Japan’s digital art collective reopens museums in Tokyo
Tokyo, Jun 5 (efe-epa).- Japan’s immersive digital art collective teamLab has decided to reopen the doors of its two museums in Tokyo after the country lifted its health emergency due to the Covid-19 crisis, the company announced Friday.
The visitors, who are usually invited in these museums to get involved and intervene in the works of art, must now do so with adequate security measures – wearing masks, using hand sanitizers, and keeping social distance, among other things, according to a statement by the art collective.
The group has two museums in the Japanese capital – teamLab Planets, which started receiving visitors again from Friday, and teamLab Borderless, which will reopen its gates to the public from Monday.
teamLab Planets said it would return the ticket amount to visitors who do not meet the requirements to enter the premises and apologized for the inconvenience that it may cause.
The requirements include not having fever, cough, or other symptoms of Covid-19.
The two galleries are among the most popular attractions in the Japanese capital and usually, there are waiting lists of people looking to buy a ticket.
These galleries have a system of interactive projections, giving visitors the impression of walking on other planets and even black holes or watch a whale swim under their feet.
The teamLab collective defines itself as an interdisciplinary group of artists, programmers, engineers, and architects, among others, who consider themselves “ultra-technologists” navigating the confluence between art, science, design, and the natural world.
teamLab has had a successful run in Asia for the last 17 years and currently has exhibitions in China and Singapore.
They have also taken their concept of digital art to other continents through various exhibitions both in the United States and Europe, and have expressed hope that its Tokyo museum would inspire similar future initiatives.
Following the lifting of the state of health emergency in Tokyo prefecture on May 25, local authorities have allowed a progressive relaxation of preventive measures.
Since then, several public spaces with limited capacity have reopened. EFE-EPA
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