The immersive museum „THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA by TOYOTA GROUP“ is currently being held at the Yamashita Pier No. 4 Upper Warehouse.

In the theater, experience the works of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele as part of „Vienna Fin-de-Siècle Art ‚The Golden Age of Beauty‘ Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele ~Artists of Light and Shadow~„.

In the studio, a new series „ONE MOMENT“ is being screened, which fuses immersive art with the video and sound work „LISTEN.„.

For over a decade, starting in 2010, a project has been undertaken to travel the world exploring musical cultures, building a video library, and creating short films and movies. „ONE MOMENT“ delivers sounds born from diverse environments, based on footage collected from visits to around 20 countries including Hungary and Serbia, featuring rhythms of nomadic peoples, melodies of wandering tribes, and feasts of song.

An interview conducted ahead of the screening of „ONE MOMENT“ in Yokohama is summarized here.

„THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA“ is held in the Yamashita Pier No. 4 Upper Warehouse, a massive warehouse that is an industrial heritage site from the Showa era. What are your thoughts on this space?

It’s wonderful, isn’t it? This atmospheric feeling of history and time layered upon itself is absolutely impossible to replicate.

Even if you tried to recreate it, it’s not something that can be built quickly. There’s a truly good atmosphere, a cultural atmosphere, layered here, don’t you think?

So, within this atmosphere, utilizing the aged, character-filled wall surfaces, the visuals projected onto them also look fantastic.

In a sense, I think it’s a tremendously beautiful, unique space where something like a „collaboration between the present age and antiquity“ is being achieved here. That’s why I’m so happy to be able to participate here.

Did you receive any inspiration?

I think „THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA“ has a theme of collaboration between now and antiquity, transcending boundaries and fusing together. The project I’ve been pursuing, „LISTEN.“, is about removing walls—overcoming and eliminating all such dividing barriers like borders, boundaries, and national borders.

I believe sound is a symbolic element that erases these divisions.

Sound has a history of boldly crossing walls and borders, traveling back and forth, allowing wonderful elements from different cultures to fuse and build new beauty.

In that sense, „LISTEN.“ has been chasing this idea of sound that transcends boundaries. Being able to recreate and launch that feeling here together is very meaningful to me.

„THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA“ is also a proof-of-concept experiment to attract people through art and technology. What kind of place do you think Yamashita Pier should become in the future?

Above all, it faces the sea, waves, and nature.

The sea has connected civilizations across the globe since ancient times. People have traveled on its currents and waves, and a port is where those on the island meet those arriving from across the sea.

So it’s a place of encounter. I hope this place continues to be a port that facilitates encounters between this island, Japan, and the world.

Ports are wonderful. The strength of being a port, or even just the feeling of being a „port,“ creates a mindset of „Alright, I’ll receive this,“ „Alright, I’ll set off from here,“ „I’m departing.“ So, I hope it becomes that „symbolic port,“ the first step for all to traverse and connect the entire globe as one.

The visuals are beautiful with stunning colors. Within this space, when editing, did you pay attention to aspects like color, not just sound?</h3

THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA

The MOVEUM Yokohama is a contemporary cultural and event space located in the Minato Mirai district, which opened in 2020. It is designed as a dynamic venue for immersive exhibitions, often focusing on popular media and digital art, and represents Yokohama’s modern development as a hub for innovation and public engagement.

Yamashita Pier No. 4 Upper Warehouse

Yamashita Pier No. 4 Upper Warehouse is a historic brick warehouse located in Yokohama, Japan, originally built in 1911 as part of the city’s major port expansion. It served as a key customs and logistics facility during Japan’s period of rapid modernization and international trade. Today, it has been preserved and repurposed as part of the vibrant Yamashita Pier area, housing shops and restaurants while retaining its distinctive early 20th-century industrial architecture.

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was a prominent Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession art movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his opulent, gold-leaf-adorned works like „The Kiss“ and his striking portraits, which often explored themes of love, human desire, and the cycle of life. His distinctive style bridged traditional academic art and modernism, leaving a lasting legacy on European art.

Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele was a prominent Austrian Expressionist painter of the early 20th century, not a place or cultural site. He is known for his intense, raw, and often provocative figurative works that broke from artistic tradition. His career was tragically cut short when he died in the 1918 influenza pandemic at age 28, but his work remains highly influential.

Vienna Fin-de-Siècle Art ‚The Golden Age of Beauty‘ Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele ~Artists of Light and Shadow~

This exhibition focuses on Vienna’s vibrant turn-of-the-20th-century art scene, a period marked by intense innovation and psychological depth. It highlights the iconic, decorative works of Gustav Klimt and the raw, expressive portraits of Egon Schiele, two leading figures of the era. The presentation explores how these artists, alongside their contemporaries, captured both the beauty and the underlying anxieties of a society on the brink of modernity.

ONE MOMENT

I’m unable to provide a summary for „ONE MOMENT“ as it does not refer to a specific, identifiable place or cultural site. To give you a historical summary, please provide the name of a recognized location, monument, or cultural landmark.

LISTEN.

„LISTEN.“ is a public sculpture located in the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, which commemorates the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Created by artist Steve Liggett, the bronze statue depicts a person with a finger to their lips, urging quiet reflection and remembrance. It serves as a poignant reminder to listen to the stories of loss, resilience, and healing from the tragedy.

Showa era

The Showa era refers to the period of Japanese history from 1926 to 1989, under Emperor Hirohito. It was a time of immense transformation, encompassing the rise of militarism, World War II, defeat and occupation, and Japan’s subsequent rapid economic recovery and rise as a global economic power.