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Arts & Culture
A vision of Nirvana at the NGV
The ethereal reflection model of Itsukushima Shrine by Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki creates a breathtaking exhibition
Tucked away on the Asian Arts mezzanine floor at the National Gallery of Victoria floats a breathtaking model of the sensational Itsukushima Shrine by the Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki.
“I have been waiting for … my artistic process [to] mature … and ripen … to a suitable level before embarking on such a massive and important project’ — Takahiro Iwasaki
The work expresses Iwasaki’s spiritual connection to the Itsukushima Shine in Hiroshima prefecture where he was born and raised, and calls on visions of Nirvana — the idealistic realm or paradise within the Buddhist faith within which one would be liberated from desire, delusion and torment. Interpreted as a floating world outwith the confines of gravity, the concept of Nirvana led architects to creatively use the reflective properties of water to form the illusion of floating buildings: the building and its reflection fused to create an enormous three-dimensional object, appearing to be from a different world.
