Kohei Nawa

From July 13, 2018 through January 14, 2019, Kohei Nawa's Throne (2018) will be on view beneath I.M. Pei's glass pyramids that mark the entrance to the museum. The installation is a hallmark of the exhibition, Japonisms 2018: souls in harmony, and coincides with the 160th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations between Japan and France.

Nawa drew his inspiration from the shapes and origins of floats used in Eastern religious festivals. He made the work using a combination of the latest 3D modelling systems and the gold leaf gilding technique, echoing ancient Egypt and the collections of the Musée du Louvre. With this work, Nawa predicts that rapid advances in computer science and artificial intelligence could, in the long term, replace power and authority as the principal instruments of political and economic influence.

For more information, visit the Louvre's (opens in a new window) website.