The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa
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My in-laws live in a town called Kanazawa, in Ishikawa Prefecture. If you’ve never heard of Kanazawa, don’t worry - that just means you’re a normal person. Good for you. If you’ve been to Kanazawa, you probably think there’s only one thing to do there: eat sushi. You’re almost right. Whenever we visit my in-laws, they ask what I want to do while I’m there, and I have two things I can say: 1) eat sushi, and 2) go to that museum. This post is about that museum.
Visiting the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is located in the middle of a big open space not far from the center of Kanazawa. A city this size (around 460,000 people, which gives it small town status in Japan) might not be the place one would expect to find cutting-edge contemporary art, yet here it is. The location is convenient for those visiting Kanazawa’s famous Kenroku-en garden and the historical sights nearby.
Outside, there are colorful sculptures, including some that kids can interact wtih like Olafur Eliasson's Colour activity house and Florian Claar's Klangfeld Nr.3 für Alina. In summer, you will be pleased to enjoy these. In winter, you will be far too cold and will wish to get inside as quickly as possible. Once inside, you can purchase tickets on the day or use those you’ve bought online to view the exhibits at your leisure. There are usually two exhibits on view simultaneously, so you can buy entrance to one or both depending on how much you want to see.
Entering the museum and the big pool
The exhibits at the museum change frequently, to the point where I’m not sure I’ve ever seen something in there twice. That rdoes not apply to Leandro Erlich's The Swimming Pool. The pool is a fixture. See, it looks like a pool, but it’s actually not filled with water. You can go downstairs and walk through a little tunnel so that it appears to those up above that you are standing within the water.
The first time we went, we stood underneath and had fun taking pictures in this interactive art exhibit. Then some people with a camera accosted us, probably because one of us is a white guy. They asked if we wanted to be interviewed for TV about this exhibit. We said yes. I’m guessing Eriko did most of the talking. We never saw it, so I don’t know if we actually appeared on TV or when. That’s the sort of thing that happens to us.
The pool is a good example of the type of art you’ll get at this museum - it’s often out there, a bit confusing, but fun. One visit, we saw a smaller version of Chris Burden's Metropolis II, a fixture at LACMA in Los Angeles. If you like looking at old paintings of angels, impressionism, cubism, or surrealism, this is not the place for you. This is a museum of new stuff, big stuff, and weird stuff.
The rotating exhibitions at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
This past visit, we saw some truly beautiful things, including “Lines — Aligning your consciousness with the flow,” which featured some great big pieces stretching the boundaries of the gallery space. I love great big paintings and abstract expressionism, and this place never fails to have something that stops me in my tracks. I was impressed by just how huge and bright a lot of it was. These artists sure have some crazy visions.
The layout of the museum is complex, with a lot of little rooms and hallways, and very little direction as to how you are supposed to go through it. That gives you freedom, but also increases the chances that you’ll miss something. But this isn’t like MoMA or Musée d'Orsay where there’s a couple super-famous things you absolutely have to see. You likely won’t have heard of many of these artists, so it’s really just a good place to go and wander around and get weirded out.
The perils of contemporary art
One thing about contemporary art is that you either get it or you don’t. That means that while there are always a lot of pieces that wow me, there’s also a lot that make me go “Huh. Okay…” One time we saw a big room filled with streamers and beanbag chairs, another time a video installation about an artist’s years-long quest to build a flying machine that looked like a cross between a recumbent bicycle and a hang glider (it did NOT look safe). This time, there were the gigantic heads with pieces taken out of them.
If you visit this museum, you will definitely see a few things that make you say “What exactly was the point of that?” That’s just how contemporary art works. Nonetheless, every time I go to the museum in Kanazawa, I leave feeling artistically rejuvenated. If it were ALL super weird, I probably wouldn’t want to go back, but there’s a lot of pretty to balance out the bonkers.
Should you visit Kanazawa’s 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art?
If you live anywhere near Kanazawa, you’ve probably already been to this place. If you’re traveling to Ishikawa, you should definitely take some time out of your seafood schedule to visit. But if you live in Tokyo or you’re taking a short vacation to Japan, it’s pretty far from where you’ll be. You can more easily go to the Artizon Museum, the Hakone Open-Air Museum, or one of Japan’s many other options for viewing art. That said, if weird is your thing, you’re not likely to find anything better. I know the next time I go to Kanazawa, I’ll be back.
Where to find the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
Address: 1 Chome-2-1 Hirosaka, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8509
Phone: +81 07-6220-2800
Website: https://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/
Hours: 10am-6pm T-Th and Sun, 10am-8pm Fri-Sat, Closed Mon
The museum website has a helpful page that explains how to get to the museum from Kanazawa Station.
How to get to Kanazawa without breaking the bank
When we lived in the Kansai region, we had to take a slow train called the Thunderbird to get to Kanazawa. Now that we live in Tokyo, we can take the Shinkansen, which is fast but expensive. If you’re planning to travel around the country a lot while you’re here, consider getting a JR Pass, which allows pass holders to take unlimited train rides for a certain period of time. They sell passes with unlimited national travel for 7, 14, or 21 days as well as passes limited to a specific region.
If you’re already planning to visit Tokyo and Kyoto, you can add Kanazawa to your itinerary by scooping up the Osaka-Tokyo Hokuriko Arch Pass. Depending on how long you’ll be in Japan and where you want to go, a JR Pass might be able to save you money.
JR Pass also offers Mobile Wi-Fi, which lets you connect to the Internet wherever you are for a flat fee - you can read more about it on our blog post here. They even have a Meet & Greet service for those who are a bit nervous about travel in a foreign country. We have an affiliate relationship with JR Pass, so if you decide to go with them, let them know we sent you!
