“Matisse – A Play of Color” Exhibition Report

[POLA Museum Annex] Press release

Holding baby viewing parties and interactive viewing parties for the elderly

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Pola Ginza Building, the Pola Museum Annex (Ginza, Chuo Ward, Tokyo) held the "Matisse – A Play of Colors" exhibition, which displayed works by Henri Matisse, one of the most representative painters of the 20th century, from the Pola Museum of Art's collection, from Friday, October 4th to Sunday, October 27th, 2024. The exhibition recorded the highest number of visitors this year and ended on a high note.

An interactive appreciation event for elderly people

Our group places "culture, art, and design" at the core of our sustainability activities, and we want to create opportunities for everyone to experience art, stimulate their sensibilities, and bring color to many people's lives. For this reason, the Pola Museum Annex holds special exhibitions all year round, with free admission, but for this exhibition, we have planned a variety of events to attract a wider range of people, including viewing programs and workshops for families with babies and the elderly, and the first introduction of audio guides targeted at younger generations.

We held baby viewing sessions and interactive viewing sessions so that even people who usually tend to avoid the gallery could take this opportunity to visit. Many families came to the baby viewing sessions, and they could be seen looking at each piece with their children and talking to them. In the interactive viewing sessions*, we also held sessions for the elderly, including those with dementia, and it was observed that the participants became more talkative and more expressive as the conversation progressed. In both programs, the lively expressions of the participants made it clear that art can open up sensibility and stimulate communication, and this effect was apparent. In addition, we also held programs that allowed people to experience the charm of Matisse through creative work, such as workshops inviting children from a nearby nursery school as part of community interaction.

This time, we also introduced our first audio guide to our gallery, with So Matsushima of Timelesz as the navigator. The audio guide, which also includes his own thoughts, was very well received, and it became an opportunity for young people, people who were not familiar with art before, and people from far away to visit.

At Pola Museum Annex, we aim to continue offering opportunities to encounter art of diverse expressions, thereby improving the quality of life of our customers and helping to solve social issues. We aim to stimulate the "sensitivities" of all our customers, provide them with "more fun, more enriching experiences that will change their lives," and work towards the realization of a sustainable society.

Our group continues to support young artists by providing them with a platform to present their work. Every year, we hold a group exhibition of artists who have been selected in the past for the overseas training of young artists supported by the Pola Art Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation. The next exhibition, "Pola Museum Annex Exhibition 2025," is scheduled to be held from February 7 to April 13, 2025, and will introduce a total of six artists in two parts.

*An interactive viewing session is a program where participants can freely discuss their impressions while viewing the artworks with a moderator.

Workshop with older children from a nearby nursery school

Exhibition Overview

Exhibition title: Matisse – Playing with Colors Period: Friday, October 4, 2024 – Sunday, October 27, 2024 [24 days] Free admission Venue: Pola Museum Annex (3F Pola Ginza Building, 1-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061)
Organized by: Pola Orbis Holdings Inc. Supported by: French Embassy in Japan / Institut Français Cooperation: Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. Tokyo Fine Arts Branch / Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd.
U R L: https://www.po-holdings.co.jp/m-annex/

Close-up: Interactive Art Viewing Sessions

The interactive viewing event held on October 7th was open to all audiences in the morning session, and for seniors aged 65 and over in the afternoon session. Details of the afternoon session are provided below.

Date and time: Monday, October 7th, 14:00 – 15:30
Eligible: Anyone aged 65 or older (including people with dementia and their caregivers)
Number of participants: 8 people (including people with dementia and their caregivers)

Make-up service at Pola Ginza

An interactive viewing session

The three participants received a 30-minute makeup service at Pola Ginza on the first floor of the Pola Ginza Building, and then participated in a 60-minute viewing session at the Pola Museum Annex on the third floor. Together with the facilitator, everyone discussed their thoughts and feelings about a particular piece of art.

▼ Group conversation including people with dementia <br /> Moderator: "What do you think is being drawn?"
Participant: "Maybe it's the face."
Facilitator: “Do you think it’s a man or a woman?” “Do you think it’s laughing? Is it angry?”
Facilitator: "What are those little dots around it?"
Participant: Money!
Moderator: "Money, maybe. It's round." "If he was talking, what do you think he was saying?"
Participant: "How much is this?" he said.

In response to the facilitator's questions, each person freely expressed their feelings and thoughts, and the conversation progressed with the message, "Everyone feels differently." As the conversation progressed, one person with dementia seemed to expand his or her range of expression, saying, "It looks like the right side is in front. It has a three-dimensional feel."

This is the second time that an interactive art appreciation session has been held at the Pola Museum Annex, following the Pola Ginza Building 10th Anniversary Exhibition in 2019. In the last session, we received comments such as, "I was looking forward to attending the art appreciation session, so I dressed up today," so for the first time, we provided makeup at Pola Ginza before the appreciation session, a service that only our group, a cosmetics manufacturer, can provide. A professional makeup artist touched the skin and applied the makeup. Just by doing this, we could see that the facial expressions relaxed and became more lively.

Other programs

◆Baby Viewing Party October 15th (Tue)
We saw parents looking at the artworks with their children and talking to them, asking questions like, "What color is that?" and "It's beautiful," as well as families interacting with each other.

Looking at the artwork with a baby and talking to him

Family interactions were also observed.

Paper cutting workshop: October 13th (Sun) and 14th (Mon/Holiday)
With paper cutting artist Risa Fukui as the instructor, the students created works incorporating Matisse's paper cutting techniques on the theme of "Playing with Color."

The image of the word "JAZZ" is expressed through paper cutting.

View everyone's work side by side

◆Workshop with older children from a nearby nursery school October 21st (Monday)
Children created their own original "JAZZ" creations by combining stickers of various shapes and parts cut freely with scissors.