Saturday

[ Note I have decided to break this entry into a number posts so it is hopefully easier to read.] 


Saturday

I had a very lazy morning organising accommodation and my itinerary for the next little while -  you will be exited to know that islands full of art galleries, a overnight stay in temple and a bike ride between islands is all to come. When I did leave I walked to Rippongi hills and visited the Mori art gallery. The exhibition at the moment is called the Arab express and consists entirely of artwork by artists in the Arab country. as you can images highly political stuff. Ill tell you about my two favorite pieces: one was two photos by 　Ahmed Mater depicting the kaaba as a big square magnet with the iron filings the  people drawn to the Kaaba during the once in a life time pilgrimage to Mecca. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moriartmuseum/7534491070/in/photostream 

The other was a video by Sharif Waked that went for 40 minutes and shows what looks like martyrdom video  – the recording of a suicide bomber’s last testimony prior to carrying out an operation, Instead of reading out a suicide statement he is reading  the Tale of Shaherizard. There  is something about the tail of  Shaherizard that has always interested me and I was intreged by this man telling a fairy tail. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moriartmuseum/7534489030/in/photostream

The building is on the 53rd floor of the Mori building and you are able to look out over Tokyo. I was there just after sunset and go to watch all the thousands of lights turn on. It was amazing there were suburbs as far as the horizon, I have never seen so much urban sprawl. I made my first Japanese friend at the lookout. Taishi and I were admiring the view together and ended up talking for the next two hours. He is a librarian in Osaka, and very interested in art. We talked about all sorts of things and it was lovely to  ask questions and share opinions. We went back int to the art gallery and showed one another our favourite works and laughed at the not-so-good ones. Keir and i went out and had wood fired pizza followed by a cream caramel pudding form the convenient store across the road.