Meijer Gardens opening exhibition of artworks from Japan ahead of debut of new garden

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is presenting an exhibition of artworks from Japan ahead of the opening of its Japanese garden this year.

“Splendors of Shiga: Treasures from Japan” opens to the public Jan. 30. The display will feature more than 75 works of art, most of which have never been displayed outside of Japan. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the June opening of The Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden.

“This exhibition represents one of the most significant exhibition endeavours for Meijer Gardens,” Joseph Becherer, chief curator and vice-president of exhibitions and collections, said in a statement. “Nearly five years in the making, this exhibition brings the culture of Japan to the Midwest in a meaningful way.”

The exhibition will feature displays of hand-painted scrolls and screen paintings, centuries-old Buddhist statuary and devotional objects, ancient and contemporary kimonos, tea ceremony objects and a variety of Shigaraki- and Shiga-area pottery.

“Splendors of Shiga” is scheduled to be displayed through Aug. 16, with temporary closures from March 23 to 27 and from June 5 to 9 for a changing of artifacts on display.

Objects from the 9th century through the 20th century will be organized during the Meijer Gardens exhibition in one of several thematic areas: Devotional Treasures, The Landscape, Beauty in Daily Life, The Four Seasons and Ceremonial and Domestic Ceramics.

The pieces featured in the exhibition are on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; the Museum of Shiga Prefectural Government, Biwako-Bunkakan; the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park; other temples, the Museum of Omihachiman City and private collections.

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