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Asia-Society-Museum-9-©-Bruce-M.-White

Yasufumi Nakamori on Merging Timeless Narratives in Art

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At the helm of the Asia Society Museum in New York, Yasufumi Nakamori is determined to invigorate discourse on Asian art and its global diaspora. He brings a wealth of experience as a curator and museum leader to his role as the director. His tenure at Tate, where he served as Senior Curator of International Art for photography, has equipped him with a deep understanding of how art engages with societal narratives.

But what truly sets Nakamori apart is his journey—from practicing corporate law in both New York and Tokyo to diving headfirst into the art world. This unconventional trajectory has gifted him with a unique perspective, allowing him to view Asia as a transnational entity rather than being confined to traditional boundaries.

In a thought-provoking conversation with Magnifissance, Nakamori discusses how a global incident prompted him to leave a lucrative corporate career in order to follow his lifelong passion. He also elaborates on his vision for upcoming exhibitions and his aspiration to create connections between the past and present through these initiatives.

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Yasufumi Nakamori

You practiced corporate law in New York and Tokyo from 1995 to 2002 before making the transition to the art world—what an impressive pivot! What prompted this shift?

My family in Japan has a deep appreciation for art. From a young age, my father took me to numerous exhibitions featuring both Japanese and Western art. Art is an important part of our family life. My father, a businessman who began his career as a tax accountant, expected me to pursue a practical career. As a result, I chose to become a corporate lawyer in the U.S.

On that fateful morning of 9/11 in 2001, I was waiting for a 9 a.m. shuttle bus to Newark Airport, standing right by the Marriott Hotel between the two World Trade Center towers. I was scheduled to fly to Tokyo on that seemingly beautiful September morning.

That experience—hearing the first explosion and witnessing debris flying onto the street—made me realize how quickly life can be cut short without warning. It was a wake-up call, prompting me to pursue what I truly love. Within six months, I left the large Wall Street law firm where I worked and secured a curatorial internship at the MIT List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge, MA. During my time there, I organized the MIT Video Wall project and contributed to various programs for the traveling exhibition Yes! Yoko Ono. Shortly after, I was fortunate enough to land a curatorial assistant position at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It was a financially reckless move for a young corporate lawyer! The rest is history.

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Left: © Bruce M White

What an incredible journey! Now, let’s talk about your current role at the Asia Society Museum. Can you tell us about the museum and your vision as its director?

The Asia Society Museum is a global organization based in New York, with 15 locations worldwide. Notably, we serve as custodians of part of John D. Rockefeller’s collection of pre-modern art. Our museum features nearly 300 objects dating from the 11th century BCE to the 19th century, including significant traditional Asian artworks. Our collection is extensive, encompassing pieces from the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia. We take pride in being recognized for our ability to connect traditional Asian art and culture with contemporary sensibilities.

I’d like to focus on three main areas: art, society, and interpretation, as I believe that art must be understood in context. I’m particularly interested in the intersection of art and society—both in Asia and globally. Rather than viewing Asia through the lens of a single nation, I see it as a transnational entity that includes the diverse voices of the Asian diaspora worldwide. While we examine contemporary art, we also delve into its historical roots and significance.

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Your approach of looking to the past in modern art is interesting—can you tell us how you intend to execute this vision?

We plan and curate exhibitions with clear objectives in mind. For example, in the autumn of 2020, we organized an exhibition featuring the work of Martin Wong, a Chinese American painter born in California. He was active in Northern California and New York during the ’80s and ’90s, before returning to San Francisco, where he passed away in 1999. We are currently preparing a solo exhibition of his work for autumn 2025, which will be followed by a national tour.

His contemporaries included Keith Haring and Basquiat, and his work often depicted scenes from the Bronx. Through his art, he sought to reconnect with his roots. Growing up without speaking or reading Chinese, he aimed to reclaim his identity as a Chinese artist by incorporating images of Chinese culture and traditions—such as architecture, people, and landscapes—set against the backdrop of America.

Can you mention other artists the museum has featured who represent this diaspora and their ability to connect the past with the present through their work?

For our spring 2025 exhibition, we have invited three contemporary artists—Howardena Pindell (born 1943), Byron Kim (born 1961), and Rina Banerjee (born 1963)—to engage with our John D. Rockefeller III collection of pre-modern Asian art. Byron is a Korean American painter, while Rina is an Indian artist who migrated to the U.S. via the U.K. Howardena, an African American artist, lived in Japan during the early 1980s and has traveled extensively in India. Each artist will select pieces from our collection and create new works inspired by these pre-modern Asian art objects. We aim to present their artworks alongside our collection, showcasing traditional Asian art through the lens of contemporary perspectives.

Asia-Society-Museum-7 © Bruce M. White
© Bruce M. White

You have an exciting exhibition running from September 17, 2024 to January 5, 2025, that highlights Australian Aboriginal bark paintings. Can you tell us more about it?

Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala is the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark paintings to tour the United States. It also marks the first museum exhibition solely dedicated to Aboriginal Australian art in New York in two decades. This is the third exhibition of Aboriginal Australian art in the 50-year history of the Asia Society Museum. The previous two were the 1988 exhibition Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, which was one of the first to focus on this subject in the United States, and the subsequent exhibition The Native Born: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Ramingining in 2002.

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After attending our 1988 exhibition, businessman and collector John Kluge began collecting Australian Aboriginal bark paintings. He eventually donated over 1,500 works to the University of Virginia, which established the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. The current exhibition features nearly 80 paintings from this noted collection, as well 33 new pieces commissioned specifically for this exhibition.

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© Bruce M. White

Curated by the Yolŋu people—known for their miny’tji, or sacred designs that evoke connections between individuals, clans, land, and the cosmos—this show offers a fresh and exciting perspective on global modern and contemporary art.

Are there any age-old artistic techniques widely used in Asian art throughout history you want to put a spotlight on in your coming exhibitions?

It’s not merely an artistic technique; it’s an artistic style—specifically, the style known as calligraphy or calligraphic art. I would love to curate an exhibition on calligraphy and its intersection with abstraction across Asia and throughout history. The Martin Wong show I mentioned features a section where his fascination with Chinese calligraphy—expressed through his collection—inspires his poetry, written in English but rendered in a calligraphic style and displayed in a horizontal format.

How do you plan to curate exhibitions to evoke curiosity among visitors, particularly those unfamiliar with Asian art?

Perhaps the best place to start is to select an object or story from Asian art or culture that connects to everyday life in the West. For instance, an exhibition on tea culture would fit this approach. We successfully explored this concept in the past with our exhibition New Way of Tea (2002).

Finally, can you share a moment, or perhaps artwork, that has inspired a sense of wonder in you?

It is a photography book that inspired me and sparked my interest in the history of art, particularly the history of photography. The book is Minamata by W. Eugene Smith and Aileen M. Smith (1976). The renowned American documentary photographer and his wife created a powerful photo essay documenting industrial mercury poisoning in the Japanese fishing city of Minamata on Kyushu Island.

​​They photographed the people gravely affected by the disease, as well as their land, ocean, and protests. These images were captured with dignity and beauty, often using the dark prints for which W. Eugene Smith is known. Ultimately, their photographs helped bring justice and visibility to the victims. It is a powerful example of how photography can promote social justice when used, interpreted, and disseminated effectively.

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