Rare Japanese art at Meijer Gardens opens second of three-part show

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

What: "Splendors of Shiga: Treasures from Japan"
When: Now through Aug. 16
Where: 1000 E. Beltline Ave. NE
Regular hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (until 9 p.m. Tuesdays); 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission: $12 adults, $9 seniors, $9 students with ID, $6 ages 5-13, $4 ages 3-4. Free for age 2 and younger.
More info: Call 616-957-1580 or 888-957-1580 or go online to meijergardens.org

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Japan's national treasures are very special to its people.

Rarely do they leave the country. Some items never do. Until now.

An extensive collection of Japanese art and culture is at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, much of it never seen outside of the Land of the Rising Sun.

"Splendors of Shiga: Treasures from Japan," with more than 75 objects, opened in January for a three-part, seasonal-flavored exhibition that began with art reflecting winter.

The second part of the exhibition, heralding the arrival of Spring, opens on Saturday with a new set of screen and scroll paintings, meticulously crafted kimono, detailed Buddhist statuary, porcelains and tea ceremony objects.

These seasonally inspired objects, some made by artists designated as "living national treasures," will be on display through June 4. The final seasonal display, highlighting Summer and Fall, will open June 10 continuing through Aug. 16.

Related: Rare Japanese art never seen in the U.S. comes to Meijer Gardens

Respecting Japanese laws and customs regarding exhibitions, the show is divided into three parts, reflecting the change of seasons.

"The cultural requirements in Japan are that for works that are made on paper or on silk or of cloth, they have a two-month window were they can be publicly displayed," said Joseph Becherer, vice president and chief curator for collections at Meijer Gardens.

Items such as kimonos are part of the exhibition. But on display for the first two months were winter garments. Spring kimonos now will go on display, and summer and winter garments will follow in June until the close of the exhibition."

Other less fragile objects, such as Shigaraki pottery, remain on display for the entire six-month show, installed by a team of curators and art handlers who traveled from Japan to Meijer Gardens to prepare the exhibition.

"Things that are stable, like the pottery, those will be on view the entire time," Becherer said.

Meijer Gardens, which opens its $22 million Japanese Garden in June, is celebrating Japanese art and culture in a major way in 2015.

Related: Japanese art, culture and horticulture highlight Meijer Gardens' 20th anniversary year

"Splendors of Shiga: Treasures from Japan," a project that was five years in the making, results from the 46-year-old sister-state relationship between the Japanese prefecture of Shiga and the state of Michigan as well as the sister-city relationship between Omihachiman and Grand Rapids.

The sister-state relationship between Shiga and Michigan, dating back to 1968, is one of the oldest and largest cultural exchange relationships in the United States. No less than 18 cities in Michigan, including Ann Arbor, Lansing, Petoskey, Pontiac and Traverse City, have a sister city or friendship city relationships with a city in Shiga, Japan. The prefecture of Shiga has a permanent representative based in Lansing.

The relationship was critical to gaining permission for the exhibition of objects to travel to the United States from museums in Shiga in southwest Japan, in the western part of Honshu Island.

"We wanted to bring pieces that show the specific landmarks of Shiga landscape," said Hiromi Inoue, chief curator of The Museum of Shiga, speaking through an interpreter in Grand Rapids in January.

Curators from several institutions, including The Museum of Shiga, the Miho Museum, and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, came up with the plan for three mini-exhibitions depicting the changing seasons beginning with "Winter" until March 22, "Spring" from March 28 to June 4, and "Summer and Fall" from June 10 to Aug. 16.

"We Japanese also enjoy the four seasons," Inoue said.

Shiga, located in the southwest region of Japan, encircles Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in the country. The exhibition includes items that show specific landmarks of Shiga landscape.

Objects date as far back from the 8th century to contemporary times.

"Shiga has a very long history. Because of its long history, we thought it would be best to show the history from old to young," Inoue said.

Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk covers arts and entertainment for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

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