Aichi Triennale - Press Release / November 11, 2020

Takeo Obayashi Appointed Chairperson of Aichi Triennale
Organizing Committee and Mami Kataoka Appointed Artistic
Director of Aichi Triennale 2022

Takeo Obayashi

Mami Kataoka (photo: Akinori Ito)

The Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of
Takeo Obayashi (Chairperson of the Board, Obayashi Corporation) as Chairperson ofAichi Triennale Organizing Committee and Mami Kataoka (Director of the Mori Art
Museum and President of the CIMAM) as Artistic Director of Aichi Triennale 2022.
On Sept 8, 2020, Aichi Prefecture established a new organizing committee to manage Aichi
Triennale 2022, and Takeo Obayashi (Chairperson of the Board, Obayashi Corporation) wasappointed as Chairperson of Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee. Kataoka was selectedby the Chairperson Obayashi from among the candidates presented by the Aichi Triennale
Organizing Committee advisory board on Nov 4, 2020.
Kataoka was selected for the following reasons:● Based on her wealth of experience and accomplishments as an international
curator/director, she can organize an art festival that meets international standards.
● Her extensive domestic and international networks are necessary to prepare for theAichi Triennale 2022, given the current COVID-19 pandemic.
● Well-experienced in heavy responsibilities as a director of art institutions, she will
manage the 5th edition of Aichi Triennale flexibly and suitably.
● Born in Aichi Prefecture, she has a good understanding of the local region and will
enhance the appeal of Aichi by utilizing its characteristics.
● She will be the first female artistic director of Aichi Triennale and is expected to bringa new perspective to the art festival.

Press Contact: Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee (Public Relations Department)
E-mail: triennale@pref.aichi.lg.jp Web: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/
1Aichi Triennale - Press Release / November 11, 2020
Takeo Obayashi (Chairperson of the Board, Obayashi Corporation)
Born in 1954, Tokyo, Obayashi earned a BA at Keio University and a MS at Stanford
University, Civil Engineering School. Obayashi Corporation has been undertaking manylarge-scale art projects, with more than 70 pieces of contemporary art installed throughout
the company's headquarters in an attempt to create a space full of creativity. The company
commissioned Yayoi Kusama and 18 other internationally renowned artists to create rareworks of art, involving them from the building’s design stage to ensure the pieces’ intimate
relationships with the space.
Obayashi is a Council Member of MoMA (New York); President of the Japanese Friends ofCentre Pompidou (Paris); Member of the Japanese Committee of Honour, Royal Academy ofArts (London); Member of the Tate International Council Executive Committee (London);Council Member of The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Tokyo); Council Member of Mori
Art Museum (Tokyo); Council Member of Ishikawa Foundation (Okayama); and CouncilMember of Kawamura Cultural Foundation (Tokyo).

Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum)
Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from Aichi University of Education. Kataoka
was Chief Curator at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (1997-2002) prior to the Mori Art Museum(2003-) where she holds the current position since 2020. She was also International Curator
at the Hayward Gallery, London (2007-2009); Co-Artistic Director for the 9th Gwangju
Biennale, South Korea (2012); and Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018).
She has been serving as a Board Member of CIMAM [International Committee for Museums
and Collections of Modern Art] (2014-) and currently the President of CIMAM 2020-2022.
Chair of Contemporary Art Committee Japan, Art Platform Japan [Initiative by the Agency for
Cultural Affairs, Japan]; Councilor of Tokyo Council for the Arts [Initiative by Tokyo
Metropolitan Government, Japan]; and Member of AICA [International Association of ArtCritics]. Adjunct Professor at Kyoto University of the Arts Graduate School; Adjunct
Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts.
Kataoka frequently writes, lectures, and juries on contemporary art from Japan, Asia andbeyond.

Press Contact: Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee (Public Relations Department)
E-mail: triennale@pref.aichi.lg.jp Web: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/
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Aichi Triennale - Press Release / November 11, 2020

Press Conferencewith Takeo Obayashi and Mami Kataoka
Date: Nov 17, Tuesday, 2020 Time: 1:30pm (JPT)
Place: Art Space A, Aichi Arts Center 12F
Address: 1-13-2 Higashi-sakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya city, Aichi Prefecture, 461-8525, Japan*This conference will not be broadcast online. It will be in Japanese only.
Apply for the Press Conference
Email at triennale@pref.aichi.lg.jp*By Nov 13 Friday, 2020 at 5pm (JPT)The Aichi Triennale
The Aichi Triennale is an urban international art festival, held every three years since 2010
across a wide region including the Aichi Arts Center and other city venues, and preparations
are underway for Aichi Triennale 2022 to build on the achievements of the previous four
iterations. The festival will span a wide range of fields, synthetically exhibiting performing art
and other forms together with a contemporary art core, and make Aichi Prefecture a beaconof the artistic avant-garde.
Website: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/

Press Contact: Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee (Public Relations Department)
E-mail: triennale@pref.aichi.lg.jp Web: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/
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Aichi Triennale - Press Release / November 11, 2020

Message from Obayashi, Chairperson of the Aichi Triennale Organizing
Committee
Nov 11, 2020

My name is Takeo Obayashi, and it is a real pleasure for me to become involved with a leading
Japanese international art festival, as Chairperson of the Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee.
I have been interested in ideal forms for urban environments and art as a basis for society for manyyears, and have previously worked to promote contemporary art in Japan and overseas and tosupport galleries and museums. Art is closely related to cities and urban development, acting as amedium for the creation of new forms of human movement and exchange, and uncovering the charmof a region by reconsidering its history and culture, and the lives of the people living there, from novelperspectives.
Although Aichi Prefecture’s development continues to be based around the manufacturing industry, it
is also rich in cultural resources such as traditional culture, crafts, and cuisine. Against such abackground, art is familiar to a broad range of the people, and spaces for artistic activity are firmly
rooted in the area thanks to the Aichi Triennale having been held at regular intervals since 2010 aspart of the legacy of Expo 2005 Aichi. Aichi feels like a wonderful stage for hosting an international art
festival.
Art festivals are perfect opportunities for us to feel, to experience in real time, the process throughwhich artists living in the same era as ourselves understand the history and culture of the region froma certain perspective, how they conceptualize, and the form through which their expression manifests
as contemporary art. I will work with the newly appointed Artistic Director, Mami Kataoka, and with thewider curatorial team on plans to make this an art festival worthy of Aichi’s unique character. With
Kataoka’s distinguished professional experiences and achievements, as well as her formidable
leadership skills, I am convinced that she is the right person to be the artistic director of this newedition in the challenging and precarious time in which we all live.
At present, the novel coronavirus is bringing about significant changes to the nature of humanrelationships, society, and cities. I believe that we need the power of art now more than ever, to create
opportunities to rebuild the bonds between people and destroy the climate of intolerance.
My ambition is for the Aichi Triennale to be an international art festival of the highest order, and asource of pride around the world. That is the challenge that I would like to take on, together with thepeople of Aichi Prefecture, artists from around the world, our volunteers, and all of our supporters andvisitors. I am certain that continuing with the international art festival into the future will serve as agreat asset, not only elevating the creativity of Aichi Prefecture and its ability to broadcast itself
internationally but also making a substantial contribution to the cultural and artistic development ofJapan, and even the world.

Takeo Obayashi
Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee Chairperson(Chairperson of the Board, Obayashi Corporation)

Press Contact: Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee (Public Relations Department)
E-mail: triennale@pref.aichi.lg.jp Web: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/4