As seven prefectures are under a state of emergency because of the spread of the coronavirus, museums are expected to remain closed for an extended period of time. In an effort to allow people to continue to enjoy art exhibitions that cannot be held under the current circumstances, curators along with others have added a little something extra when posting on social media.
Major museums posted information on their social media accounts, such as Twitter and Facebook, to direct people to their official website. Since they were asked to refrain from holding events since late February, the number of posts with hashtags such as "Jitaku de myusiamu" (Museum at home) has been on the rise. Many of the posts are getting very popular.
Makiko Nishizawa of the friendship society's secretariat of the Osaka Museum of Natural History created the hashtag "Ea Hakubutsukan" (Air museum) with friends she made through social media to bring a little cheer.
The Ancient Orient Museum in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, which has been temporarily closed since March 2, posted a photo of the zebu clay figures, which are from the Indus civilization era, from behind. The photo caused a stir for its "cuteness" and the hashtag gained further popularity.
"Since the museum had closed, we thought of showing an image from behind," an official of the museum said. "It was also talked about on the radio, and there were about 5,000 tweets about it. It also attracted people who were originally not interested in our museum."
In March, the Sumida Hokusai Museum in Ryogoku, Tokyo, which has been closed since Monday, posted an image of an original red painting of Shoki, a scholar from the early seventh century in China, by Katsushika Hokusai, an ukiyo-e artist during the Edo period (1603-1867), in the hope for peace in society. Shoki was worshiped as a god to ward off evil, especially epidemics, in ancient China. He has been painted in Japan for hundreds of years to ward off smallpox.
The drawing by Hokusai is scheduled to be displayed in the latter half (May 19 to June 14) of the "Great Edo Almanac" exhibition, whose opening has been postponed to May 8, but it was unveiled in advance on social media.
The National Museum of Modern Art in Takebashi, Tokyo, which has been closed since Feb. 29, has entertained people on its Twitter account for the "Peter Doig" exhibition, which opened on Feb. 26 and is expected to run until June 14. Curators and others from the museum have recreated a drawing by the British painter with the use of similarly colored materials and posted a side-by-side photograph.
The national museum joined the movement after hearing that museums abroad and other establishments have suggested using regular materials to recreate characters from famous paintings as a way to enjoy art at home during the pandemic.
"We thought long and hard about how we could create such works that coincided with our mission, which is to convey the joy of seeing and creating art, even if our museum can't be opened to the public," a spokesperson of the museum said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
.png?w=600)
