Charcoal skies and lime lawns – that’s how I remember my first visit to the Kirishima Open-Air Museum last June. Now, eight months later and in the last months of winter, the landscape surrounding the outdoor art gallery looked somewhat different. As Ian and I chugged up the road that winds around the side of Mount Kurinodake, I kept my eyes peeled for the two, giant polka dot flowers, one yellow and one red, which mark the rabbit hole into the sculpture Wonderland.
Upon first glance, the museum looks like any other modern art gallery: a tree-lined walkway leads to the entrance of a giant 3D rounded rectangle decorated with tall, glass windows tinted a shade of turquoise. Inside, a larger-than-life high heeled shoe, matching in pattern to the flowers at the gates, sits adjacent to a small cafe-come-gift shop. And off to the left, installations are scattered around a small, white hall.
The real attraction, of course, is outside.