The Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts (MNAAG) in Paris, home to the largest collection of Asian arts in Europe, recently gave carte blanche to a site-specific installation created by artist Mr.. and curated by Pharrell Williams. Located on the fourth-floor rotunda beneath the dome of the main building, Call to Action runs until September 23rd.
The project started five years ago based on an idea by Pharrell Williams, who is a self-proclaimed fan of the Japanese artist’s work. The result of this longstanding collaboration is an installation of bright, child-like figures sporting a military aesthetic with some even carrying firearms – the duo emphasizes the importance of younger generations in a world tormented by adult choices. The toy-looking rifles do not symbolise violence literally, but militance. A child’s best weapon, to be protected at all costs, is their creativity and imagination. Williams states – “Kids run the world and this work is a challenge to leaders to do something immediately – for a better, bright future.”
Featuring painting, sculptures and neon signs, Mr.’s creation invites the viewer into an immersive pastel coloured world, which aims to represent a positive and peaceful momentum in finding solutions for today’s problems. He states – “Amid the tension and crisis of uncertainty that we live in today, we need to believe in the hope that can be found in children, and take inspiration on the promise of their optimistic outlook and spirit. Kids have the power. With art, we start this dialogue in this way.”
