Pisa has been turned into a magnificent open-air museum. On until October 16th is the spectacular exhibition of monumental marble and bronze sculptures by Kan Yasuda, “Toccare il Tempo” (Touching Time).
The artist is critically acclaimed in his native Japan and throughout Europe. For over forty years Kan Yasuda has maintained a studio in Pietrasanta, near Pisa on the Versilia Coast, in addition to a studio in his homeland of Hokkaido, Japan. Classically trained in both Japan and Italy, Kan Yasuda is one of the pre-eminent contemporary Japanese sculptors.
Today tourists visiting Pisa will have the opportunity to admire his works walking around town, on an itinerary through Piazza del Duomo, the “Miracle Square” with its Leaning Tower, to Piazza Cavalieri down towards the river Arno, and proceeding a bit on both banks, to end up in the square before the train station, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Over twenty monumental statues highlighting the main sights of Pisa, in a play of contrast between Yasuda’s minimalism and the magnificence of the town’s monuments.
Kan Yasuda will also be curating the stage designing for Madama Butterfly to be performed at the Puccini Festival in nearby Torre del Lago on July 29 and August 10.
