HIGH-END SHOPPING + WORLD-CLASS CULTURE
Iwas chasing Yayoi Kusama's artworks. Tickets to her Shinjuku museum are limited and securing one is a challenge. I was leaving for Tokyo soon and was pressed for time. I tried a different channel but to no avail. If I did snag one, I will have to make the most out of the 90-minute timed slot allotted. Yes, too quick for my standard.
But I had another chance to see her artworks on my most recent visit— at Ginza Six, the latest addition to Ginza district's ritzy shopping havens. Kusama's “Kabocha”, polka-dotted pumpkins, were suspended from the atrium's ceiling. Based on posted photos, the red-dotted white orbs posed a pop of drama on the mall's linear, modern interior.
I said yes to an invite from the Mori Building Company to visit Ginza Six. They picked up my story on the Mori Museum in Roppongi Hills and invited me to check out the latest addition to company's roster. I could catch Kusama's art on its last leg, he said.
Developed with three other partners including the French retail conglomerate, LVMH, Ginza Six aka G SIX is the newest luxury shopping complex with the largest retail space in Ginza.
The number 6 stands for its address. Once on the same spot was a Ginza star, the Matsuzakaya, Ginza's first ever department store. It's just appropriate that another prestigious institution takes its place. Prestigious enough to have the Prime Minister of Japan, Shino Abe, and the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, attend its inauguration.
Six also represents its promise to extend an exceptional 6-star shopping experience. Within its spacious retail are some of the world's most prestigious brands of jewelry and apparel – Van Cleef & Arpels, Dior, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Fendi, and Celine, to name a few. These are the same six luxury brands that comprise the G SIX's façade, each with its own unique frontage design inspired by the “noren”, the Japanese traditional fabric hung as dividers in shops and restaurants.
Across six floors are 241 stores which include flagship stores of known European and Japanese brands. The succeeding six floors are designated for office use, restaurants, banquet hall, a 480-seater Noh theater and an expansive rooftop garden.
It comes to no surprise that the works of prominent artists are showcased in here. As part of its task to bring together high-end shopping and worldclass culture, Mori Art Museum, the sister company, runs an art program for the G SIX that focuses on contemporary art. It's a way of promoting Japan's modern-day culture and not its traditional aesthetic.
Which brings us back to Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese contemporary artist. Was I able to catch her installation art at G SIX? Unfortunately, I was a day too late. But I was able to catch another Japanese artist's shoe exhibit.
Fortunately, Kusama's works will be displayed in Bangkok during the Bangkok Art Biennale 2018. I am headed to that city next month. Oh, how the Universe works.
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