Taiwan to hold first solo exhibition by Yoshitomo Nara

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) The first solo exhibition in Taiwan of work by renowned Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, including his 2020 painting "Miss Moonlight," is scheduled to open in Taipei on March 12, the organizer said in a statement released Friday.

"The origins of the opportunity to hold this special exhibition go back to April 2020, when Yoshitomo Nara expressed thanks on Twitter for Taiwan's donation of face masks," said the General Association of Chinese Culture.

It will be the first overseas showing of "Miss Moonlight," which was first displayed at the the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo in an event that ran from July 31, 2020 to Jan. 3, 2021, according to the association, which is headed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

The painting shows a little girl, a common motif in the artist's works, in a yellow dress with her eyes closed, and is currently the only piece announced for the exhibition, although the association said more details will be announced in the near future. (The event's Facebook page)

The association said the exhibition will be part of events held by the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA) to mark the friendship between the two countries in the decade since the devastating earthquake that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami claimed nearly 20,000 lives and triggered a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Taiwan's government and private sector donated 25 billion yen (US$239.58 million) in disaster aid, sent supplies and rescue teams, according to the JTEA.

The JTEA represents Japan's interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations.

The free exhibition will be held at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei National University of the Arts through June 20, the organizer said.

The organizer said it did not rule out the possibility that the exhibition might tour outside Taipei in the future, so more people in Taiwan will get to see the world-renowned artist's works.