Cultural agency wants Japan to host international art fair in 2025
10:31 JST, March 23, 2022
The Agency for Cultural Affairs wants to invite organizers of an international art fair to hold an event in Tokyo, hopefully in 2025, to bolster Japan’s art market and help Japanese artists raise their profiles overseas.
None of Japan’s six national art museums has hosted such a fair, at which established dealers tout artworks to well-heeled buyers from all over the world.
The agency has selected as a potential venue the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT) in the capital’s Minato Ward, one of the largest art facilities in Japan.
NACT, which does not have a permanent collection, hosts public and touring exhibitions in a 14,000-square-meter space.
Prestigious fairs such as Switzerland’s Art Basel, one of the world’s largest, have become key avenues for artists to enhance their international profiles.
Works by Japanese artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami have been exhibited at such events.
The global art market reportedly is estimated to be worth about ¥7 trillion, while the Japanese market was worth ¥258 billion in 2019, according to the agency, which believes there is room for growth.
Art Fair Tokyo has been held in the capital since 2005, but most of the exhibitors at that event are Japanese dealers.
There are concerns that Japan is being left behind as Europe-based art fairs have been making inroads in Asia, with events held in such cities as Hong Kong and Seoul.
The agency hopes that an international art fair will attract not only outstanding artworks but also big-spending foreign visitors.
“When Expo 2025 takes place in Osaka, global attention will be focused on Japan,” an agency official said. “We want to increase Japan’s profile by attracting a major art fair in the same year.”
"Culture" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Yoasobi To Be Invited to White House Dinner During Kishida’s State Visit; Kishida To Gift Wajima Lacquerware to U.S. President Biden
-
Precious Literary Manuscript Found in Antique Wooden Box; Written Kamakura-Period Poet Teika in His Own Hand
-
Old Friend Breathes New Life into KyoAni Arson Victim’s Picture Book; Japan’s Veteran Voice Actors, Animators Create Anime Film
-
Hiroyuki Sanada Pursues Authenticity of Feudal Japan in ‘Shogun’; Pushed for Detailed in Depiction of Characters
-
‘Kanta on Manga’ Column Published in 2 E-Books
JN ACCESS RANKING
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- U.S. 7th Fleet officer Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing Sushi, Sashimi, Chicken at Kanagawa Shopping Mall; Suspect Caught Mid-Meal
- UNRWA Director Describes Catastrophic Destruction in Gaza; Says Relief Trucks Robbed, ‘People’s Hearts Destroyed’
- JAL Airplane Experiences Radio Malfunction During Flight, Lands Safely By Relying on Light Signals