What this is
Playback! Millennium 1991→2001 is a retrospective exhibition at Machida City International Print Museum examining how printmaking evolved and expanded during the final decade of the 20th century and the dawn of the new millennium. Featuring approximately 100 works, the show highlights how artists of that era pushed printmaking beyond its traditional boundaries by fusing it with photography, sculpture, and emerging digital technologies. The exhibition reflects a pivotal moment in contemporary art history when analogue and digital worlds collided, producing bold, large-scale, and hybrid works that challenged what a print could be. It is a rare opportunity to revisit a transformative period in Japanese and international printmaking through a curated institutional lens.
Who should go
This exhibition is ideal for art lovers, printmaking enthusiasts, and anyone curious about late 20th-century contemporary art and its experimental edge. Design professionals, art students, and photographers with an interest in cross-medium work will find the fusion pieces particularly compelling. The calm, scholarly atmosphere of Machida City International Print Museum suits those who enjoy unhurried, contemplative gallery visits. Arrive on the opening day, June 27, when admission is free for all visitors.
Good to know
Tickets can typically be purchased at the museum box office on the day; Machida City International Print Museum is a public municipal institution so foreign credit cards may not always be accepted at the door — bring cash (yen) to be safe. June 27 is a free admission day, so no ticket purchase is needed if you visit on opening day. On the fourth Wednesday of July and August (Silver Day), visitors aged 65 and over also enter free. Holders of disability welfare handbooks and one accompanying person receive half-price admission. The museum is a specialist print institution with a focused, quiet atmosphere — it is not a large blockbuster venue, so crowds are unlikely to be overwhelming except possibly on the free opening day.
This event was sourced and translated from Japanese by What's On Japan. Details may change — verify with the official source before attending.