Permanent Collection ASIA

China – Japan – Korea
Artistic intervention: Tadashi Kawamata

The Asia Collection of the MAK is one of the important collections in Europe of art and applied arts from the Asian region. It has been compiled from public and private collections during a history lasting 150 years and offers a wide-ranging view of the art history of Asia.

The MAK Asia Collection is one of the foremost collections of Asian art and applied arts in Europe. Its precious works manifest not only their aesthetic qualities, but furthermore inform on the reciprocal influences of great civilizations on many areas of art, thought and everyday life.

The new installation of the MAK Permanent Collection Asia on the museum ground floor opens up new perspectives.
“In Tadashi Kawamata the MAK has found the ideal artist for the newly conceived collection presentation. Ever since taking part in the Biennale in Venice in 1982, Tadashi Kawamata has been one of the leading contemporary artists in Asia and Europe. His works have an ephemeral character, thus are intensively related to place and time, subtly connecting the different cultures. His installation Yusuke Nakahara's Cosmology for the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial in Japan in 2012 is a reinterpretation of an art critic’s comprehensive library and inspired us to invite him to work with the MAK Asia Collection.” (Johannes Wieninger, Curator, Asia Collection)

Kawamata’s ideas for the MAK Collection are based in concept on permanent change and the play of light and shade. Two large, scaffold-like showcase blocks will house the exhibits from the collection, enabling diverse viewpoints based on this shared “narrative through objects”. Kawamata will “envelop and embrace” the collection with his installation. Although seemingly chaotic at first glance and placed in confrontation to the collection objects, the contrast is only superficial. Tadashi Kawamata places the artworks in a context that keeps things moving, whether the act of observation or the observers themselves, for he says: “My projects are never finished; it seems quite natural to me that something is never finished.”

From the outset it was envisaged that Kawamata’s modular constructed room composition from 2014 would be redesigned after roughly two years. In line with a revised spatial concept by Kawamata from 2016, the position of the vitrine modules had been altered, and numerous objects from the MAK Asia Collection had been exchanged in May 2016. Kawamata has “liberated” the artworks from their vitrines and opened up entirely new perspectives on the exhibits.

Silver for the MAK at the International Design & Communication Awards (Istanbul), 2015
The MAK scored with the reinstallation of the MAK Permanent Collection ASIA. China – Japan – Korea >>>

MAK/GUIDE

ASIA
China – Japan – Korea
Edited by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein and Johannes Wieninger, texts by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein and Johannes Wieninger, as well as an interview with Tadashi Kawamata, German/English, ca. 200 pages and appr. 100 color illustrations, Vienna / Munich–London–New York: MAK / Prestel Verlag, 2014. Available at the MAK Design Shop

Curator / Design

Curator Johannes Wieninger, Curator, Asia Collection
Artistic Concept and Design Tadashi Kawamata

Guided tours

Special guided tours by advance booking: Gabriele Fabiankowitsch, Head, MAK Educational Programs
T +43 1 711 36-298,

Covered Jar

Japan, Arita, Edo Period (1603–1867), ca. 1670–1690

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

REINSTALLATION MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

In the front: Bodhisattva, China, Song dynasty (960–1279)

Basin

China, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573–1619)

Box

Japan, Kyoto, Edo Period (1603–1867), ca. 1640

Three Pots

China, Tang Dynasty (618–907), 7th–8th c.

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

Wine Flask

Korea, Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), 13th–14th c.

Globe

China, Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), ca. 1800

Two Pots

China, Hebei, Song Dynasty (960–1279)

Dish

China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), mid-14th c.

Table top

Indo-Portuguese (Cochin), before 1595

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

Permanent Collection ASIA

China – Japan – Korea
Artistic intervention: Tadashi Kawamata

MAK/GUIDE

Curator / Design

Guided tours

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Covered Jar

Japan, Arita, Edo Period (1603–1867), ca. 1670–1690

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

REINSTALLATION MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

In the front: Bodhisattva, China, Song dynasty (960–1279)

Basin

China, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573–1619)

Box

Japan, Kyoto, Edo Period (1603–1867), ca. 1640

Three Pots

China, Tang Dynasty (618–907), 7th–8th c.

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

Wine Flask

Korea, Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), 13th–14th c.

Globe

China, Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), ca. 1800

Two Pots

China, Hebei, Song Dynasty (960–1279)

Dish

China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), mid-14th c.

Table top

Indo-Portuguese (Cochin), before 1595

MAK Permanent Collection ASIA: China – Japan – Korea, 2016

Permanent Collection ASIA

China – Japan – KoreaArtistic intervention: Tadashi Kawamata

MAK/GUIDE

Curator / Design

Guided tours

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Videochannel

Lecture: Tadashi Kawamata:

Kawamata Arrangement

MAK Collection

Asia Collection

Curator: Johannes Wieninger

Freier Artikel

MAK Collection

The History of the MAK Collection - from the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry to today’s MAK

MAK Collection Online

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China – Japan – Korea
Artistic intervention: Tadashi Kawamata