Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Administration has criticized Japanese chemical firm DIC Company for selecting to relocate the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Artwork to the Worldwide Home of Japan (IHJ), a personal members’ membership in Tokyo.
The transfer consists of an intensive assortment of priceless artworks, together with seven of Mark Rothko’s “Seagram Murals.”
Oasis, a serious shareholder in severely indebted, loss-making DIC Corp – which owns the now-closed museum – mentioned IHJ has “shut ties” to DIC Corp’s chairman, Yoshihisa Kawamura. In a public assertion launched final month, Oasis referred to as the transfer “extremely inappropriate” and accused DIC Corp of trying to “deprive shareholders of their rightful belongings [by transferring] wealth and/or management of the belongings to an inside circle of individuals and organizations beneath Kawamura’s affect.”
The activist fund has subsequently urged all DIC Corp shareholders to vote towards the corporate’s CEO and chairman, Takashi Ikeda, who Oasis mentioned “led the sequence of determination making.” Oasis has additionally urged shareholders to vote for its proposal “to amend the articles of incorporation to boost monitoring of associated celebration transactions.”
In August of final yr, ARTnews reported that DIC Corp was reevaluating the way forward for the museum. In December, the corporate introduced that its board of administrators had determined to “downsize and relocate” the establishment, which closed its doorways on April 1 and is positioned 25 miles northeast of Tokyo. Its assortment consists of work by Cy Twombly, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Robert Ryman.
In a press launch printed December 26, DIC Corp mentioned that the downsizing plan would see it promote 25 % of the 384 works within the museum that it owns. The entire worth of DIC-owned works is $77.5 million, the corporate mentioned in August. The museum would then relocate to “a facility in Tokyo that’s accessible to many stakeholders and the place the artistic endeavors could be extra simply flaunted to the general public.”
Final month, DIC Corp introduced that it had signed an settlement with IHJ to maneuver the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Artwork to the personal members’ membership. It mentioned that each one seven of Rothko’s “Seagram Murals” will probably be housed in “a devoted Rothko Room exhibition house within the IHJ’s new West Wing, which is at the moment beneath development.”
“DIC and IHJ will function the brand new Rothko Room collectively as a joint public curiosity program that goals to advertise private-sector diplomacy and worldwide cultural change via the ability of artwork and structure,” the corporate mentioned. “In working to efficiently implement this joint public curiosity program, DIC and the IHJ will search steerage and cooperation from main specialists and advisors within the visible arts and architectural fields.”
Ikeda, DIC’s CEO and president, mentioned within the press launch that he was “delighted” with the deal.
On its web site, IHJ describes itself as “a personal, nonprofit group integrated in 1952 with assist from the Rockefeller Basis and different personal establishments and people for the aim of selling cultural change and mental cooperation between the peoples of Japan and people of different international locations.”
IHJ chairman James Kondo mentioned in a press launch, “It’s my hope that the devoted Rothko Room exhibition house… will serve to encourage quiet reflection amongst individuals who could also be dealing with discord, broaden empathy, and deepen mutual understanding.”
In the identical press launch, Rothko’s son, Mark, mentioned, “With its new location in Tokyo, that legacy will proceed, with much more guests in a position to recognize its magnificence. We’re particularly grateful that the Rothko Room, an alluring meditative house with seven work from the long-lasting Seagram Murals sequence, will probably be recreated within the new museum.”
Nonetheless, Oasis, which has a status for demanding aggressive modifications at Japanese corporations and owns 11.5 % of DIC Corp’s shares, expressed growing concern “concerning the company governance deficiencies brought on by Mr. Kawamura’s reign and the conflicts of curiosity that his place has created.”
The activist fund mentioned Kawamura “seems to be a member of IHJ” and is “very shut” to the personal members’ membership. “Kawamura is a founding member of the Asia Society Japan (ASJ), which is a corporation with a really shut relationship with IHJ. He’s additionally a committee member of ASJ’s Arts and Tradition Committee,” Oasis claimed.
Among the many causes listed by Oasis to elucidate why it was “extraordinarily involved” by the partnership, embrace: “Kawamura is a founding member of the Asia Society Japan (ASJ), which is a corporation with a really shut relationship with IHJ”; “ASJ has been headquartered within the I-Home Constructing [where IHJ is located] since its founding, i.e. IHJ and ASJ have the identical handle”; and “The Kawamura Arts and Cultural Basis, a basis managed by the Kawamura Household, has held a number of gatherings on the I-Home Constructing.”
Oasis added that it’s “additionally involved concerning the ‘Specialists and Advisors’ that DIC and IHJ have chosen ‘to hunt steerage and cooperation’ on this effort to relocate the artworks to the I-Home Constructing. Lots of the so-called ‘Specialists and Advisors’ appear to be shut buddies of Mr. Yoshihisa Kawamura.”
DIC Corp, IHJ, and Oasis didn’t reply to ARTnews’ request for remark.
