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)
Friday, October 17: extended hours until 20:00 (Onomichi Lantern Festival)
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 traces 35 years of my work in Onomichi, the hometown where I lived until the age of 25, and is the largest solo exhibition I have held. From early oil paintings to salt installations, recent large-scale paintings, and a new work reconstructed from a piece that collapsed in the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, the exhibition offers the layering of memory as a space to be experienced.
The museum stands near the summit of Mt. Senkoji, within the district of Tsuchido Elementary School, which I attended as a child. The islands I saw from the classroom windows, and the view of the Onomichi Channel I crossed by ferry, still remain somewhere in my work.
In the opening days, I will be drawing in the galleries in view of visitors, and a workshop will be held. On the final day, together with those who come, I will break the work apart and return its salt to the sea at Onomichi.
A volume gathering these 35 years of work will be published in conjunction with the exhibition (A4 format, 208 pages, Japanese–English bilingual), available at the venue.
“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
