Mountain: Wonder and Fear

As Carl Hermann Busse’s poem ” Over the mountains,Far to wander, people say, Lives the Happiness.”, the mountain arouses a longing for far east and west of the ocean, and since ancient times, the mountain has been worshiped as a sacred place. It has been feared or respected as a place for training in 修験道(Shugendo, Japanese mountain asceticism-shamanism incorporating Shinto and Buddhist concepts) and as a sacred space. The mountain is a rich place that nurtures a variety of creatures, and at the same time, it also functions as a passage for strangers to move and to another world. The towering mountains challenge humans to push the limits, while the 里山（Satoyama, village-vicinity mountain） are close to their daily lives, bringing the blessings of nature to the four seasons. In addition, in the prolonged spread of COVID-19 infection, the violence of viruses that cannot be controlled by human power has become an opportunity to remind us of the awe of nature, and the environmental destruction is rapidly progressing on a global scale. Interest in forests and other worlds has increased again.

In this exhibition, we will explore the sources of the mysterious power and charm of these mountains from works with European and Japanese mountain motifs. I would like to clarify a part of the various expressions of the mountain, which has been respected or familiar since ancient times, while comparing each other as to what kind of symbol the “mountain” functions in the East and the West.

At related events, while inviting mountain researchers and philosophers as guests, we will approach the charm of the “mountain” with the artists.