Rei Naito’s Solo Exhibition to Be Held at the Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum will hold the exhibition Rei Naito: Come and Live – Go and Live from June 25 to September 23, 2024. The exhibition will be held in the museum's Heiseikan Thematic Exhibition Room, Japanese Gallery (Honkan), Room T5, and Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Lounge.

Born in 1961 in Hiroshima, Rei Naito currently lives and works in Tokyo. She first came to the attention of the public with One Place on The Earth at the Sagacho Exhibit Space (Tokyo) in 1991. As a result, she was invited to install the same work in the Japanese Pavilion at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997.

Naito is known for her works that combine delicate motifs, everyday objects, natural elements, and interaction with the environment. This exhibition began with the encounter between the Tokyo National Museum, which boasts a history of 150 years, its architectural space, and the artist. In the clay objects of the Jomon period, Naito discovered a human soul that resonated with her creativity. This was something born out of prehistoric people's awe of nature and life, in which she found "compassion permeating in and out of life."

Throughout the exhibition period, museum halls, illuminated by natural light, will evoke the realms of life and death that once existed with the sun, as well as the intimate harmony that existed between man and nature, and man and other living beings. And Naito's artwork will evoke the continuous creative endeavors in which one could glimpse the longing for "creation" that humanity has repeated, and the pursuit of "life" that connects to the present.

Rei Naito: Come and Live – Go and Live is a joint project with the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès and will travel to Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum (September 7 - January 13, 2025) before returning to the Tokyo National Museum. The exhibition is expected to deepen visitors' understanding of living and creating, transformation and fluidity, and the interaction between people and nature.