To celebrate its 110th anniversary, the Japan Society will stage a major exhibition of works by the Japanese photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto (20 October-7 January 2018). It includes a new series based on the tour of four Japanese Catholic-convert boys to Europe in 1585. Sugimoto first learned of the story while in Italy photographing theatres for an ongoing series. “When I discovered a mural of four boys at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, I felt as though they discovered me,” Sugimoto says. He decided to trace their journey, capturing images from their stops in cities such as Pisa, Rome and Assisi. “It felt as though I was guided by them.”
In November, Sugimoto will unveil a new Noh play at the Japan Society. He is also updating the museum’s building as part of his newly founded architecture practice. “[I am] not only making beautiful shows in museums, but I also make [the] museum itself beautiful.”