Message from the Director General (for the start of 2021)

I would like to give a warm welcome to this new beginning. Due to the global spread of the coronavirus disease that began in early 2020, many exhibitions at the National Art Center, Tokyo were postponed, canceled, and changed, making last year a time of major and continuous adjustments for our exhibitions.
Seeing the NACT deprived of visitors, a sad contrast to the bustling and lively atmosphere of previous years, has been an eye-opening reminder of how irreplaceable their presence is. After more than three months of temporary closure, the NACT finally re-opened in June. Among such hard circumstances, those who could then visit the art center shared that they "could calmly enjoy the artworks in a relaxed and ideal viewing environment," that they "realized the greatness of seeing the artworks in person," and that "being finally able to visit the NACT" was for them "a great relief."
Going through such unprecedented times, put us in front of the difference between the actual experience of going to a museum and perceiving artworks with all five senses, and what an only digital viewing may convey.
This brought us to feel with revived intensity the importance of being a place that helps convey the greatness of those real-life experiences.

On January 21, 2021, the NACT will celebrate its 14th anniversary. Although the aftermath of the coronavirus is still unpredictable, this year we are planning to hold enthusiastic Special Exhibitions about art, design, and fashion, as well as Artist Associations' Exhibitions and as an art center we will actively engage in various projects and activities.
Starting from January 30, the "DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow" Exhibition 2021 Contemporary Japanese Artists from the Overseas Study Program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs will be our first Special Exhibition of the year, followed in February by "KASHIWA SATO," the large-scale solo exhibition of SATO Kashiwa, designer of the NACT's logo. From June "Fashion in Japan 1945-2020" will unravel postwar-to-contemporary Japanese fashion. Beginning in September, the exhibition "Henri Matisse: Forms in Freedom" will focus mainly on the paper cut-outs of the artist's later years.
I hope that 2021 will allow everybody the chance to visit our art center and that it will be a healthy and fulfilling year for all.