It is with great pleasure that the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art presents Before/After, a special exhibition commemorating the completion of a major renovation project at the museum that was conducted over a period of some two years and three months. The exhibition, employing the entire facility as a display venue, provides us with an opportunity to introduce a complete view of the museum, including important aspects that have been retained and others that have been changed. The post-renovation building includes a number of alternations. This has served as an impetus to examine a wide range of before-and-after phenomena and situations. For example, while age-related changes in material and deterioration would normally be viewed negatively, we have intentionally taken a positive approach to them. Meanwhile, although atomic power was utilized as a nuclear weapon, it was later believed that the technology would bring about greater global prosperity as a source of energy. In reviewing history, we come to realize that there were several events, decisions, and changes that can be seen as turning points in this process. Through the artists’ keen eyes and historical perspectives, this exhibition will examine the before and after as well as the in-between and overlapping elements in a variety of subjects. By inviting a group of artists whose practices seemed well suited to inquiries of this kind, we have arrived at an exhibition combining works that were selected from the museum collection with new works that the artists made specifically for this occasion. These before-and-after experiences are certain to trigger some kind of change within you, if only a very slight one.This and much more awaits you at the new Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.

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