~~~~~~~~~


MIHO MUSEUM GETS MY VOTE

Well the Miho Museum gets my vote as the most beautiful museum in the world. We went there over the weekend, along the long mountain road and then on foot through the magical tunnel, across the stunning cabled bridge through the trees to the mystical opening in the hillside [architect I. M. Pei based his design for the Miho on the legend of Momotaro (Peach Boy)] to see the temporary exhibition of Autumnal Japanese traditional arts, of which there is a superb selection, chosen and arranged as only the folks at the Miho seem able to do it.

At the Miho there is a deep respect for the things displayed, not in the conventional bureaucratic, city/institution-funded, haven't-we-got-a-treasure-here glass cases against the wall, with bad lighting and crowded arrangements ("space is expensive"); rather, all is selected with taste and arranged with respect that can only spring from deep and genuine appreciation, never from merely following a schedule or fulfilling a contract.

The subtleties of coloring that characterized what pleased the eye before aniline dyes and industrial pigments was so splendidly shown that you could almost taste the beauty so artfully arrayed. Plain to see what has been lost in the maelstrom of progress.

Nor did the permanent Asia/Middle East exhibition suffer by comparison, or from repeated visits. Each time I visit the Miho I am awed anew by the early Buddhas, who look like forthright, worldly leading men, not the idly pudgy esoterics that came after.

And the displays aren't crowded, but arranged in historical plays of darkness and light that bring out every nuance. Then there's the architecture, and the environs; Kaya loved the fairytale tunnel, the varied hand postures of the Buddhas, the life-sized statues from Egypt, the smooth, cool marble floors and the big wooden benches, ideal for holding her sketchpad while she drew pictures of Ampanman.

Nothing for it but to visit the Miho and see for yourself before the annual closing from mid-December to mid-March.