Toward the Construction of New Relationships Across Asia: The activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center

In this essay Furuichi Yasuko, who was an exhibition coordinator of the Japan Foundation at the time, discusses the development of art exchange in the Asian region with a focus on the activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center. She played an important role in introducing other Asian art to Japan and promoting exchange among individuals in the field of art in Japan and other Asian countries between the 1990s and the 2010s.
During the years of operation, the ASEAN Culture Center (1990–95) and its succeeding organization, the Asia Center (1995–2004), hosted various exhibitions and symposia with the aim of introducing contemporary art and culture of other Asian countries to Japan and promoting art and cultural exchange in the Asian region. While in the early 1990s, the focus was on the introduction of Southeast Asian art to Japan, in the late 1990s, the areas of research were expanded to the wider Asian region. Alongside such exhibitions, efforts were also made to form a discourse on Asian art through symposia on related subjects. From 2000 onward, the Asia Center engaged in interregional exchange in Asia through various activities such as bringing together curators from Japan and around the world to organize exhibitions collaboratively.
These developments in exchange took place against the background of Asia’s economic development from the mid-1980s and the postcolonial situation from 1989 onward, among other factors. Asian countries began to turn their attention not only to the West, but also to their neighboring countries. Furuichi points out that one of the triggers for this was the active involvement of Japan and Australia in the introduction of contemporary art from other Asian countries in their nations.
From the late 1990s onward, the Asian region witnessed the establishment of modern art systems as well as a surge of large-scale international exhibitions. Artists from Asia began to take part in international exhibitions outside Asia, and an increasing number of exhibitions on contemporary Asian art were held in Western nations. According to Furuichi, while in the past, exhibitions on non-Japanese Asian art in Japan and other countries had been criticized for reflecting the unbalanced relationship between the organizers and the artists represented, in response to the changing situation, this tendency became mitigated to some extent. Furuichi also discusses how exhibition partnerships developed from exchanges between two specific countries to exchanges among multiple nations in broader regions, and how art spaces and initiatives besides museums became very active. Furuichi’s analysis remains relevant, as these are ongoing trends.
This essay, published in 2005, discusses the Asian art projects of the Japan Foundation that were held up until 2004. Many activities were held thereafter, including the exhibition Cubism in Asia, various international symposia, and the publication of The Japan Foundation Asia Center Art Studies. It should be noted that, in response to the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in 2013, the Japan Foundation began to make organizational efforts to engage with Asia focusing once again on Southeast Asia. This resulted in the establishment of the Japan Foundation Asia Center (the same name as before but a different organization) in April 2014, which undertook projects to promote Japanese culture, mainly offering support for Japanese language learning, and bilateral exchange in various fields of art and culture in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. This center completed its activities in March 2022.
Furuichi currently works as a freelance art coordinator.
The Japan Foundation’s Asian art projects (1990–2020) can be viewed by accessing “The Japan Foundation Asian Art Archive”:
https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/asia_exhibition_history/index.html (Japanese) https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/publish/asia_exhibition_history/index.html (English)

Title

Toward the Construction of New Relationships Across Asia: The activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center

Author

Furuichi Yasuko

First published

2005

Translation

Kohno Haruko

Editing

Furuichi Yasuko, Yung-Hsiang Kao

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

Japan in Asia

First Posted Online

2022-11-12

Last modified

2022-11-12

© 2022 Furuichi Yasuko + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

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Citation

Footnote/endnote: Furuichi Yasuko, "Toward The Construction Of New Relationships Across Asia: The activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center," trans. Kohno Haruko, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted November 12, 2022, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202223.

Bibliography: Furuichi Yasuko. "Toward The Construction Of New Relationships Across Asia: The activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center." Translated by Kohno Haruko. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted November 12, 2022. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202223.

Original Japanese Edition

Furuichi Yasuko, “Ajia no aratana kankeisei no kōchiku ni mukete: Kokusai kōryūkikin Ajia sentā no katsudō,” in Bijutsu Forum 21, vol. 11 (February 2005), 51–56.

古市保子 「アジアの新たな関係性の構築に向けて─国際交流基金アジアセンターの活動」『美術フォーラム21』11号（2005年2月）、50–56頁。

National Diet Library(NDL)

https://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/000000161086

ISBN