landscape in this region is defined by the powerful wind that sweeps down from the mountains. In the linearity of wind that suggests individual strength and fields of color that suggest a collective consciousness, I believe we find the future direction of Arts Maebashi and of art and culture in this community.

Venue : Arts Maebashi

Open hours : 11:00-19:00 (entry up to 30 minutes before closing)

Closed on Wednesdays. December 28-January4

Admission: adult 800 (600) yen, university students 600 yen. Free entrance for high  school students and below. On 28 October 2013, admission is free for everyone because of “kenmin no hi”. Fares in brackets are rates for groups of 10 or more.

Organizer: Arts Maebashi