Among the stars

This year's COVID-19 pandemic has entirely rewritten and rescheduled so much of the cultural calendar, it's a rare miracle when anything appears in the real world unscathed. All of which makes Tokyo's Mori Art Museum's (MAM) worldly, ambitious and audacious Stars: Six Contemporary Artists From Japan to the World (until January 3, 2021) a must-attend show and major art moment. Originally planned for April but postponed and now just reopened, MAM's show highlights six globally influential artists – Yoshitomo Nara, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lee Ufan and Tatsuo Miyajima – whose careers after the Second World War propelled them beyond the confines of Japan and across the generations.

Tracing the artists' journeys from their earliest to their most recent works, Stars explores how the practice of each artist has been evaluated in the global context. It touches upon their pursuit of universal issues that transcend nationality and culture, traditions and aesthetics, and technology and subculture, all the while keeping in mind the social, cultural and economic aspects particular to Japan.