Typhoon Lupit in August 2021 damaged Yayoi Kusama’s giant yellow pumpkin sculpture on Naoshima, tossing it into the sea before it was retrieved and replaced with a stronger version. Similar Kusama works appear across the island, including a red pumpkin near the port where locals continue daily routines alongside the art. Naoshima is part of the Setouchi region, an archipelago of thousands of islands in the Seto Inland Sea. The mild climate supports citrus and olives and has also enabled the growth of the Benesse Art Site over three decades. The network includes museums, galleries, and sculptures across Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima, drawing about 500,000 visitors annually.
"In August 2021, Typhoon Lupit reached the shores of Naoshima, a small island in Japan 's Setouchi region, and blew a giant yellow pumpkin by the artist Yayoi Kusama out to sea. Footage of the incident, which remains available on YouTube, shows the sculpture upturned, its interior belly exposed, tossed about by crashing waves, its famous polka-dotted shell bending like cardboard in the wind. The pumpkin, which is worth several million dollars, was eventually retrieved and a year later replaced by a new version, this time with a stronger structure to protect it from the elements - and maintain its position as a prized photo opportunity."
"When I arrive by speedboat on a warm spring day, I'm greeted by a squat red version gleaming in the sunshine. A low set of rolling hills mirrors its shape in the distance, while a few feet away, a fisherman sits on the edge of the port's concrete wall, seemingly oblivious to the surreal object casting a shadow beside him. For those who live on Naoshima, world-famous art placed within the ordinary settings of daily life is a common sight."
"Naoshima is one of several art hubs in Setouchi, an archipelago comprising thousands of islands scattered across the Seto Inland Sea. The mild climate here makes for a verdant countryside that famously grows citrus and olives, but it has also over the past three decades become home to the Benesse Art Site, a network of museums, galleries, and sculptures covering the islands of Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima. Naoshima, which holds the largest art collection, is its nucleus: Roughly 500,000 travellers visit each year to experience what has evolved into a sort of contemporary art Disneyland, where multi-million-dollar sculptures rise from its"
Read at CN Traveller
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