M+ to Showcase Ryuichi Sakamoto's SEEING SOUND, HEARING TIME Exhibition

M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is delighted to present Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time, celebrating the legacy of composer, producer, and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto(Japanese, 1952–2023). The exhibition features the expansive, site-specific installation async–immersion (2023), which will be presented free of charge in The Studio on Level B2 at M+ from Saturday, 14 February to Sunday, 5 July 2026. Co-created with artist Shiro Takatani, the installation is a three-dimensional representation of Sakamoto’s personal album async, configured for a gallery space. A series of works related to Sakamoto’s creations, along with public programmes such as screenings, will be presented in the Found Space, Moving Image Centre and at the Grand Stair throughout the exhibition period, providing deeper insights into Sakamoto’s enduring influence. Both the exhibition and programmes are generously supported by Lead Sponsor American Express.

async–immersion (2023) is a collaboration between Ryuichi Sakamoto and artist Shiro Takatani(Japanese, born 1963). Part of Sakamoto’s ‘installation music’ series, the composer’s work is paired with Takatani’s three-dimensional representation of his music, filling the gallery with dynamic sound and image. 

This installation work’s immersive sonic experience was inspired by Sakamoto’s solo album async (2017), which he described as ‘some of the most personal music I have ever created’. The album weaves together various sound recordings to evoke multiple places and times existing in a state of continuous flux. Here, ‘async’ means non-synchronous or out of time: Sound and image unfold independently, like the ebb and flow of tides, creating a parallel time axis within the exhibition space. 

Takatani has incorporated visual elements that include Sakamoto’s piano, books, percussion instruments, and other objects from his New York studio. The images enter into view from either side of an eighteen-metre-long LED video wall and move steadily across the screen, gradually transforming into a unified landscape before they dissolve into lines and take shape again. With no clear beginning, middle, or end, this cyclical sequence of images and lines seems to suggest the rhythms of life. Takatani completed async–immersion following Sakamoto’s passing in 2023, after which it was exhibited for the first time at the art and music festival AMBIENT KYOTO. It was subsequently reconfigured for Sakamoto’s wildly popular and critically acclaimed solo exhibition in 2024 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) before travelling to M+ in February 2026. The installation will be on display at The Studio, Level B2. 

The exhibition also features All Star Video (1984), directed by trailblazing media artist Nam June Paik (South Korean, 1932–2006). This video work, which highlights Paik’s friendship and creative exchange with a young Ryuichi Sakamoto, celebrates New York’s vibrant art scene of the 1980s. Reflecting that period’s dynamic confluence of artists and musicians, it documents Paik’s and Sakamoto’s encounters with renowned figures influenced by the Fluxus art movement, including Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Charlotte Moorman, and Julian Beck, capturing these artists’ collaborative spirit. Ultimately, All Star Video reveals the shared experimental mindset that shaped these individuals’ art and personal relationships. The work will be presented at the Found Space, Level B2.

Two other moving image works, ENDO EXO (2024) and PHOSPHENES (2024), will be displayed at the Grand Stair, Level G, under Art at the Stair series. Both videos are by German artist and electronic music pioneer Carsten Nicolai (German, born 1965), also known by the pseudonym Alva Noto. The result of a more recent collaboration, the videos feature music from Sakamoto’s final studio album, 12 (2023). ENDO EXO contemplates the human impulse to collect, catalogue, and preserve once-living creatures, while PHOSPHENES poetically explores the boundaries between dream and reality, consciousness and unconsciousness with abstract patterns and images. Both videos are part of Nicolai’s ongoing moving image project 20,000 (2014–present), inspired by Jules Verne’s 19th century science fiction novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 

Vinyl Sessions with Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto presents an intimate, immersive listening experience, featuring a curated selection of Sakamoto’s music on vinyl in the recently refurbished reception area of the Moving Image Centre. Three distinguished Hong Kong-based sound practitioners will host separate sessions, sharing their favourite Ryuichi Sakamoto records and reflecting on their personal stories and connections to the composer’s work. The interpretive sessions will feature Wong Chi-chung, a veteran radio DJ, curator, and educator; Alan Kwan, a jazz guitarist, composer, and producer; and Kate Woon, a DJ, vinyl record collector, and experimental sound artist. The programme is supported by KEF. For more details, please visit the M+ website.

M+ Cinema presents Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music in Film as part of its Winter and Spring Editions. The programme features Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017), an intimate look at Sakamoto’s life and creative process after his cancer diagnosis, and Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023), his final performance, which was captured in this poignant film directed by the late composer’s son, Neo Sora. Audiences can also explore a formative period in Sakamoto’s artistic development by revisiting his early career in Elizabeth Lennard’s documentary Tokyo Melody: A Film About Ryuichi Sakamoto (1985), and experience his genre-defying film scores in screenings of Pedro Almodóvar’s High Heels (1991) and Masanori Hata’s animal film The Adventures of Chatran (1986). These works exemplify Sakamoto’s extraordinary sensitivity and versatility, which bridged the worlds of cinema and music. For programme details, please visit the M+ website.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto was one of the most influential artists of our time, a creator at the forefront of his field. His interdisciplinary practice encompassing sound, image, performance, and film has had a profound impact on music and art worldwide. We are delighted to present this exhibition in Hong Kong, together with extended moving image programmes that highlight his creative collaborations and lasting influence in our local cultural community. M+ remains committed to exploring the intersections of artistic disciplines and to presenting artists who continue to shape and expand the field of visual culture.’

Exhibition co-curators Silke Schmickl, CHANEL Senior Curator, Head of Moving Image, M+, and Sachiko Namba, Guest Curator, say, ‘This exhibition honours Ryuichi Sakamoto’s innovative spirit, situating his pioneering practice within a broader context of visual art, moving image, and spatial experience. By featuring a major piece from his ‘installation music’ series, as well as other experimental, interdisciplinary collaborations, the presentation at M+ reveals the artist’s multilayered personality. In the exhibition seeing sound, hearing time, echoes of Sakamoto’s artistry ripple through the city’s creative currents, inviting visitors to drift on sound and image.’

Walter Liu, Head of Asia Region, American Express, says, ‘At American Express, we believe the arts have the power to inspire, connect, and enrich lives. Through this exhibition, we are proud to offer Cardmembers access to meaningful cultural moments, honouring the legacy of artist Ryuichi Sakamoto. Our partnership with M+ reflects our ongoing commitment to bringing thoughtfully curated experiences to Hong Kong’s vibrant cultural community.’