A New Way to Experience Japanese Art

Tokyo National Museum holds Diving into Screen Paintings — an interactive family-oriented program

The Tokyo National Museum held the interactive family-oriented program, Diving into Screen Paintings: A New Way to Experience Japanese Art, between July 4 and September 3, 2017 in Honkan Rooms T4 and T5. The exhibition was designed to give visitors a new way to experience and enjoy Japanese art made possible by high-resolution reproductions.

Room T5 showcased a high-resolution facsimile of Pine Trees, held by the Tokyo National Museum. On entering the dim venue, visitors passed under curtains with projections of pine trees, drawing them into the world of Hasegawa Tohaku’s Pine Trees folding screens. The installation even included a breeze carrying the scent of pines to heighten the experience. A 4K projector displayed exceedingly lifelike 4K images, intended to evoke the atmosphere of the folding screens, on a semicircular screen five meters in height and 15 meters in diameter. By sitting on tatami mats in front of the Pine Trees reproduction with no exhibition cases to interfere with the experience, visitors were able to view the folding screens as they were meant to be seen. Such an experience would not be possible with the original national treasures.

Room T4 featured a high-resolution facsimile of Cranes, held by the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum holds the reproduction.) Visiting kids shouted in delight at the interactive installation, in which projected cranes flapped their wings when visitors approach them. The cranes, projected on large screens, moved in response to visitors’ movements, after which they appeared to return back inside the folding screens.

Around 82,000 people visited the exhibition during its run, including many overseas visitors. Watch the videos below to get a sense of the wonderful installations.