The Chichu Art Museum is a unique modern art museum built into a hillside overlooking the southern coast of Naoshima. The museum building, designed by Ando Tadao and itself a work of art, is mostly located underground and solely utilizes natural light to illuminate the artwork. This creates a viewing experience that is heavily influenced by the surrounding natural environment.
The museum has been built around a rather small collection of art. The first gallery displays large murals from Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" series. This is followed by a few works by James Turrell, who uses light as a medium. They include the "Open Sky" room from his "Skyspaces" series which has sister exhibits around the world including the 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa. Finally, the deepest part of the Chichu Museum houses the "Time/Timeless/No Time" installation by Walter De Maria.
Tickets are purchased at the museum's ticket center located a short walk downhill from the museum entrance. The ticket center has a small cafe and waiting area as only a limited number of visitors are admitted to the museum at one time. There are also coin lockers available as bags and cameras are not allowed in the museum and must be stowed before entering.
Chichu Garden lining the approach to the museum
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