A Message from the Director General (on the Occasion of NACT's 15th Anniversary)

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo, which opened on January 21, 2007.

Over the last 15 years, the Center has made the most of the facility's distinctive features to create a host of dynamic events, including more than 100 Special Exhibitions and over 1,000 Artist Associations' exhibitions, which have attracted a combined total of 34 million visitors.

At the same time, social conditions and the surrounding environment have undergone a dramatic series of changes over the last 15 years. For example, the huge shift in the political and economic climate caused by the financial crisis of 2008, massive natural disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, fires at important cultural properties such as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and Shurijo Castle in Okinawa, both of which occurred in 2019, and the holding of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics without spectators in 2021. The global spread of the novel coronavirus also caused a succession of museums to close temporarily and exhibitions to be postponed.

In this 15th anniversary year, we are launching a number of new projects focusing on younger generations. NACT View is a series of exhibitions held in public spaces that showcases emerging and mid-career artists. NACT YOUTH PROJECT 2022: NACT Academy SHINBI-JUKU! is a unique workshop designed to help teenagers study artistic expression. The Tamura Satoru exhibition, a free event, invites people of all ages to drop by at their leisure and enjoy art.

To encourage a deeper understanding of exhibitions and artists, we are also offering an array of educational programs this year. Along with the works on display in the Museum Ludwig exhibition, guest lecturers will present a thorough reconsideration of painting.

Moreover, in August, we introduce a retrospective of work by Lee Ufan to commemorate NACT's 15th anniversary. By freeing art from the realm of images, subjects, and meaning, Lee examines the relationships between objects, and objects and people, providing a new perspective on the anthropocentric worldview.

Today, at a time when the future has grown increasingly murky due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, museums have a duty to function as venues that promote an awareness of diversity and a greater understanding of other people. Here at the National Art Center, Tokyo, we strive to be a place where visitors can participate, feel, and think through the ideas and expressions of artists.