Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time

Announcement

[Notice] Changes to “Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time” due to overcrowding. For details click here

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo is pleased to present the exhibition Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time.

A composer and an artist, Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023) continuously paved the way for his era through his diverse and cutting-edge artistic activities. Since the 2000s, he devoted himself to creating three-dimensional sound installations in exhibition spaces, which he developed and realized in collaboration with various artists. Focusing entirely on large-scale installation works, this first comprehensive exhibition in Japan looks back on Sakamoto's pioneering, experimental creative artworks, including some of his most well-known previous pieces, and new works that he envisioned for this particular occasion before his passing, which will be dynamically constructed in and around the museum building.

Collaboration artists | Shiro Takatani, Daito Manabe, Carsten Nicolai, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Zakkubalan, Toshio Iwai
Special collaboration | Fujiko Nakaya

List of Works

*Images for reference only.

Handout

Exhibition Gallery, 1^st floor
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani, TIME TIME, 2024
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani, water state 1, 2013
Ryuichi Sakamoto with Shiro Takatani, IS YOUR TIME, 2017/2024
Carsten Nicolai, PHOSPHENES, ENDO EXO, 2024 Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto

Exhibition Gallery, B2 floor
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Apichatpong Weerasethakul, async–first light, 2017
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Durmiente, 2021
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani, async–immersion tokyo, 2024
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Zakkubalan, async–volume, 2017
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani, LIFE–fluid, invisible, inaudible…, 2007

Ryuichi Sakamoto × Toshio Iwai, Music Plays Images X Images Play Music, 1996–97/2024
*Special Exhibit from Archive - New installation work reenacting a performance from 1996–97

Ryuichi Sakamoto + Apichatpong Weerasethakul
async–first light, 2017
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Durmiente, 2021
©2024 KAB Inc.　Photo: Takeshi Asano
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani
async–immersion tokyo, 2024
©2024 KAB Inc.　Photo: Takeshi Asano

Ryuichi Sakamoto + Zakkubalan
async–volume, 2017
©2024 KAB Inc.　Photo: Takeshi Asano
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani
LIFE–fluid, invisible, inaudible..., 2007
©2024 KAB Inc.　Photo: Takeshi Asano

Courtyard (1^st floor, outdoor)
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Daito Manabe, Sensing Streams 2024–invisible, inaudible (MOT version) , 2024

Ryuichi Sakamoto + Daito Manabe, Sensing Streams 2024–invisible, inaudible (MOT version), 2024　
©2024 KAB Inc.　Photo: Takeshi Asano

Sunken Terrace (B2 floor, outdoor)
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Fujiko Nakaya + Shiro Takatani, LIFE–WELL TOKYO, Fog Sculpture #47662, 2024
*Special collaboration

Starts every 00/20/40 past every hour minutes (duration: approx. 5 minutes)
The opening hours of outdoor works are subject to change due to weather and other reasons. Please check the website and venue signage for details.

Profile

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto was born in Tokyo in 1952. Making his debut in 1978 with the album Thousand Knives, Sakamoto's diverse résumé includes pioneering electronic works in the legendary techno group Yellow Magic Orchestra, producing pop albums and numerous classical compositions, two operas, and nearly 45 original film/TV scores. His film soundtracks have won prestigious awards, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, a Grammy, and many more. As an activist for many decades, Sakamoto's efforts focused on environmental conservation and world peace, including founding the forest preservation organization “more trees”, and the "Tohoku Youth Orchestra" to support the victims of the Tohoku Earthquake through music. Sakamoto also made considerable contributions to the art world with his work exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Recently, M WOODS, in China, presented the largest and most comprehensive collection spanning 30 years devoted to Sakamoto's artworks in various media, centering around 8 large-scale sound installations (Beijing, 2021; Cheng-du, 2023). He continued to cross borders into the art world even after death, with the ground-breaking mixed reality concert piece, "KAGAMI," touring New York, Manchester, London, and many future locations. Sakamoto passed away in March 2023 at the age of 71.

Information

Exhibition Period: Saturday, 21 December 2024 - Sunday, 30 March 2025
Closed: Mondays (except 13 Jan and 24 Feb), New Year's Holidays (from 28 Dec to 1 Jan 2025), 14 Jan, and 25 Feb
Opening Hours: 10 AM－6 PM（Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing.）
*Open until 8 PM on March 7th (Fri), 14th (Fri), 21st (Fri), 28th (Fri) and 29th(Sat)
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Exhibition Gallery 1F/B2F
Admission: Adults - 2,400 yen / University & College Students, Over 65 - 1,700 yen
High school & Junior High School Students - 960 yen
Elementary School Students & Younger - free

*20% discount for a group of over 20 people.
*Ticket includes admission to the MOT Collection exhibition.
*Persons with a Physical Disability Certificate, Intellectual Disability Certificate, Intellectual Disability Welfare Certificate, or Atomic Bomb Survivor Welfare Certificate as well as up to two attendants are admitted free of charge.

Online Ticket Sales Start December 18 (Wed) 10:00-
Online tickets allow one visitor per ticket to enter an exhibition once during the period without requiring a date/time reservation. No cancellations or changes can be made after purchasing a ticket. Same-day tickets will also be sold at the museum ticket counter.

[Students Day supported by Bloomberg]
Free entry for students on February 1 and 2, 2025. Valid ID required.

[Welcome Youth 2025]
Free entry for those under 18 ( born after April 2, 2006) between March 1 and March 30. Valid ID required.
Organized by: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture / The Asahi Shimbun / TV Asahi
Sponsored by: Kakaku.com, Inc. / Digital Garage, Inc. / TOHO LÉO Corporation /
Nissha Co., Ltd. / New Balance Japan Co., Ltd. / Yamada Bee Company, Inc.
Specially cooperated by: KAB Inc. / KAB America Inc. / Dumb Type Office Ltd. /
Avex Entertainment Inc. / K Garage LLC / TAKENAKA Co Ltd /
TOHO LÉO Corporation / HOT STUFF PROMOTION Co., Ltd. / UNIQLO
Cooperated by: J-WAVE
Supported by: The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan in the fiscal year of 2024
Special cooperation with equipment: EASTERN SOUND FACTORY CO., Ltd.
Technical cooperation: HEXOGON JAPAN INC.
Cooperation with equipment: ARTWIZ Inc. / Color Kinetics Japan Incorporated / Bricks & Company

Official Exhibition Catalogue

The catalogue includes numerous images of the exhibition space. It is structured to resemble the atmosphere of the exhibition, making it possible to re-experience the artworks after its closing. It also incorporates essays and comments from the collaboration artists.

[List of Main Authors (in alphabetical order)]
Essays: Yukiko Shikata, Sachiko Namba, Tomoe Moriyama/ Contributions: Akira Asada, Shinro Ohtake, Kenjiro Okazaki, Masaya Chiba, Rurihiko Hara, Shinichi Fukuoka, Yutaka Yano, Lee Ufan/ Dialogue: Minoru Hatanaka×Shigeru Matsui.
Format size: A4 (variable), hardcover book / Number of pages: 320 / Texts: Japanese/English/Chinese / Price: 6,490 yen (tax included)

20th February: Pre-order sales begin:
Tsutaya Online Store *Sales will start at 10:30 a.m.
Yahoo! Shopping GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS *Sales will start at 10:30 a.m.
Disk Union *Sales will start at 0:00 a.m.
*Shipments will be made sequentially in March or later.

28th February: On sale at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Museum Shop [NADiff Contemporary] and The Ryuichi Sakamoto special exhibition shop)
1st March: On sale at Ginza Tsutaya Books
4th March: On sale at Disk Union

Ryuichi Sakamoto special exhibition shop

The special exhibition shop will feature original merchandise, such as T-shirts, reusable-bags, ‘Tenugui’ hand towels, as well as collaborative products from EN TEA, Fuglen Coffee Roasters, and BABBI, all of which were beloved by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It will be a unique opportunity to purchase rare original merchandise from the “Sakamoto Library”, a library where visitors can read Sakamoto's personal book collection at a hidden location, and many other related products, such as CDs and books.
Location: 1st floor foyer (behind the museum shop)

Photo: Noriko Yamamoto

Exhibition Flyer

Concurrent Exhibition

See Exhibitions