Yayoi Kusamas polka-dotted pumpkin overlooking the ocean, James Turrells Open Sky installation, and an entire art space by Walter De Maria are just a few of the groundbreaking works on display at Benesse Art Site Naoshima, a cluster of once-polluted islands in Japans Seto Inland Sea rehabilitated by contemporary art and architecture by Tadao Ando, Sanaa, and Hiroshi Sambuichi. Like Dia:Beacon in New York and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, Naoshima is a pilgrimage site for contemporary art lovers and a place where locals can immerse themselves in art outside of the traditional galleries and museums. I was born in a rather rural area, so I love nature, Soichiro Fukutake, the billionaire arts patron and honorary adviser to Benesse Holdings, says. So rather than installing art in white cube museums, I like to install art in nature, art with strong messages, contemporary art especially, and find the right environment and the right architecture.

Full Moon Stone Circle by Richard Long at Benesse House Museum in Naoshima.

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Founded in 1989, the Benesse Art Site Naoshima continues to grow and develop, with new installations coming to some of the islands, including Teshima and Inujima. During Singapore Art Week in January, Fukutake awarded the inaugural Asian edition of the Benesse Prizegiven at the Venice Biennale since 1995to Thai artist Pannaphan Yodmanee, whose monumental installation is one of the highlights of the Singapore Biennale. Aftermath, which juxtaposes symbols of Buddhist cosmology with representations of modern urban decay, is on view at the Singapore Art Museum through February 26. Yodmanee has been commissioned to create a site-specific work for the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, becoming one of just a handful of Southeast Asian artists represented there. I think we are going to be in the age of Asia going forward, and theres a lot of disparity between rural and urban areas in Asia, Fukutake says. And I thought we could bring our approach of rejuvenating and building rural communities through art starting with Singapore and then broadening and roll out this approach through other parts of Asia.

Close-up of Karel Appel's Frog and Cat sculpture in Naoshima.

Photo: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images

Having made his fortune at the Benesse Groupa leader in education, language training, and senior careFukutake ranks among Japans 50 wealthiest individuals and is one of the worlds most influential art collectors, advocating for contemporary art as a way to uplift rural areas. To share with you my personal view, contemporary art should not be just something that people collect or invest for speculative purposes. We dont do that; I dont do that. I want to do something to close the disparity between urban areas and rural areas, Fukutake says. Asia has a lot of billionaires who are building their wealth, and Im hoping that a lot of such Asian billionaires can commit to such initiatives by using contemporary art to help rebuild rural communities. He advocates a new form of philanthropic capitalism that he calls public interest capitalism, in which corporations establish a foundation that can use dividends to promote culture and the arts.

Benesse House Museum in Naoshima.

Photo: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images

His own interest in art originated with his father, who collected works by Japanese-American artist Yasuoi Kuniyoshi. When I got involved in directing Naoshima, the first museum that impacted me was the Louisiana Museum in Denmark near Copenhagen, Fukutake says, adding that Dia:Beacon, the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Walter De Marias Lightning Field in New Mexico, and James Turrells Roden Craterwhich he visited with the artistinfluenced him, too. Thanks to his efforts, the Benesse Art Site Naoshima continues to inspire art lovers and architecture fans from around the world. There are a lot of interesting Asian artists emerging now, and many Asian countries are in the process of developing, he says. Visitors to the islands can be sure to see more exciting work by contemporary Asian artists soon.

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How the Benesse Art Site Naoshima Revitalized a Cluster of Japanese Islands - Architectural Digest