"No matter how severe the reality we confront, we must never forget to laugh." Turning 80 this year, Elliot Erwitt's photography seems to carry this message. When he was 25, on the recommendation of Robert Capa, he joined the renown Magnum Photos, launching a career of more than half a century. With his unique attention to wit and humor, Erwitt's work is full of humanity and can boast of immense popularity all over the world. This exhibition will draw 130 pieces from the collection of the Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, carefully selected according to the themes of lovers, family, beaches, streets, dogs and art museums. [Image: Elliot Erwitt (1955)]

Taka Kobayashi is a photographer whose work has featured in numerous famous corporate and product advertising, such as that of Nescafe and Coca Cola (Japan). This exhibition will focus on one more part of his oeuvre, that of Japanese flowers.

The exhibition features swords and related accessories from the museum collection. The swords will be displayed in sets of "koshirae," all of which are noted for its intricate decorations created by artisans. [Image: Katsuyoshi Shoami "Sword Set with Butterfly Motif and Lacquered Blade" 37.7cm length, photography by Sumiharu Tawara]

50 artists will participate in this group exhibition on the theme of "water". *Exhibiting at Room 3

*Exhibiting in Room 2

*Exhibiting at Room 1

"The Oikos of the exhibition title comes from ancient Greek, meaning a place of residence, and forms the root of the words 'ecology' and 'economy'. I have for a long time been concerned about the estrangement between the 'environment', that which humanity is trying to protect through the Kyoto Protocol, and the entity of nature. Humanity is fated only ever to be able to consider along its own scale of thought. Like a seed the things gained a posteriori swell too much, and we cannot then understand the gravity of what has been caused. This time I will be displaying a work mainly related to human residence, a sensation to open your eyes a bit." (Statement by the artist)

The exhibition features the collection's paintings from the Edo period. From an earlier time, the Hosomi collection has focused on works by Jakuchu Ito and the Rimpa artists. Works by Hokusai Katsushika and Taiga Ike will be on display.

This exhibition features descended Goryeo teacups in Japan as well as Goryeo teacups created by contemporary ceramicists in Japan and Korea. *Exhibiting at 1F Exhibition room [Image: "Celadon Porcelain Tea Cup"]

As in jars, bowls, dishes and tea cups, crafts were first and foremost to function as receptacles. According to the forms of receptacles, how have the meanings of craft come to be defined? From various points of view such as the interior and exterior spaces of vessels, the mouths of receptacles, and their modeling for the purpose of touch, the opportunity afforded by "Containers, Dishes, and Vessels as Art" will allow us to search out new fascinations in recent arts and crafts. Works by Tomimoto Kenkichi, Yagi Kazuo and Yanagihara Mutsuo among others, will be exhibited. Gallery Talk: April 19th (Sat), May 24th (Sat) 14:00-15:00 Workshop: June 1st (Sun) 13:30-16:30 [Image: Tozan Miyanaga "Vase with turnips in relief" (1905)]

This year marks one thousand years since Murasaki Shikibu (d. 1014?) wrote her celebrated work, "The Tale of Genji". Recognized by the then Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027) for her literary talent, Lady Murasaki gained entrance to Court by serving Michinaga's daughter Shoshi (988-1074), who later became the influential consort of Emperor Ichijo (r. 986-1011). Murasaki's insider observations of Ichijo's Court are said to have been the basis for "The Tale of Genji". This feature exhibition presents archaeological artifacts from the Heian period (794-1185) to introduce the age in which Lady Murasaki lived. Highlights of this exhibit include a gilt bronze sutra container and a forged bronze sutra case, both dating to around Murasaki's time. The sutra container is renowned as a dedicatory offering to the Buddhist deity Zao Gongen from Michinaga, who had it buried on Mount Kinpu in Nara Prefecture during his pilgrimage to this sacred site in 1007. Inscribed on this container are the wishes of this powerful minister who later became Regent and who has been suggested to be the model for Murasaki's main character, Genji. The sutra case was dedicated in 1031 to the Nyoho-do Hall in Yokawa Valley on Mount Hiei by the Cloistered Empress Jotomon'in, who Murasaki had earlier served when she was known as Shoshi. This bronze case (now owned by Enryaku-ji Temple), decorated with auspicious Buddhist floral motif, was excavated in the Taisho period (1912-1926) and later designated as a National Treasure. Also on exhibit is a Chinese Yuezhou celadon ewer, which was excavated in Kohata in southern Kyoto - an area is said to be the gravesite of the Fujiwara clan. Such archaeological finds suggest that mid-Heian period courtiers possessed luxury imports from the continent. Lady Murasaki may also have seen such refined works of celadon. Decorative tiles excavated from the former site of Hossho-ji, the historic temple built by Michinaga, and objects buried in sutra mounds in the Kyoto area also offer glimpses of the world in which Murasaki lived. *Exhibiting at the Collections Hall Gallery 2 [Image: Green-glazed Sutra Container courtesy of Kyoto National Museum]

*Exhibiting at Murakami Kagaku Exhibition Room

*Exhibiting at Yamaguchi Kaoru Exhibition Room

This permanent exhibition features a selection of the Meiji period's most sophisticated works when makie lacquerware, cloisonne, metal work and kyo satsuma experienced the peak of artistic skills and values. Most of the works were created by the Emperors' artists, and have been found in other countries. Works on display are rearranged on a continuous basis to allow visitors to see different works throughout the year.

*Exhibiting at Kitaoji Rosanjin Exhibition Room

Renoir + Renoir are the Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) and his second son and renowned French film director Jean Renoir (1894–1979). While working with the differing media of paint and film, many direct references to his father’s paintings can be found in Jean Renoir’s films. The present exhibition is divided into four chapters comparing the themes and motifs shared in the father and son’s paintings and films, demonstrating the commonality of the two masters: “Portraits of the Family,” “Models,” “Nature,” and “Entertainment and Society.” With the full cooperation of the Musée d’Orsay, fifteen of their works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, along with approximately fifty other paintings collected from within and without Japan, and approximately fifteen excerpts from films representative of Jean Renoir’s work will constitute this exhibition. This is the first endeavor to compare the two masters in Japan. Video Screening of Jean Renoir: Tuesdays to Fridays *at 1F Hall [Image: Jean Renoir "Elena and Her Men" (1956) Collection particulière © STUDIO CANAL IMAGE/TELEDIS/ELECTRA COMPAGNIA CINEMATOGRAFICA]

[Image: "Tokyo Shinjuku"]

"Children are like blessings from heaven and the photo albums of children contain very important memories for a family. The memories that jump out of albums, photo after photo - these revived memories have been made into images." (Statement by the artist)

Last year, the Kyoto National Museum received a generous gift of twelve Chinese paintings from the Japanese novelist Sawada Fujiko (b.1946). One of the most noteworthy works among this donation is "Landscape with Birds and Flowers" by the Ming-dynasty painter Chen Zhen, of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, dated to 1640. Executed on silk, this large painting (H. 177.0 cm, W. 91.5 cm) captures a tall mountain, covered lightly with snow, soaring high above an enchanting valley. Cascading from the mountain precipice to the viewer's left is a waterfall flowing down to the ravine into a meandering stream. Two trees stand prominently at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by bamboo, broad-leafed shrubs, and blossoming plum and camellia trees. One interesting stylistic feature is the unusual contrast between the colorful birds the mountain magpies, eagles, and green pheasants painted in striking hues and realistic detail in the foreground, and the almost surreal cliff, depicted in ink and light colors, towering over the valley in the background. From the Ming dynasty onwards, paintings of landscapes and birds and flowers begin to develop into separate genres. This painting, which would ordinarily represent a winter scene in a set of four hanging scrolls depicting landscapes of the four seasons, is a rare example that successfully reintegrates these two themes. Incidentally, in a letter by the late Edo-period literati painter Okada Hanko (1782-1846), affixed to this painting, Hanko referred to the work as "Landscape Painting with Birds and Flowers." He also noted that it was the prized possession of the 115th Abbot of the Rinzai Zen temple Shokoku-ji in Kyoto, Imyo Shukei (1731-1808), who praised it as an unparalleled masterpiece. *Exhibiting at the Collections Hall Galleries 13, 14 & 17 [Image: Chen Zhen "Landscape with Birds and Flowers" courtesy of Kyoto National Museum]