Shiga Museum of Art 40th Anniversary Creative Adventures by 45 Japanese Art Brut Creators: Endless iterations of the single glyph “も” and more

　Art Brut, referred to in Japanese as “raw art,” is a term coined in the 1940s by the French artist Jean Dubuffet who was inspired by the art created by persons with psychological disabilities, self-taught creators, and others working outside of traditional academic fine art. This exhibition features 45 Japanese Art Brut creators whose works were gifted to the museum by the Nippon Foundation in 2023.

　Included are works depicting an obsessive repetition of the Japanese character, a diary with the same content every day written in characters no one can read, and symbols drawn compulsively without even taking time to sleep-we hope you will enjoy these compelling works of inspiration and single-minded enthusiasm.

Collection of Pieces by 45 Artists at Shiga Museum of Art
　In 2010, an “Art Brut Japonais” (English: Japanese Art Brut) exhibition was held at La Halle Saint Pierre art museum in Paris, France. The exhibition showcased pieces by disabled and self-taught artists whose talents were discovered throughout Japan, including Shiga. The pieces, labelled as “Japanese Art Brut”, attracted attention. Following on from this, a traveling exhibition of pieces that were returned to Japan after the exhibition was held in various parts of the country, leading to Art Brut garnering attention within Japan as a kind of reverse import.

　The pieces of the 45 artists featured at this exhibition were initially collected by The Nippon Foundation after being exhibited at the “Art Brut Japonais” exhibition. In 2023, they were then donated (or entrusted) to Shiga Museum of Art, the only public museum within Japan which aims to collect Art Brut, with the intention of further use. As a result, Shiga Museum of Art has become one of the world’s foremost Art Brut museums, boasting a collection of 731 pieces.