CIMAM

FROM:

TO:

CIMAM
Fabra i CoatsC/ Sant Adrià, 2008030 Barcelona
Spain

Miyata Ryohei
Commissioner for Cultural Affairs
Agency for Cultural Affairs
3-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda Ward,Tokyo, 100-8959,
Japan

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Dear Miyata Ryohei,
CIMAM expresses its deep concern at the recent reports that the Japanese state Agency for
Cultural Affairs (ACA) has withheld the funding it had granted the Aichi Triennale 2019. The
Agency states that this decision was made as a result of procedural inadequacies, explained as thefailure of the Aichi Government to make explicit at the time of the application for the grant that thework involved in the exhibition After ‘Freedom of Expression?’ could invite controversy. The Agency
also states that it was not kept abreast of the protests as they happened and that the resulting
closure meant that the project was not completed as planned. The Agency claims that the decision
to now withhold funding is not related to the content of the exhibition but solely due to stated‘procedural errors’.
CIMAM questions this course of action and the reasons given for it. A number of factors throw thestatements of the ACA into question. Firstly, the potentially controversial nature of the exhibition
After ‘Freedom of Expression’? was clear from the start of the process as it was a curatorial
response to the exhibition Freedom of Expression? held in Tokyo in 2015. Secondly, the ACA
contacted the Aichi Prefecture as soon as the problems emerged so it clear that they were awareof the controversy. Finally, the funding withheld, 78 million yen, was allocated towards the entire
Triennale and the exhibition in question had an overall budget of 4.2 million yen. In this context thedecision to withhold the entire grant as a result of procedural errors relating to a small section ofthe project appears a disproportionate reaction.
In light of these concerns CIMAM questions whether the decision is in fact based on proceduralerrors or if it represents an act of state censorship. CIMAM advises the ACA to be aware of theINTERNATIONAL
COMMITTEE FOR
MUSEUMSAND COLLECTIONS
OF MODERN ART

CIMAM

seriousness with which the international museum community views state censorship of culturalexpression and this cause of action could damage the reputation of Japan’s cultural policyinternationally.
CIMAM notes that the action of the ACA is particularly disappointing in light of the commendable
efforts of the organisers of the Aichi Triennale to address the difficulties raised by the closing
down of the exhibition After ‘Freedom of Expression?’. The efforts to restore the autonomy of theTriennale from political pressure and the establishment of an open platform for free and vigorous
discussion on the incident represent an appropriate response to the serious concerns expressedby the artists involved in the Triennale and the international art community. The declaration by theAichi Prefecture that the exhibition will now be reopened in its original form creates hope that thiscritical situation can be resolved.
CIMAM is hopeful that the decision to withhold funding is a result of a misunderstanding between
the parties involved and calls on the Agency for Cultural Affairs to restore its grant to the Aichi
Triennale 2019.
CIMAM Museum Watch Committee: Bart De Baere, Jaroslaw Suchan, Calin Dan, Sunjung Kim,
Sarah Glennie, Corinne Diserens and Eugene Tan.
CIMAM – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art, is an Affiliated
Organization of ICOM.

INTERNATIONALCOMMITTEE FOR
MUSEUMSAND COLLECTIONSOF MODERN ART