Kumanokodo Nakahechi Museum of Art, Art museum in Nakahechi, Japan
The Kumanokodo Nakahechi Museum of Art is an art museum in Nakahechi, in the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture, set close to the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. The building was designed by architectural firm SANAA and is made up of low, transparent glass volumes that sit gently within the surrounding hillside.
The museum opened in 1997 and was the first completed building by SANAA. This project helped bring the firm to wider attention, and SANAA later received the Pritzker Prize in 2010.
The museum displays works by Japanese and Southern Chinese painters representing distinct artistic traditions. The collection bridges local and distant artistic perspectives through its curatorial approach.
The museum is located in Nakahechi and can be reached by road along the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage area. It is worth setting aside time to look at the building from outside as well, since the architecture itself is part of the visit.
Right next to the museum stands the Minakata Kumagusu Archive, dedicated to the naturalist and thinker Minakata Kumagusu who lived in this region. The archive includes a hologram display about his concept of the universal mandala, which linked natural science with Eastern philosophy.
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