【Soon】Special Exhibition “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography”

2025.07.12-2025.11.09
GREY CUBE

One of the main activity policies of the JP Tower Museum INTERMEDIATHEQUE is “Art & Science” to explore the intersection of art and science. Accordingly, in our exhibitions, we attempt to highlight the artistic appeal and value of the University of Tokyo’s academic specimens – the wide-ranging specimens and artifacts collected, produced, and/or used for scientific purposes.
Simultaneously, Art & Science attempts to transform art into science. What attracts artists, and how do they create art? Their creative processes can be an intriguing research subject.
In this special exhibition, “Faces and Flora: Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography,” Filipino photographer Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo presents his interpretation of the beauty of flowers and faces. Flowers have been beloved by people since ancient times. Faces, however, reflect people’s attractiveness. By combining these two elements, Mayo pursues new art forms and attempts to express his sensibility in the Intermediateque exhibition space.
In 2024, the National Museum of Natural History in Manila, the Philippines, held an exhibition of Mayo’s photographs titled “Faces and Flora: A Philippine Native Plant Photography Exhibition.” Building on this exhibition, which drew inspiration from the native flora of the Philippines, this subsequent exhibition, developed under the unique design direction of Intermediateque, evokes the artistic expression of plants and people, including Japan’s native flora.
To prepare for the exhibition in Tokyo, we inspected the plants at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Science, which stimulated Mayo’s sensibilities. Our botanical comparative study of vegetation in the Philippines and Japan has also led to an understanding of the environments that give rise to artistic materials.
This project is the result of an academic exchange agreement between The University Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT), and the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP), which was renewed in 2023. Additionally, as the 70th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries approaches, holding this exhibition during Philippines-Japan Friendship Month 2025 will hold great significance as part of cultural diplomacy.

Organizers: The University Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT) + National Museum of the Philippines (NMP)
Special Partner Photographer: Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo
Major Partner: Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines
Cooperation: University of the Philippines – Institute of Biology (UPIB) | Philippine Taxonomic Initiative, Inc. (PTI) | Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo | Yamashina Institute of Ornithology

-----------
Related Event:
Lectures and Talk Session “Interpreting the Concept of ‘Faces and Flora’” [Coming soon]
2025.7.12