UTOPIA – As an anonymous place – 2012

The opening exhibition entitled “UTOPIA – An Anonymous Place” will be staged at ART BASE MOMOSHIMA and other sites in the surrounding area. The term “utopia” was originally coined by English thinker Sir Thomas More as the name for an imaginary, ideal nation. After its coinage the term was used in a variety of ways – becoming the basis for ideas critical of society, refering to literature set in imaginary societies, and becoming most widely used to indicate an optimistic view of an ideal world. This exhibition likens the original Greek term “outopos” (“ou”- not, “topos” – place), meaning “an anonymous place,” with the unique envirionment of Momoshima – an isolated island in the Seto Inland Sea, and a world apart from large cities. By sharing this most basic of living environments and creating art works specific for the sight, each artist offers their vision of a contemporary utopia through their work.