" 18th DOMANI：The Art of Tomorrow " Exhibition The Achievements of the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artists provided by the Agency for Cultural Affairs

Overview

In order to help foster artists who will play a leading role in the future art world in Japan, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been running the Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists (*), which provides support for budding artists to study at universities and art organizations abroad, since FY 1967. The “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow Exhibition,” functioning as an opportunity for the artists who studied abroad on this program to present their work, was first held in 1998.

This 18th Exhibition will be upgraded to showcase the work of these fresh artists who completed their overseas study on the program under the theme of “The Intersection between Expression and Material: Matter, Action and Data.”

Material for expression is not limited to matter for today’s artists: action; behavior; and something like data, which has no form of its own, are also included. One of the reasons for this drastic change in “expressive media” is our highly digital modern society and the rapid development of technology that has changed our sense of how we understand the world. Now that matter, action, data—and almost anything—can be made into art, artists select the materials best suitable for their own creative expression.

For this exhibition, among the overseas study program participants from 2000 onwards, we specially selected artists who are distinctively unique in the relations between expression and material. Furthermore, we have only rare opportunities to introduce those artists whose artwork is collected by the Agency for Cultural Affairs under our Purchasing Program for Outstanding Works of Art. We are happy to introduce the wood engraving works of Sachiko KAZAMA, whose pieces fit nicely within the theme of this exhibition. Besides the 12 diverse exhibits ranging from painting to sculpture, engraving, textiles, mosaics, animation, video and installation, making use of the rich space of the National Art Center, Tokyo, we also present the work of the trainees of Conservation and Restoration field. This is a valuable opportunity to enrich your understanding of these important disciplines that support the arts.

In addition to gallery talks by participating artists, which have been gaining popularity each year, we will hold two discussion meetings as related events this time. In addition to two participating artists, Ms. Mami KATAOKA (the Chief Curator of the Mori Art Museum) will be invited as a guest to discuss the theme of “Artist-in-Residence Programs.” Another session focuses on “Archives” in the field of architecture—a subject that the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been focusing its attention on in recent years. Ms. Takako FUJIMOTO (Trainee of the FY 2013 program, current Assistant Researcher of the National Archives of Modern Architecture) and Dr. Yoshiyuki YAMANA (Professor of Tokyo University of Science, Faculty of Science and Technology) will be invited for the session.

Please come to our exhibition where you will meet brand new talent and discover art from a variety of new fields.

(*)Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists
This is a program under which the Agency for Cultural Affairs sends young artists overseas to support their training in their specialties. Since the 1967 fiscal year, About 3,200 artists have participated so far(Including art department is about 1,200). There are six types ? one-year, two-year, three-year, special (80 days), short-stay (20 to 40 days) and high school student (350 days) courses ? in the fields of media art, including fine art, music, dance, theater, film and stage design. The trainees have practical training with overseas universities, art organizations and artists.