Foreword 

We will give you dreams, and dreams can come true.

December 28, 1987. This was the day when I first encountered Keith Haring’s artwork.

I was traveling on business in the United States.

In a New York gallery, I saw a lithograph by Haring that someone called “People’s Ladder” I did not quite understand why such a cartoon-like piece of art was so expensive, Therefore, I just left and did not come back until the last moment. I was just the day before my departure when I finally decided to purchase it I found the art work simple yet human and energetic. From that day, my collection of his works began. I have collected a lot of them, sometimes hesitatingly, other times aggressively. each time, however, I was excited.

KEYFOREST 871228 is the first art museum ever made to display only Keith Haring’s works This makes us unique in the world.

The theme is “The World of Keith Haring – Journey from Chaos to Belief in Dreams”.

This art museum is built not only to display Haring’s art works, but also to enable its visitors to literally experience the world of Keith Haring and his messages of “shadows and light”. The architect Atsushi Kitagawara made it possible for us.

In the 1980s, while Japan was enjoying its “bubble economy”, America was suffering from high inflation and unemployment rates, low economic growth, worsening public order in big cities and a high crime rate.

With the shadows and light of the social and economic backgrounds in the country in the 1980s, Keith Haring produced a lot of art works in this decade. To reflect the times of darkness, Haring expressed “the insanity of human beings in some of his art works. He also illustrated “hopes and dreams for the future” in others in a bid to show the bright side of life.

Being so vivid and alive, his works have appealed to a lot of us.

This art museum is located in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mt Yatsugatake. Blessed with Japan’s longest hours of sunlight, it is surrounded by fresh greenery and reached the summit of its cultural eminence during the Jomon Era.

Its height is 1,000 meters above sea level and the climate is said to resemble a mother’s womb that grows a new life.

Keith Haring’s pop art and this area seem to bear no relation to each other but they have one thing in common; that is the energy of life.

The urban vigor of New York here meets the long lasting life of the ancient culture that we see in the remnants of the old Jomon buildings.

That is why we chose this particular land of Kobuchizawa to build KEYFOREST 871228.

We will continue to upgrade our museum to interchange various resonances and help open your doors to the world.

Lastly, we sincerely hope that the visitors appreciate the gallery layout as well as the collection of Keith Haring, sharing his thoughts and the times which he lived through so quickly.

We believe both the collection and the gallery will provide you all with “hopes” and “dreams”.

Kazuo Nakamura

KEYFOREST 871228, Museum Director

Gallery the  Chaos

An entire wall serves as a single, expansive frame—a “Giant Frame.”

The wall, adorned with various artworks, becomes a collective exhibit in itself, transforming into a dynamic display that evolves with layout changes and the addition of new pieces to the collection.

Primarily featuring silkscreen and lithograph works, this space presents a stunning assembly of Keith Haring’s creations. Emerging from the dark exhibition room, visitors are greeted by Haring’s overwhelming presence and energy in this immersive display.

Gallery the  Frame

Gallery the  Dream

A vast space filled with dreams and hopes for the future.

The ceiling height reaches approximately 12 meters at its highest point. The lighting in this exhibition space is designed to mimic the brightness of sunrise, symbolizing the light of hope that heralds the arrival of a new day after the passage through the night.

The exhibition includes monumental, colorful sculptures like Two Dancing Figures, which exude a playful and bold energy reminiscent of toys. It also features original large-scale works such as the stage set Sweet Saturday Night. This expansive space showcases Keith Haring’s expressive, large-scale works, inviting visitors to feel a profound sense of hope and energy.

The “Hope” exhibition room leads to the “Stairway to the Sky,” a path that ascends toward the vast open Sky Court.