The Moment of Regeneration (2004)
PHOTO: Courtesy M+/©Yayoi Kusama
Management at M+ Museum in Hong Kong have come up with a clever way of getting people to open up about their mental health—through the art of Yayoi Kusama. As part of the initiative Shall We Talk at M+, the museum will provide 10,000 complimentary admission tickets to Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now to students from local tertiary institutions, including universities and other higher education institutions (the free tickets can be used until the show ends on 14 May). “Throughout her life, Kusama has communicated her struggles with mental health to the world and spread messages of healing through her art. By sharing the iconic artist’s groundbreaking career and the depth and healing power of her art, M+ and Shall We Talk [a programme devised by the government advisory committee on mental health] hope to inspire new perspectives on life among students,” says a project statement.Kusama’s work is filled with dots and bright colours which she has experienced in hallucinations since her childhood; she has lived as a voluntary resident at a mental health hospital in Tokyo for more than four decades.