Contemporary African art has never before been shown on such a large scale either in Japan or anywhere else. And, in all likelihood, it never will again. For this exhibition represents a turning point in the history of viewing African art: the point when perspectives shift from being based on a stereotype of Africa as dark, mysterious and homogenous, to a more accurate reflection of the continent's reality as a collection of scores of individual countries, peoples and traditions. Featuring 84 artists (83 groups) from 25 countries, spanning the length and breadth of the African continent, Africa Remix shows this reality in all its richness and diversity. This ambitious exhibition is the result of collaboration between Chief Curator Simon Njami as well as Mori Art Museum Director David Elliott and a team of curators from the museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, the Hayward Gallery, London, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. The Mori Art Museum is the last of these museums to host the exhibition, and the only venue in Asia where it will be seen. After Japan the exhibition will tour to Moderna Museet in Sweden and also to the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. Africa Remix's spectrum of 140 works covers painting, drawing, sculpture, assemblage, multi-part installation, photography, video and also, as special features, furniture design and music. All the works shown here have been created within the last 10 years. A number of them were commissioned specially. The exhibition asks fundamental questions about both the art of Africa and our reactions to it. What is contemporary African Art today? How can we describe it and show it? Is there any coherent definition of what it might be? Is the reality close to the stereotype? What will African art become in the future? The exhibition does not set out to give answers but, by focusing on the power of the works themselves, expands our consciousness of both Africa and ourselves by raising these questions. In the Japanese context this exhibition provides a rare and valuable encounter with contemporary African art and culture that will show previously unsuspected levels of innovation and creativity. A vast array of goods and events are being planned to coincide with the exhibition. A comprehensive illustrated catalog will be published in English and Japanese versions. A companion music CD, featuring some of the biggest names in contemporary African music, will be released through Victor. Meanwhile, in addition to the Museum's own Public Programs, the French-Japanese Institute of Tokyo will hold "An African Summer," a series of Africa-related events, including a film program. Finally, in June, leading Senegalese film director Sembène Ousmane's award winning Moolaadé will be screened at Iwanami Hall.