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It was reported on October 25 that YAYOI KUSAMA and TAKASHI MURAKAMI will be taking legal action against the presenters behind a series of exhibitions in China displaying objects imitating their works. Pictured above is one of the shows, staged at LuOne shopping mall in Shanghai. Image via CapitaLand’s Facebook.
Since April 2018, a series of duo-exhibitions purportedly featuring works by Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami have sprung up in cities across China, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha and Shanghai. Neither of the artists were aware that the shows were to be staged. The installations and paintings that were featured are believed to be fakes. Some of the shows were ticketed. Changsha’s Hisense Plaza, for example, charged RMB 60 (USD 8) per single entry. On October 25, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that Kusama and Murakami plan to take legal action against the presenters behind the exhibitions. The two artists both stated through their respective attorneys that the exhibitions and imitation works violate intellectual property laws.
According to Yoshifumi Onodera, Kusama’s representative lawyer, a show staged at Shanghai’s LuOne shopping mall, which opened mid-September, has already been shut down. The facility is owned and operated by Singapore-based developers CapitaLand. Kusama will be pursuing further legal action.
“This is extremely malicious, and we are considering a similar response,” Murakami’s attorney Hiroshi Kamiyama added.
Dennis Mao is an editorial intern of ArtAsiaPacific.
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