PRESS RELEASE
2020.04

New Art Festival will be Launched in Tokyo

This year we will hold the international art festival,"Tokyo Biennale 2020".
In the midst of the continued uncertainty surrounding
the coronavirus pandemic, the shocking news wasrecently announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games and Paralympic Games would be postponed.
What can we do in a Tokyo without the Olympics, inwhich we now face the spread of the coronavirus
disease?
Although the stability of the “pre-established harmony”
has collapsed, Art must face this situation.

brings them closer to imagining the existence ofsomeone who is yet unseen. Art gets people to try
something on their own, giving birth to creative
activities. Each action might be small, but we believethat these many actions gathered will bring forth a new
creative future.
Across a wide range of disciplines, more than 60
participating groups of artists and creators, going
beyond fields of contemporary art, architecture, fashion,and design, will engage deeply with the city of Tokyoand its residents.

The core of this art project is “us”, the citizens
With the vision prepared by Tokyo Biennale 2020themselves. The Tokyo Biennale was launched together
toward this summer, we would like to share with you allwith citizens in the forming of a citizens’ committee. Askinds of “Unseen Everyday Scenes”.
an art project led by citizens themselves with acomplete bottom up structure, this is the experimental
The events will take place in venues across thenortheastern area of Tokyo, rich in history and culture. space for new frameworks of “art festivals” themselves.
Sites will include public spaces, schools, temples andThe creativity of communities in the city will awaken,shrines, historical buildings, and open spaces. Placed inand countless “Unseen Everyday Scenes” will bevarious locations across the city, artworks will appear incultivated widely.
our everyday lives. Viewing art allows people to touch
Tokyo Biennale 2020 will now come to life.
on the city’s history and culture, and the experience*Regarding the holding of this art festival, we will be paying careful attention to information on the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) while receiving
guidance from experts. We will take precautions according to the most current conditions. Please note that some event periods and venues may be changed.

Tokyo Biennale 2020

Unseen Everyday Scene― Purity×Earnestness×Deviation ―It is Art that drives things happening around town.
“Unseen Everyday Scene” is made to share thisconcept.

path, it could be the act of Art. Seeing everyday spaces
and scenes through new eyes leads to the future, andwe hope to discover ways to rebuild things from today.

The Artistʼs mission is to generate the unimaginable in Having to face this difficult summer gives us all theour existing city to make us appreciate something
more reason to put our deepest hopes and wishes
unfamiliar. If you feel something different when
toward Art.
walking down one familiar and normally unnoticed【Contact】

General Non-Profit Incorporated Organization Tokyo Biennale3331 Arts Chiyoda, 6-11-14 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN, 101-0021
TEL: +81(0)3-5816-3220 FAX: +81(0)3-5816-3221
E-mail: pr@tokyobiennale.jp Website: https://tb2020.jp

Page: 1PRESS RELEASE
2020.04

InformationNameTokyo Biennale 2020

Tokyo Biennale 2020
Unseen Everyday Scene ― Purity×Earnestness×Deviation ―Theme
PeriodJuly 12th to September 6th 2020 [57 days]

Organizer

General Non-Profit Incorporated Organization Tokyo Biennale

EndorsementChiyoda City, Bunkyo City, Chiyoda City Tourism Association

SupportThe Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan in the fiscal 2019
Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, Japan : 2021 Fund for Creation of Society by
the Arts and Culture

SponsorDaimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co.Ltd.
Nippon Paint Co., Ltd.

Cooperation

3331 Arts Chiyoda, Artist Initiative Command N

General Directors

Masato Nakamura (Artist), Kazuko Koike (Creative Director)Project Producer

Shinobu Nakanishi (Architect, Executive Director of Miraikan - National Museum of Emerging
Science and Innovation)

Creative Director

Naoki Sato (Art Director, Designer, Painter)

Liaison Director

Kiyoshi Hashimoto (CEO of Kyoei soft-engineering Co., Ltd.)Social ProjectDirectors

Tatsuya Ito (Project Associate Professor at TUA)
Naoki Sato (Art Director, Designer, Painter)
Tsukasa Nishida (Architect, CEO of ondesign partners)
Ren Fukuzumi (Art Critic)
Kiyoshi Kusumi (Art Editor, Critic, Associate Professor at TMU)
Yoshitaka Mori (Sociologist, Professor at TUA)

Venue

Across the 4 wards—Chiyoda City, Chuo City, Bunkyo City, and Taito City —of theNortheastern area of central Tokyo.
Historical buildings, public spaces, shop rooftops, idle facilities (both indoor and outdoor)

Tickets

Announcement of ticket information is scheduled for April 2020

General Directors

Please note that some event periods and venues may be changed.

2020.03.27

Masato NAKAMURA Artist
Born in Odate City (Akita, Japan) in 1963. Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts
(Department of Painting). A socially aware artist pushing forth diverse art projects with focus
on "art x community x industry". In the early 1990's, he set up guerilla art projects – “THEGINBURART” in Ginza and “Shinjuku Shonen Art” in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district (1993).
From 1996 on, the artist caught global attention by transforming corporate identities into
artworks, one major example being the McDonald’s golden arches. In 1997, he formed analternative artist initiative called “Command N”. Activities of this group include the international
video installation “Akihabara TV” held multiple years in 1999, 2000, and 2002. His work wasdisplayed in the 49th Venice Biennale (2001) Japan Pavilion “First & Slow” exhibition. From2004, he founded a number of art projects including “himming” in Himi (Toyama Pref.) and“ZERODATE” in Odate (Akita Pref.) Nakamura then founded 3331 Arts Chiyoda in June 2010
as an independent and sustainable art center. Through Command N and 3331, Nakamura has
founded 10 art bases and held 740 art projects, in addition to overseeing close to 3,100
events with the collaboration of 2,000 artists, 180 core staff members, and 1,350 supporting
staff/volunteers. With an extensive background in a variety of expressive activities, starting insummer 2020 he is taking on the challenge of developing the Tokyo Biennale, an art festivalthat will dig for the cultural and artistic resources underlying the city of Tokyo.
Kazuko Koike Creative Director
Born in Tokyo. Graduate of Waseda University in Literature. Founder/Curatorial Director ofSAGACHO EXHIBIT SPACE, Japan’s first alternative-space for Contemporary Art (1983-2000).
Published :“WHERE DID ISSEY COME FROM? The Life and Work of Issey Miyake”—HeHe, 2017. 2017 AVON Award of Merit. 2019 JAPAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL Special
Achievement Award. MUJI Advisory Board Member. Professor Emeritus, Musashino ArtUniversity.
Photo: Taishi Hirokawa【Contact】

General Non-Profit Incorporated Organization Tokyo Biennale3331 Arts Chiyoda, 6-11-14 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN, 101-0021
TEL: +81(0)3-5816-3220 FAX: +81(0)3-5816-3221
E-mail: pr@tokyobiennale.jp Website: https://tb2020.jp

Page: 2

PRESS RELEASE
2020.04

Participating Artists/Creators in Tokyo Biennale 2020
Tokyo Biennale 2020 is very excited to announce that 28 artists/creators will be joining us,
along with 20 domestic open call artists/creators, and 12 from overseas selected out of morethan 1500 applications from all over the world. More than 60 art projects will be held in thearea, with an aim to discover the rich history of Tokyo and expose its cultural diversity.

Tokyo Biennale ArtProjectsArtists/Creators（A-Z）

Aiko Miyanaga (Artist), Akira Takayama (Theater Director, Artist), Fumio Tachibana (Artist),Gabin Ito (Editor), GROUND LEVEL (Makoto Tanaka+Masaki Onishi), Hiroshi Fuji (Artist), Itsuko
Hasegawa (Architect), Kohei Kawamura +Takenori Miyamoto, Kosuke Tsumura (FashionDesigner), Masamichi Toyama (Artist), Masanori Ikeda (Photographer), Masayoshi Takenouchi+ Nakada Rie, Min Nishiyama (Artist/social worker/mental health therapist), Naohiro Ukawa(Artist/Filmmaker), Naoki Sato (Tokyo Biennale 2020 Creative Director/Art Director/Designer,Panter), Naoya Hatakeyama (Photographer), Noboru Tsubaki (Contemporary Artist), Rei Naito(Artist), Ryo Yamazaki (Community Designer/Certified Social worker/ Director of studio-L),
Satoko Lee (Artist), Shino Yanai (Artist), Shujiro Murayama (Artist), Yoshiaki Kuribara (Artist),
Yoshikazu Yamagata (Fasion Designer/Artist/Educator), Yoshinari Nishio (Artist), Yusuke
Nishimura (Artist)

Tokyo BiennaleArt Projects*“Social Dive”
Artists/Creators（A-Z）

Domestic open call
2.5 architects (Fumika Morito+Shingei Katsu), BKY+SENTO-DASHI committee, Contemporary
Ondo Composer, Fumiharu Sato+Hiroko Haraguchi, Hogalee, Kae Fujiwara, Kaori Endo,Masaharu Futoyu, MMIX Lab, Miki Monma, Placy, Sanae Takahata,
SEKAI+m.ichijo+n.murakami+Akinai-garden, Shingo Suzuki, Studio Battery, Taku Hisamura,
Tokimeki Transport, TOKYO ALPS, Uguisudani Belle Epoque, Yaei
International open callFiona Amundsen (Newzealand), Marco Barotti (Italy), Kerem Ozan Bayraktar & Buşra Tunç(Turkey), Alina and Jeff Bliumis (U.S), 陳飛豪 Fei-hao Chen (Taiwan), Kray Chen (Singapore),Ting-Ting Cheng (Taiwan), Rosiris Garrido (Brazil), Michael Hornblow (Newzealand), Hildur Elísa
Jónsdóttir (Iceland), Pedro Carneiro Silva & Ardalan Aran (Brazil/Garmany), Dafna Talmon(Israel)* “Social Dive” projects—With the mission to “Dive into Tokyo, Engage with the People!”,Tokyo Biennale calls for artists with a sharp eye on our era who can uncover new values in oursociety. This is a project consisting of both a domestic and international open call.

Art projects

Yoshikazu Yamagata“Small Mountain in Tokyo” 2019

Akira Takayama“McDonald’s Radio University”
photo by Masahiro Hasunuma

Rei Naito “Untitled” 2009 (2008-)
Museum of Modern Art, KANAGAWA
photo by Naoya Hatakeyama

Tokyo Biennale 2020 official website is now open for further information
URL
https://tb2020.jp【Contact】

Our 2020 official website has been released and open for public view. Please find further
information on artists, art projects and the biennale itself. More details on venues and tickets
will be announced near the beginning of April.

General Non-Profit Incorporated Organization Tokyo Biennale3331 Arts Chiyoda, 6-11-14 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN, 101-0021
TEL: +81(0)3-5816-3220 FAX: +81(0)3-5816-3221
E-mail: pr@tokyobiennale.jp Website: https://tb2020.jp

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