The Simose Art Museum is pleased to announce the commemorative exhibition Ambient, Environment,Circumstances – The Topography of Contemporary Art –, which will be held from April 26 (Saturday) to July21 (Monday, public holiday), 2025.

This exhibition has been organized to celebrate the museum’s receipt of the Prix Versailles in 2024, an architectural award established by UNESCO. It also marks a significant milestone as the museum’s firstever contemporary art exhibition. The exhibition will be led by chief curator Keita Saito, an accomplished artist, with the support of co-curators Takanori Matsuyama, Li Jingwen (SEIBUN), and Yoko Negami.

Bringing together artists with roots in East Asia—including China, Indonesia, South Korea, Myanmar, and Singapore—this international exhibition will feature works by Kaori Endo, Riyoo Kim, Daichi Kukita, Sou Suzuki, and MADARA MANJI from Japan, alongside Omyo Cho (South Korea), Tianyi Zheng (China / HongKong), Muhamad Gerly (Indonesia), and Soe Yu Nwe (Myanmar).

The exhibition will showcase the work of nine artists and four curators, all of whom are emerging figures in the art world, born between 1980 and 2000. Notably, this will mark the first time that the four internationally based artists will present their work at a museum in Japan.

The Simose Art Museum, which was honored as “the most beautiful museum in the world” by the Prix Versailles, was designed by Shigeru Ban, recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize—often referred to as “the Nobel Prize of Architecture”—in 2014. The museum’s architecture extends along the coastline of Otake City, Hiroshima Prefecture, with three main structures—the entrance building, the special exhibition hall, and the administrative building—standing parallel to the shore. These buildings are connected by a 190-meter-long, 8.5-meter-high mirrored glass screen, unifying the entire complex. By reflecting the surrounding natural landscape, the screen allows the architecture to blend seamlessly into the scenic beauty of the Seto Inland Sea.

Chief curator Keita Saito developed the concept for this exhibition by exploring the relationship between the museum’s mirrored glass screen and its surrounding environment. The exhibition is structured in response to the movable exhibition halls, which incorporate shipbuilding technology, as well as the museum’s location across from Miyajima, one of Japan’s most renowned cultural and tourist destinations. Building on these distinctive features, the exhibition engages in a dialogue with its surroundings. Saito envisions that by drawing parallels between the museum and Miyajima, the exhibition will prompt a broader reconsideration of the relationship between Hiroshima Prefecture and the Seto Inland Sea, and ultimately, between Japan and East Asia.

The title Ambient, Environment, Circumstances – The Topography of Contemporary Art – is inspired by the Japanese word kankyo (環境), which carries a broader and more nuanced meaning than the English term “environment.” It conveys a more multifaceted perspective on the concept of environment, reflecting the exhibition’s curatorial approach.

The term “environment” often refers to the way in which surrounding events, development sites, or specific circumstances influence us. The nine participating artists will engage with the Simose Art Museum as a new frontier, responding through their work to the events, spaces, and conditions that emerge from this distinctive setting. We invite you to experience their perspectives firsthand.