About The National Art Center, Tokyo

Mission

The National Art Center, Tokyo was founded in 2007 with the mission of contributing to the creation of a new culture that advances mutual understanding and inclusion through the power of art. Since then, the NACT--the fifth institution to be established under the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art--has functioned as an art center without permanent collections that provides the public with a place where they can experience many different forms of artistic expression, make new discoveries, and share diverse values. In addition to hosting a broad spectrum of art shows in one of Japan's largest art exhibition spaces (14,000 ㎡), the NACT also collects, provides, and makes publicly accessible diverse art information/resources and runs various educational and public programs.

Our Core Activities

1. Exhibitions
―The NACT presents a large variety of art expressions and offers fresh perspectives on artistic creativity.

Artist associations that run nationwide activities are provided with a place to hold exhibitions.
New expressions in various fields are showcased to cultivate interest in contemporary art.
Art from diverse eras and regions is presented through themes and insights that speak to today's audiences.
Research findings are shared in an easy-to-understand form through various types of exhibitions.

2. Information Collection and Dissemination
―The NACT connects people and art through the gathering and sharing of information resources.

Information about art exhibitions held in Japan is gathered and shared.
Post-WWII Japanese art exhibition catalogs are comprehensively collected and made accessible to the public.
Various materials related to modern and contemporary Japanese art are collected and made accessible to the public.

3. Education and Public Programs
―The NACT serves as a site of participation, interaction, and creativity.

Lectures, symposiums, and gallery talks related to exhibitions are regularly organized.
Through artists' talks and workshops, diverse audiences are provided with opportunities to learn about and discuss different works of art.
Internship and volunteer programs provide opportunities for hands-on activities at the NACT.
Information and materials are collected on educational extension projects at art museums.

History

The National Art Center, Tokyo mainly traces its origins to 1978, when the Japanese artistic community issued a call for the construction of a new art center that could fill the need for a venue in Tokyo to hold exhibitions by artist associations. Since its founding in 2007, the NACT has been operated and administered by the National Museum of Art, an Independent Administrative Institution that was established in 2001 and also oversees the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the National Crafts Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, the National Film Archive of Japan, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the National Museum of Art, Osaka.

1999: The Agency for Cultural Affairs forms the "Committee for the Preparation of the National Art Exhibition Center (working name)."
2000: The Ministry of Education and Science commissions Kurokawa Kisho and Nihon Sekkei, Inc. to design the new art center.
2003: An office for overseeing construction preparations is established. Following a public call for name suggestions, the art center is officially dubbed the National Art Center, Tokyo.
2006: Construction is completed. The NACT is formally established as an organization under the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art.
2007: The NACT opens its doors to the public on January 21.

Director General (past & present)

HAYASHIDA Hideki: July 2006- December 2011
AOKI Tamotsu: January 2012 - March 2019
OSAKA Eriko: October 2019 - present