“DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” Exhibition 2021 -Contemporary Japanese Artists from the Overseas Study Program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs- in The National Art Center, Tokyo

The “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” exhibition is a rare example of an annual exhibition of contemporary art held at museums in Japan. What kind of tomorrow = hope will you find through the works of fresh artists? This is an exhibition that we may look forward to very much every year.

An opportunity to encounter fresh new artists and their works.
The most significant value of the “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” exhibition is that it brings together the works of about 10 fresh contemporary artists, which ordinary art lovers would typically have to visit museums or contemporary art galleries all over Japan. There are probably many fans who look forward to this “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” every year.

The artists featured here participated in “The Overseas Study Program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs” established in 1967, and the “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow,” which started in 1998, as a place to present the results of the program. When this program was first established, it was meant as an opportunity to meet and interact with different cultures. Today, such opportunities have become easier to obtain due to globalism and the development of information networks. Nevertheless, the program continues to support artists by stimulating them to reevaluate the essence of their work and examine the world from the point of view of the country or city in which they live, rather than Japan.

For us as the audience, it is fun to find inspiration in the works from our overseas study. Also, since many of the artists in this exhibition are in the process of changing their careers or are in the process of finding what they truly want to express, we can look at this exhibition with expectations for their future activities on the global stage.

This year’s subtitle is “Creating Space.”
The “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” exhibition until 2019 seemed to be a collection of solo exhibitions by fresh artists, but last year, in addition to that, with the subtitle “Beyond the Wounded Landscape,” the exhibition focused on the “wounds” of the Pacific War and major natural disasters that occurred in the past 25 years, and I felt the overall theme was strong. It seems that they are following the same trend this year.
The organizers have released the following message.

This year’s exhibition—featuring seven promising newcomers with overseas study program* experience over the past ten years, plus earlier program participants and now Japanese art scene frontrunners Kito Kengo, Takemura Kei, and Hakamata Kyotaro—will showcase Japanese contemporary art expression in all its real, globally-attuned rawness as we head into the 2020s. The subtitle is “Creating Space,” chosen in the hope that almost ten years on from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the spaces/blanks in the landscape created by a disaster still very fresh in our minds, and the time blank experienced during COVID-19 lockdowns, have encouraged us to reconsider what it truly important, and opened the door to a new era.

Artists’ profiles
The following is a summary of the profile presented by the organizers. If you would like to see the full text, please click here.

OTAGURO Emi
Contemporary art
2018, 1 yr., Berlin, Germany
Born 1980, in Fukuoka, Japan. MFA Painting, Tokyo University of Art. Live and works in Aichi, Japan.

 

KAGABU Shiho
Contemporary art, Sculpture
2006, 2 yrs., Milan, Italy
Born 1981, in Kanagawa, Japan. MFA Sculpture, Tama Art University. Live and works in Tokyo, Japan.

 

SASAKAWA Haruko
Contemporary art
2019, short term, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Germany
Born 1980, in Fukuoka, Japan. MFA Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts. Lecturer, Tokyo University of the Arts. Lives and works in Ibaraki, Japan

 

TAKAGI Daichi
Painting
2018, 1 yr., Haarlem, Netherlands
Born 1982, in Gifu, Japan. MFA, Tama Art University. Live and works in Kanagawa, Japan.

 

NIISATO Akio
Ceramic art
2011, 1 yr., Boston, USA
Born 1977, in Chiba, Japan. Diploma, The Tajimi City Ceramic and Design Center. Live and works in Gifu, Japan.

 

HARUKI Maiko
Contemporary art
2017, 1 yr., Paris, France
Born 1974, in Ibaraki, Japan. BFA, Tamagawa University. Lives and works in Paris, France.

 

YAMAMOTO Atsushi
Contemporary art, Video
2018, 1 yr., Hue, Vietnam
Born 1980, in Tokyo, Japan. BFA Painting, Tama Art University. Live and works in Tokyo, Japan.

 

TAKEMURA Kei
Contemporary art
2004, 3 yrs., Berlin, Germany
Born 1975, in Tokyo, Japan. MFA Painting, Tokyo University of Art. Live and works in Gunma, Japan.

 

KITO Kengo
Contemporary art
2009, 2 yrs., Berlin, Germany
Born 1977, in Aichi, Japan. MFA Painting, Kyoto City University of Art. Professor, graduate school, Kyoto University of the Arts. Live and works in Gunma, Japan.

 

HAKAMATA Kyotaro
Sculpture
1994, 1yr., Philadelphia, USA
Born 1963, in Shizuoka, Japan. BFA Sculpture, Professor, Musashino Art University. Live and works in Kanagawa, Japan.

 

Title	“DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” Exhibition 2021 Contemporary Japanese Artists from the Overseas Study Program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs
Period	January 30 (Sat.) – March 7 (Sun.), 2021
Venue	The National Art Center, Tokyo, Special Exhibition Gallery 2E
Address	7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558
Official Website	https://www.nact.jp/english/exhibitions/2020/domani2021/
Opening Hours	10:00-18:00 *No extended hours until further notice (Last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Closed	Tuesdays
Admission	1,000 yen (Adults), 500 yen (College students)