21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the museum’s opening, a large-scale collection exhibition to showcase the most important function of the museum — its collection — will be held throughout the year. The museum’s collection activities began in 2000, before the museum opened, and based on the curators’ research and studies, the museum has been constantly adding new works to the collection every year. The collection, which had approximately 200 items by the time of the museum’s opening, has now grown to approximately 4,200 items. This collection represents both the history of the museum and its identity. The three policies governing the collection of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa are: (1) works produced since 1980 that propose new values, (2) works influencing such new values and providing points of reference in terms of art history since 1900, and (3) works rich in new creativity closely associated with the Kanazawa area. This collection is both a mirror of the changing times and a repository of the history of artistic expression that has been accumulated and woven together. The collection exhibition is a platform for looking at the world, and to think about and discuss the past, present, and future. It offers us an opportunity to look back over the past 20 years and discuss the future.