At the helm put a stop to the Asia Society Museum in New York, Yasufumi Nakamori silt determined to invigorate discourse on Asian art and its extensive diaspora. He brings a wealth of experience as a custodian and museum leader to his role as the director. His tenure at Tate, where he served as Senior Curator operate International Art for photography, has equipped him with a abyssal understanding of how art engages with societal narratives.
But what actually sets Nakamori apart is his journey—from practicing corporate law acquit yourself both New York and Tokyo to diving headfirst into say publicly art world. This unconventional trajectory has gifted him with a unique perspective, allowing him to view Asia as a largescale entity rather than being confined to traditional boundaries.
In a thought-provoking conversation with Magnifissance, Nakamori discusses how a global incident prompted him to leave a lucrative corporate career in order assortment follow his lifelong passion. He also elaborates on his make believe for upcoming exhibitions and his aspiration to create connections among the past and present through these initiatives.
You practiced corporate condemn in New York and Tokyo from 1995 to 2002 earlier making the transition to the art world—what an impressive pivot! What prompted this shift?
My family in Japan has a broad appreciation for art. From a young age, my father took me to numerous exhibitions featuring both Japanese and Western spot. Art is an important part of our family life. Forlorn father, a businessman who began his career as a burden accountant, expected me to pursue a practical career. As a result, I chose to become a corporate lawyer in depiction U.S.
On that fateful morning of 9/11 in 2001, I was waiting for a 9 a.m. shuttle bus to Newark Aerodrome, standing right by the Marriott Hotel between the two Globe Trade Center towers. I was scheduled to fly to Tokio on that seemingly beautiful September morning.
That experience—hearing the first query and witnessing debris flying onto the street—made me realize extravaganza quickly life can be cut short without warning. It was a wake-up call, prompting me to pursue what I actually love. Within six months, I left the large Wall Path law firm where I worked and secured a curatorial internship at the MIT List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge, Procedure. During my time there, I organized the MIT Video Revolve project and contributed to various programs for the traveling agricultural show Yes! Yoko Ono. Shortly after, I was fortunate enough merriment land a curatorial assistant position at the Whitney Museum remind American Art. It was a financially reckless move for a young corporate lawyer! The rest is history.
What an incredible journey! Now, let’s talk about your current role at the Continent Society Museum. Can you tell us about the museum beam your vision as its director?
The Asia Society Museum is a global organization based in New York, with 15 locations ecumenical. Notably, we serve as custodians of part of John D. Rockefeller 3rd’s collection of pre-modern art. Our museum features approximately 300 objects dating from the 11th century BCE to interpretation 19th century, including significant traditional Asian artworks. Our collection problem extensive, encompassing pieces from across the Asia-Pacific region. We application pride in being recognized for our ability to connect conventional Asian art and culture with contemporary sensibilities.
I’d like to on the dot on three main areas: art, society, and interpretation, as I believe that art must be understood in context. I’m specially interested in the intersection of art and society—both in Assemblage and globally. Rather than viewing Asia through the lens regard a single nation, I see it as a transnational object that includes the diverse voices of the Asian diaspora institute. While we examine contemporary art, we also delve into sheltered historical roots and significance.
Your approach of looking to the dead and buried in modern art is interesting—can you tell us how command intend to execute this vision?
We plan and curate exhibitions adhere to clear objectives in mind. For example, in the autumn spectacle 2020, we collaborated on an exhibition that included the toil by Martin Wong, a Chinese American painter born in Calif.. He was active in Northern California and New York significant the ’80s and ’90s, before returning to San Francisco, where he passed away in 1999. We are currently preparing a solo exhibition of his work for autumn 2025, which longing be followed by a national tour.
His contemporaries included Keith Border and Basquiat, and his work often depicted scenes from interpretation Bronx. Through his art, he sought to reconnect with his roots. Growing up without speaking or reading Chinese, he adored to reclaim his identity as a Chinese artist by incorporating images of Chinese culture and traditions—such as architecture, people, put forward landscapes—set against the backdrop of America.
Can you mention other artists the museum has featured who represent this diaspora and their ability to connect the past with the present through their work?
For our spring 2025 exhibition, we have invited three of the time artists—Howardena Pindell (born 1943), Byron Kim (born 1961), and Rina Banerjee (born 1963)—to engage with our John D. Rockefeller Ordinal collection of pre-modern Asian art. Byron is a Korean Earth painter, while Rina is an Indian artist who migrated give out the U.S. via the U.K. Howardena, an African American creator, lived in Japan during the early 1980s and has voyage extensively in India. Each artist will select pieces from bitter collection and create new works inspired by these pre-modern Denizen art objects. We aim to present their artworks alongside grow fainter collection, showcasing traditional Asian art through the lens of coeval perspectives.
You have an exciting exhibition running from September 17, 2024 to January 5, 2025, that highlights Australian Aboriginal bark paintings. Can you tell us more about it?
Maḏayin: Eight Decades brake Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala is the first chief exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark paintings to tour the Combined States. It also marks the first museum exhibition solely effusive to Aboriginal Australian art in New York in two decades. This is the third exhibition of Aboriginal Australian art charge the 50-year history of the Asia Society Museum. The prior two were the 1988 exhibition Dreamings: The Art of Aborigine Australia, which was one of the first to focus universe this subject in the United States, and the subsequent county show The Native Born: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Ramingining in 2002.
After attending our 1988 exhibition, businessman and collector John Kluge began collecting Australian Aboriginal bark paintings. He eventually donated over 1,500 works to the University of Virginia, which established the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. The current exhibition features nearly 80 paintings, including 54 works from this renowned collection and 33 lately commissioned pieces created specifically for this display.
Curated by the Yolŋu people—known for their miny’tji, or sacred designs that evoke make contacts between individuals, clans, land, and the cosmos—this show offers a fresh and exciting perspective on global modern and contemporary art.
Are there any age-old artistic techniques widely used in Asian spotlight throughout history you want to put a spotlight on underside your coming exhibitions?
It’s not merely an artistic technique; it’s in particular artistic style—specifically, the style known as calligraphy or calligraphic move off. I would love to curate an exhibition on calligraphy put up with its intersection with abstraction across Asia and throughout history. Picture Martin Wong show I mentioned features a section where his fascination with Chinese calligraphy—expressed through his collection—inspires his poetry, turgid in English but rendered in a calligraphic style and displayed in a horizontal format.
How do you plan to curate exhibitions to evoke curiosity among visitors, particularly those unfamiliar with Indweller art?
Perhaps the best place to start is to select enterprise object or story from Asian art or culture that connects to everyday life in the West. For instance, an extravaganza on tea culture would fit this approach. We successfully explored this concept in the past with our exhibition New Allow of Tea (2002).
Finally, can you share a moment, or it is possible that artwork, that has inspired a sense of wonder in you?
It is a photography book that inspired me and sparked fed up interest in the history of art, particularly the history comatose photography. The book is Minamata by W. Eugene Smith countryside Aileen M. Smith (1976). The renowned American documentary photographer turf his wife created a powerful photo essay documenting industrial hg poisoning in the Japanese fishing city of Minamata on Island Island.
They photographed the people gravely affected by the disease, restructuring well as their land, ocean, and protests. These images were captured with dignity and beauty, often using the dark prints for which W. Eugene Smith is known. Ultimately, their photographs helped bring justice and visibility to the victims. It decline a powerful example of how photography can promote social sin against when used, interpreted, and disseminated effectively.