The renowned French Maison is celebrating 50 years of exceptional jewelry design and cultural influence in Japan. The event, “MUSUBI – Half-Century of Cartier in Japan and Beyond: an Everlasting Dialogue of Beauty and Art,” is held at the Tokyo National Museum, Hyokeikan from June 12th to July 28th, 2024. This unique exhibition strengthens the connection between these two vibrant cultures, exploring their shared appreciation for art and beauty. A journey in search of modernity, an invention of a style, sharing the spirits of the times.

© Cartier

Cartier opened its first boutique in Japan in 1974, in the Harajuku district of Tokyo. Louis Cartier was well-known for his interest and appreciation for Japanese culture and aesthetics. Although he never visited Japan, he assembled a collection of Japanese objects and books, encouraging his designers to use them as a source of inspiration. Cartier’s first exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum, “Story of… Memories of Cartier Creation,” directed by Tokujin Yoshioka, took place in 2009.

© Cartier

Entering the exhibition, the lobby of the Hyokeykan exposes artist Sho Shibuya work “Fifty Sky views of Japan” (2024) a commissioned work to articulate the two parallel stories: Maison Cartier and Japan, and the Fondation Cartier with Japanese artists. The beautiful series of fifty paintings during a thirty-five-day journey through the Japanese islands, visited all forty-seven prefectures of Japan, painting each day a view of the sky on the front page of a local newspaper: Throughout Japan’s forty-seven prefectures, from Okinawa to Hokkaido, and from blue skies to blazing dawns, a poetic vision of diverse Japanese landscapes unfolds into a palette of beautiful, diffused hues. Cartier describes this as “a promise of enduring bonds and the symbol of a history in constant evolution and renewal.” Having lived in New York for over a decade, Shibuya found the commission an opportunity to rediscover his country in a refreshing and inspiring way.

© Cartier

Conceived by Studio Adrien Gardère, the exhibition’s scenography enhances and celebrates the Hyokeikan heritage architecture, while echoing Cartier’s tribute to Japan and Japanese aesthetics. The design revisits traditional materials, magnifying each exhibit in a series of niches and tables inspired by the Tokonoma and Sukiya architecture. The scenography also mirrors the Fondation Cartier’s bold and lively relationship with Japan, by using Japanese industrial scaffolding systems to stage all the artists on show.