“Synchronic Constellations” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Until December 13; Rethinking Modern Art in Taiwan and Japan as Constellations

“Synchronic Constellations: Stars That Shared a Time – The Gaze of Art Across Borders,” an exhibition that reexamines the work of modern artists in Taiwan and Japan, is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Koto-ku, Tokyo) from Saturday, September 5 to Sunday, December 13, 2026. It consists of six chapters, bringing together about 200 paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs of modern Taiwanese art and about 500 materials, plus about 100 works from Japan. The guest curator is Huang Ya-li, who is also active as a film director.

The starting point: “Le Moulin,” a film about poets in 1930s Taiwan

The exhibition’s starting point is Huang’s film “Le Moulin” (2015; released in Japan in 2017). Its subject is Le Moulin Poetry Society, a modernist poetry group formed in Taiwan in the 1930s. The film centers on the activities of poets who tried to introduce Surrealism to Taiwan under Japanese rule and wrote poetry in Japanese.

The film scatters diverse works that cross regions, eras and genres, and is structured so as not to present a fixed narrative. It won the award for Best Documentary at the Golden Horse Awards. The exhibition brings this editing method into the exhibition space and aims to keep its distance from conventional linear views of history.

In 2019, Huang curated the exhibition “Synchronic Constellations: Le Moulin Poetry Society and the Age of Cross-Border Art” at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. According to the museum, this exhibition is the first to introduce modern Taiwanese art in Japan on this scale.

The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and Huang’s company, Ben Mu Studio Co., Ltd. Nine institutions, including the Tainan Art Museum, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, provide special cooperation, with grants from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others. The co-curator is Takahiro Kaneshima, associate professor at Kanazawa College of Art.

What can be seen? From Chen Cheng-po and Huang Tu-shui to Fujishima Takeji and Seiji Togo

The artists listed by the museum include Huang Tu-shui, Chen Cheng-po, Li Mei-shu, Ho Te-lai, Lin Yu-shan, Kuo Hsueh-hu, Hung Jui-lin, Huang Tsao-tsao, Chen Hsia-yu and Chuang Shih-ho, joined by works by Japanese artists such as Fujishima Takeji and Seiji Togo. The main works listed on the official website are as follows.

• Chen Cheng-po, “A Corner of Chiayi Park” (1934, private collection)

• Chen Cheng-po, “Nude with Green Mask” (c. 1929–33, private collection)

• Yang San-lang, “Paris Lady” (1932, Yang San-lang Art Museum)

• Fujishima Takeji, “Tainan Landscape” (1933, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama)

• Seiji Togo, “Surrealist Walk” (1929, SOMPO Museum of Art)

• Hsu Shen-chou, “Green Breeze” (1953, Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts)

• Toho Shiotsuki, “Robo (Lubuw)” (1946–54, Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts)

The materials number about 500. In addition to books and magazines published in both Taiwan and Japan, letters showing exchanges between artists and personal materials such as notes and albums, the exhibition gathers materials on the literature, music, recording industry, dance, theater and crafts of the time. Artworks and materials on literature, film, music and more are combined like a montage to form six chapters.

Galleries on the 1st and 3rd floors, in a space designed around reflective materials

The exhibition occupies two floors of the special exhibition galleries, on the 1st and 3rd floors. The spatial design is by UxU Studio, a Taiwanese architecture firm founded in 2013 by architects Chen Kuan-hung and Chen Ying-chu. The space makes use of reflective materials and is designed as a structure that itself generates relationships between the works, so that the entire venue becomes a single installation. The official website also notes that, out of respect for the term used in Taiwan for its Indigenous peoples, the exhibition keeps that term as it is rather than replacing it with the word commonly used in Japanese.

Tickets and prices, with Friday openings until 20:00 in November

Admission is 2,000 yen for adults, 1,400 yen for university and vocational school students and those aged 65 and over, and 800 yen for junior high and high school students. Elementary school students and younger are free but must be accompanied by a guardian. Groups of 20 or more pay 1,600 yen for adults, 1,120 yen for university and vocational school students and those aged 65 and over, and 640 yen for junior high and high school students. The exhibition ticket also gives access to the “MOT Collection,” which presents works from the museum’s collection.

Each online ticket is valid for one entry by one person and cannot be canceled or changed after purchase. Same-day tickets are sold at the museum’s ticket counter.

In November, the museum is open until 20:00 every Friday, and entry after 17:00 is 20% off, with students admitted free (proof required). On the third Wednesday of each month, those aged 65 and over are admitted free. On “Family Day,” the third Saturday of each month and the following Sunday, Tokyo residents accompanying children under 18 pay half price. Holders of a disability certificate or similar and up to two companions are admitted free.

Access and opening hours

Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00, with entry to the galleries until 30 minutes before closing. The museum is closed on Mondays, but it is open on November 23 and closed instead on November 24.

The museum is located in Kiba Park. It is a 9-minute walk from Exit B2 of Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station on the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line and a 13-minute walk from Exit A3 of Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station on the Toei Oedo Line. It is a 15-minute walk from Exit 3 of Kiba Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and from Exit A4 of Kikukawa Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line, and Toei buses run from both stations to the “Tokyo-to Gendai Bijutsukan-mae” stop. The parking lot has about 90 spaces (vehicle height up to 2.1 m) and costs 300 yen for the first hour and 150 yen for every 30 minutes thereafter (cash only).

Editor’s perspective

The exhibition tries to present an era not as a single line of history but as an arrangement of points that existed at the same time. That method is clearly reflected in the fact that materials on the recording industry, dance and theater are exhibited alongside paintings and sculptures. With nine institutions, including Taiwanese museums, providing special cooperation, the exhibition is also an opportunity to see modern Taiwanese art in depth in Japan.

On the museum’s B2 floor, “Tada Minami—Still, shimmering light,” a retrospective of the artist born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, runs until December 6. With overlapping runs, the two exhibitions can be compared on the same day. Autumn and winter exhibitions in Tokyo are compiled in our [Autumn/Winter 2026] 20 Recommended Exhibitions in Tokyo.

Overview

Name: Synchronic Constellations: Stars That Shared a Time – The Gaze of Art Across Borders
Dates: Saturday, September 5 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (until 20:00 every Friday in November; entry to the galleries until 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23), November 24
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Special Exhibition Galleries 1F and 3F
Address: 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo (in Kiba Park)
Admission: Adults 2,000 yen, university and vocational school students and those 65 and over 1,400 yen, junior high and high school students 800 yen, free for elementary school students and younger (must be accompanied by a guardian). Groups of 20 or more: adults 1,600 yen, university and vocational school students and those 65 and over 1,120 yen, junior high and high school students 640 yen
Organizers: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Ben Mu Studio Co., Ltd.
Guest curator: Huang Ya-li
Official website: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/exhibitions/Constellation/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: main visual of “Synchronic Constellations: Stars That Shared a Time – The Gaze of Art Across Borders” (from a press release by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo’s official website (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team