“Tada Minami—Still, shimmering light” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo: A Retrospective of the Artist Behind the Imperial Hotel’s Illuminated Wall

At the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Koto-ku, Tokyo), a major solo exhibition of Minami Tada (1924–2014), an abstract sculptor and artist of postwar Japan, is under way. Titled “Tada Minami—Still, shimmering light,” it runs from Saturday, August 29 to Sunday, December 6, 2026. According to the museum, it is the first major retrospective since her death, showing about 70 works, including early paintings, sculptures from each period and lighting works. With materials such as parts of architectural works, photographs and sketches, it traces about 70 years of creative work that moved between art, architecture and design.

Who was Minami Tada, the artist who left works in the city with industrial materials and light?

Tada was born in 1924 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and grew up in Korea. She graduated from the Western-style painting department of the Women’s Art School in 1944 and founded Minami Tada Associates in 1962. Over her lifetime she created about 200 sculptures and as many as 500 architecture-related works.

Her works are not confined to museums. She left works in many places throughout the city, including parks, stations, city halls, hotels and theaters, shaping part of people’s living spaces. Her materials included stainless steel, glass and acrylic.

Tada brought the industrial materials and processing techniques that spread during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth into artistic expression. Her work is said to be characterized by the way she incorporated the reflection, transmission, refraction and wavering of light into inorganic surfaces that show no trace of the hand.

She received the Excellence Award at the 8th Japan International Art Exhibition in 1965, the first Henry Moore Grand Prize in 1979 and the 6th Yoshida Isoya Award in 1981. She was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1988 and the Order of the Precious Crown, Wistaria, in 1994. Solo exhibitions were held at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum and the Shoto Museum of Art in 1991, and at the Hakone Open-Air Museum in 2009.

Why a retrospective now? Rereading work that crossed fields

Tada did not belong to any avant-garde art group of her time and worked across the fields of sculpture, architecture and design. For this reason, the museum says it has “not been easy” to grasp the full picture of her work systematically within art history.

The museum positions the exhibition as an opportunity to survey the work of Tada, who died in 2014. Through the publication of an official catalogue and talks by researchers, it aims to examine the background of her works and their significance in art history from multiple angles. A symposium co-organized with AWARE, “Shimmering Light: Women Sculptors in Postwar Art Practice,” has also been planned.

Highlights: “Chaindelier” re-created at full scale and “Zuiun” reconstructed

The venue is the special exhibition gallery on the second basement floor. It uses the basement galleries of about 1,500 square meters, including an atrium that lets in outside light, and the adjoining outdoor exhibition area.

One of the pillars of the exhibition is the re-creation and reconstruction of works that no longer exist and of lighting works inseparable from architecture. “Chaindelier” (1963) is a chandelier made from the ball chains used for washbasin plugs and the like. It was installed at the Matsuya Salon in Ginza but no longer exists, and has been re-created at full scale for this exhibition. According to the museum, it was the work that led to Tada being commissioned for the lighting sculpture at the New Imperial Palace (1968).

“Zuiun” (1973), the lighting sculpture at the RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection, is a light inspired by auspicious purple clouds. For this exhibition, part of it has been reconstructed using about 3,000 crystal glass parts. The official website also lists the following works among the main exhibits.

• “Coal Mine” (1957): an iron relief made for the Tanro Kaikan in Tokyo, moved to the Yubari Coal Mine Museum in 1990

• “Frequency 37306505” (1965): a work in which aluminum was vapor-deposited onto hemispherical acrylic and finished like a mirror, in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

• Illuminated Wall “Dawn” (1970): a wall of light made of about 7,600 glass blocks, installed at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

• “Chiaroscuro” (1979): an outdoor stainless steel sculpture at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

• “Zuiko” (2013): a work at the Olive Bay Hotel in Nagasaki

Tickets, prices and access; open until 20:00 on Fridays in November

Admission is 1,600 yen for adults, 1,100 yen for university and vocational school students and those aged 65 and over, and 640 yen for junior high and high school students. Elementary school students and younger are free but must be accompanied by a guardian. Online tickets cannot be canceled or changed after purchase, and same-day tickets are sold at the museum’s ticket counter.

In November, the museum is open until 20:00 every Friday. As part of “Autumn Night Museum 2026,” admission is 20% off for entry after 17:00 on Fridays in November, and students are free (proof required). November events are summarized in our November 2026 art event calendar.

On Silver Day, 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-resident guardians accompanying children under 18 pay half price (up to two guardians). Holders of a disability certificate or similar, plus up to two companions, are admitted free.

For those sensitive to light stimulation, sunglasses are lent in limited numbers in the galleries. A Japanese audio guide by the curators is available on the Bloomberg Connects app (no devices are lent). The official catalogue has 232 pages in Japanese and English and costs 3,500 yen (excluding tax).

The museum is 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. There are about 90 parking spaces, at 300 yen for the first hour and 150 yen for each additional 30 minutes (cash only).

Overview

Name: Tada Minami—Still, shimmering light
Dates: Saturday, August 29 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (until 20:00 every Friday in November; last entry to the galleries 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23), November 24
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery B2F
Address: 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo (in Kiba Park)
Admission: Adults 1,600 yen, university and vocational school students and those aged 65 and over 1,100 yen, junior high and high school students 640 yen, elementary school students and younger free (must be accompanied by a guardian). Groups of 20 or more: adults 1,280 yen, university and vocational school students and those aged 65 and over 880 yen, junior high and high school students 510 yen
Organizer: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Research and technical support: Minami Tada Associates
Official website: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/exhibitions/Tada-Minami/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Minami Tada, “Frequency 37306505,” 1965, collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. Installation view of “MOT Collection: Eye to Eye” (2024). Photo: Masaru Yanagiba (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 materials released by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (February 25, 2026) and information on the official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team