Motoi Yamamoto Solo Exhibition “To the White Sea”
Dates: Sep. 19 (Sat) – Nov 15 (Sun), 2026
Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (open on September 21 and October 12, as these are public holidays; closed the following day, October 13)
Venue: Onomichi City Museum of Art (Hiroshima)
– Memory Turns White and Returns to the Sea –
Though time is invisible, it quietly accumulates, leaving its traces within us.
“To the White Sea” is a retrospective solo exhibition held in the artist’s hometown of Onomichi, looking back over a body of work centered on the themes of memory and time and developed over some thirty years.
From early oil paintings to large-scale salt installations, and including the reconstruction of a work that collapsed in the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, the exhibition is planned as a space in which to experience the layering of memory.
“Related Events”
Commemorative Lecture — “I Continue to Create So As Not to Forget”
Date: Saturday, September 19, 14:00–15:00
Venue: Lobby, 2nd Floor
※ Free to attend / No reservation required / Exhibition admission required
Live Creation
Dates: Saturday, September 19 – Tuesday, September 22 (public holiday) — 9:00–17:00 each day (with breaks; the artist may be away at times)
Venue: Gallery 4
Watch the artist at work, creating a piece using salt.
※ Free to attend / No reservation required / Exhibition admission required
“Fragments of Memory” Project — Accessory-Making Workshop
Date: Sunday, September 20 and Monday, September 21 (public holiday) — both days 10:00–16:00 (reception until 15:30)
Venue: Lobby, 2nd Floor
Participation fee: ¥1,000
Make an accessory using salt from a work that collapsed in the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
How to join: First-come, first-served on the day (advance reservation slots available)
※ A limited number of reservation slots is planned → reservations open in early September
※ Exhibition admission required
※ About the “Fragments of Memory” Project
Gallery Talk (by a curator)
Date: Sunday, October 4 and Sunday, November 8 — both days 14:00–14:45
※ Free to attend / No reservation required / Exhibition admission required
Return to the Sea Project
Date: Sunday, November 15, 15:30–17:00 (reception from 15:00)
Venue: Galleries 4 and 6
A participatory project in which visitors, together with the artist, break apart the work made of salt and return it to the sea at Onomichi. (You are also welcome to take some of the salt home and return it to the sea yourself at a later date.)
※ Free to participate / No reservation required / Exhibition admission required
※ About the Return to the Sea Project
Concurrent Exhibition
“Wasaku Week 2026” – Where the White Path Lies (working title)
Dates: October 31; November 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 14, 15 (8 days total)
(the Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays from late October to mid-November, plus November 4)
Hours: 13:00–17:00
Venue: VILLA WASAKU (former residence of the painter Wasaku Kobayashi)
An exhibition of works including gold folding screens, with screenings of the short documentary film “Requiem in Salt,” among other programs.
Organized by: Onomichi Vacant House Renovation Project (NPO) and AIR Onomichi
※ Details will be announced from time to time on the website, social media, and elsewhere.
※ About Wasaku Week
Onomichi is a quiet port town facing the Seto Inland Sea, known for its hillside streets, historic temples, and slow, reflective atmosphere.
※ The Onomichi City Museum of Art occupies a superb location overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, in a building renovated by architect Tadao Ando.
※ Details will be announced from time to time on the website, social media, and elsewhere.
※ Discover more of Onomichi → Japan National Tourism Organization MATCHA
