French artist JR, whose show of photographic artwork is on display at the Watari-um (Watari Museum of Contemporary Art), inspires while questioning the role of art in war-torn and disaster-ridden places, asking whether art could really change things for the better. JR not only documents but also involves people he meets, curating ad-hoc galleries of human faces that confront their social status-quo and the problems that besiege them.

Awarded the TED (Technology-Entertainment-Design conference) Prize in 2011, JR outlined his use of art to turn the world inside out, a phrase that would go on to become his latest project involving Japan.

"JR — Could art change the world?" spans all four floors of the Watari-um and takes an almost topographical view of the developing world, amongst social unrest, economic reality and ecological uncertainty. The graphic and photographic imagery covers four of JR's major projects concluding with a collection of portraits made from over 400 people living in disaster-affected towns, from Kesennuma to Fukushima. The photos are then enlarged and wheat-pasted amidst the debris and reconstruction and left to suffer the natural elements.