The National Museum will hold a photo exhibition, “Kumamoto Artpolis-Architecture through Communication” starting Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of Japanese-Saudi diplomatic ties which started in 1955.
“The exhibition will introduce the best and unique modern architecture in Kumamoto in the western region of Japan,” the Japanese Embassy said in a statement.
The show which will run through Feb. 4 will be attended by the diplomatic community and interested individuals including Saudi and expatriate engineers and architects working in various firms and architectural projects in Riyadh.
The opening ceremony will be held on Wednesday and among those expected to attend include Katsuhiko, Japanese charge d’affaires; Hussein Abualhassan, vice president at the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities (SCTA); and Meshari Al-Nuaim, general supervisor of the National Built Heritage Center.
The show will feature the works of Masashi Sogabe, an architect and co-president of Mikan, a company for architectural planning, supervision and consultancy. He teaches at the Kanagawa University.
Sogabe’s works include Yashiro Kindergarten (2001), Gejo Kauabuki Tower (2012) and Kanda Manseibashi (2014).
Kumamoto Artpolis is a movement that began in 1988 as a system whereby the commissioner recommended architects mainly for public buildings within the prefecture. Since then, 19 years have passed and nearly 70 projects have been realized under the system.
It was intended to “improve the architectural culture of Kumamoto Prefecture and contribute to the development of an attractive region and to the improvement of the architectural culture of the contemporary world as a whole.”