The 18th France-Japan Multinational Contemporary Art Exhibition(2017)English｜EXPOSITIONS PRÉCÉDENTES / PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS

The 18th France-Japan Multinational Contemporary Art Exhibition, that was organized by the Japan International Artist Society, was held from Wednesday August 9th to Sunday August 20th 2017 at the National Art Center of Tokyo. It was the 6th exhibition held at the National Art Center of Tokyo and the number of overall visitors surpassed that of last year. We have come to realize that our annual exhibition at this wonderful museum has become an established event amongst many art lovers and we couldn't be happier about this. 

At the entrance of the exhibition hall, the vermillion signboard received a lot of uninterrupted attention from the incoming visitors throughout the event, even though the exhibition was held on the top floor. The modern and spacious exhibition hall displayed a total of 308 pieces, 223 pieces by 190 Japanese artists, 85 pieces from various nationalities, including France, the Netherlands, China, and the United States. 65 new works from French artists of the Salon d'Automne ( in cooperation with the Salon d'Automne society), along with 14 works from other great French painters, attracted a special amount of attention from people from both Japan and abroad.

On the opening day of August 9th, several events took place at the auditorium in the museum. At first, a lecture titled "Culture as a tool to open the future" was given by Ms. Carolina García Suárez (coordinator of the convention Bureau of Gijon), as well as giving a presentation about the history, tradition, and art of Northen Spain, drawing attention to the blue sea, beautiful green plains and cultural landmarks of the city of Gijon.

An award ceremony was held for prize winners of the CAEA/JIAS exhibitions from 2016 with Ms. Sylvie Koeclin (The president of Salon d'Automne), Mr. Jean-Marie Zacchi (The Honorary President of this Exhibition in France) and Ms. Carolina García Suárez were in attendance along with several company sponsors. The audience listened on eagerly while prize winners were given awards in front of images of their celebrated works.

At the opening reception, we also welcomed Mr. Claudio MONZNÓN (second secretary) and Ms. Patricia Flechilla (third secretary) of the Cuban Embassy, where they gave a captivating and distinguished speech. Afterward, Mr. Bumpei (The new president of the CAEA/JIAS), and 140 participants joyously celebrated the opening of the exhibition with great hope for its success. Although the exhibition was held in Japan, many guests from abroad were in attendance and the Japanese artists were able to participate in a multinational cultural interchange. This truly became an "International Exhibition" with such a multinational crowd along with such diverse works from around world. 

The next day, a conference critiquing several Japanese works was held in the exhibition hall. For over six hours, Ms. Koeclin, Mr. Zacchi and Ms. Carolina García Suárez all gave impassioned commentary and praise to each artist and their works. This allowed them an opportunity to be appraised from an international standard, which was of immense use and benefit for all the artists and helped further encourage their artistic abilities and future works.

Here is a note given by one of our esteemed commentators. "I'm very happy to have the occasion to share my opinion with each artist in front of their art work and it was an unforgettable experience for me. Japanese people tend to be modest, so it is difficult to read their true feelings but hopefully this commentary will be of great help to them. Their high quality art will further inspires more high quality art. This exhibition is a place where we recognize our true selves and our internal struggles resolved. I'm looking forward to seeing all their future achievements and accomplishments come to fruition."

In spite of the mid-summer heat wave, the overall number of visitors to the exhibition exceeded the record of last year. The exhibition ended on August 20th and was a huge success for all those who took part.