A gallery called "CADAN Yurakucho" was opened in July 2020 along Marunouchi-Nakadori Ave. as a new landmark in Yurakucho, which is undergoing reconstruction with art as its core. One and a half years after its opening, what is the current location of the gallery, and how will Yurakucho transform from here into a ``city of art''? We spoke to three key people.

​Installing modern art in various ways to stimulate the business community in the office district

Koyama: CADAN Yurakucho is a non-profit organization established seven years ago as a member of contemporary art galleries across the country with the aim of contributing to the development of art. : CADAN) is a gallery that opened in July 2020. Currently, our 50 member galleries take turns holding exhibitions every two to three weeks, and our organization's convenient location on a corner along Nakadori Street in Marunouchi, and on the street diagonally across from The The Peninsula Tokyo, is a great opportunity for our organization. I feel that it has made it public. In the first place, I had never even thought about having a gallery at CADAN until Mr. Fukai approached me.

Arimitsu: Originally, there was a movement to make art one of the cornerstones of the rebuilding of Yurakucho Area that Mitsubishi Estate was undertaking. However, there are many ways to install art in a city. So, while consulting with Cultural Vision Japan (CVJ), a general incorporated foundation including Mr. Fukai, we decided that we would like to incorporate the function of a gallery as well as a commercial space into the street-level store. That's what started the conversation.

Fukai: The Foundation, Culture Vision Japan, operates as a platform for co-creation between industry, government, academia, and culture and the arts, but it also serves as a link between the so-called art industry and companies, so there are benefits for both parties. Despite the disadvantages, I am playing a coordinating role. When I first consulted with Mr. Arimitsu, I realized that although there are many places in Tokyo that are called prime locations, there are many places in Tokyo that are called prime locations, but the Daimaru area (Otemachi/Marunouchi), which includes Yurakucho, which is close to the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station.・Yurakucho) is the very center of Tokyo, and is a unique place with a completely different character from other places. In that sense, when we introduce galleries, rather than just inviting good galleries, we think, ``If we don't attract more centripetal movement, we won't be able to bring out the potential of this city,'' and we will focus on market-side movements. I spoke to CADAN, which is a central organization. Here in Yurakucho, we have been experimenting with various types of art, such as the Marunouchi Street Gallery that started in the 1970s, but another reason was that we thought we should strengthen the context of contemporary art.

Koyama: The corner where CADAN Yurakucho was located originally housed Men's Clothing store, and the fact that the texture of the previous store still remains on the walls of the current gallery was a great addition to the environment for contemporary art. I am thinking. It has a rough feel, not a smooth white cube. I also get the feeling that people find it interesting that the exhibits at our member galleries change every two to three weeks.

Fukai: Clothes shops and sweets shops don't change their displays that often. However, as is normal for galleries, exhibits are changed every few weeks to once a month, so I think that aspect of the gallery was a good fit with the city of Yurakucho. Also, most regular galleries do not have windows in order to secure more display walls, but CADAN Yurakucho is originally a commercial road section and has large windows, so people walking on the street can see the art. I feel like the gallery is taking advantage of its unique environment to acquire new techniques, such as exhibits that show behind the scenes.

Koyama: There are exhibitions from local galleries like ``rin art association'', a gallery in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, which is a member of CADAN, as well as group exhibitions by young Artist that can be seen in Yurakucho. This has never happened before. Not only Artist but also their parents must be happy to know that their child is exhibiting in a fine place called Yurakucho (lol). Above all, after doing CADAN Yurakucho for a year and a half, I have realized once again that Yurakucho is a place with good Access. However, I think the fact that it is not a commercial store gives it a fresh feel.

Fukai: On the other hand, Mitsubishi Estate believes that CADAN Yurakucho's preferences are completely different from those of its previous tenants, so we are likely to have to make adjustments that go beyond their limits. It was also a great benefit that we were able to create an orientation in which both sides tried to connect across boundaries. In today's era, we cannot create a new society or future landscape unless we transcend Category and titles.

Arimitsu: Up until now, our company's relationship with contemporary art has been mostly event-oriented. Of course, there is Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, but I am really glad that we were able to secure a permanent location in CADAN Yurakucho, and that we were able to create a base where we could spend time conveying the idea of ``a city with art.'' . Although it was opened during the coronavirus pandemic, on the other hand, as people are spending more time at home, people are becoming more interested in purchasing art, and the recent art bubble has also supported interest in CADAN Yurakucho. I feel like it was.

Fukai: This year, while coexisting with the coronavirus, I predict that more international travel and economic activity will resume, but I would like to recreate the natural scenery that was not possible during the coronavirus pandemic. A gallery has many functions, but one of them is as a place where people gather. At each exhibition or opening reception, not only Artist and curators, but also people who love art gather on the streets of CADAN Yurakucho, like Marunouchi-Nakadori Ave., and meet new people. A landscape that will forever speak to you through art. This happens because it's in the city, not online. In addition, there are many shops in Yurakucho that are perfect for after-parties and third-parties, which is a blessing.

Koyama: At the reception, you can buy beer from PRONTO across the street (lol).

Arimitsu: With the opening of CADAN, I feel that Yurakucho is gradually gaining recognition as a ``city with art,'' so the next few years will be a stage in which we will finally develop the value of art in the business district. It will be.

Koyama: I once went to Marunouchi Asa University as a lecturer, where people who work in this area wake up early and learn a variety of content. I was surprised to see so many people here even early in the morning! In that sense, I would like to hold not only opening receptions, but also Artist lectures more frequently, which we are not able to do at the moment.A business district can be said to be a city where there are people who have things to learn and want to know. I guess so. Speaking of what surprised me, I was also surprised to see "Sono Aida #ShinYurakucho" that appeared on the first floor of the Shin-Yurakucho Bldg. Yurakucho Bldg., which is next to the Yurakucho Building where CADAN Yurakucho is located, at the end of last year!

Arimitsu: Artist Akira Fujimoto has been running an art project called `` Sono Aida'' in various locations, which utilizes rented properties, vacant properties, and the unnamed ``in between'' space until a meaning changes as spatial media. As expected, I was introduced to Mr. Fukai. One day, Fujimoto-san and I were walking around Yurakucho when we happened to come across a vacant lot due to a tenant changeover Period and asked, ``Can we do something here?'' Currently, under the title ``ARITIST STUDIO,'' Artist have relocated their own production environments and spend about a month and a half creating Period works, exhibiting the process itself, and selling their works.

Koyama: It's refreshing to be able to walk through an office district and see Artist 's studio working on their work, and be able to see it every day.

Fukai: Prior to "Sono Aida #New Yurakucho," in the fall of 2020, we collaborated with "ANREALAGE" as an art x Fashion exhibition at a vacant store in the same Kokusai Bldg. in Yurakucho as "Sono Aida #Yurakucho." We also held pop-up exhibitions. At that time, it was a limited-Period project lasting over two months, but this time, it is interesting to see such Artist-originated attempts lined up as tenants in Yurakucho's many brand stores.

Arimitsu: At Sono Aida #New Yurakucho, we don't just hold such exhibitions; we always have Artist staying there and working on their creations, so we actually visit their ateliers and talk directly with Artist, and we get to see them on a daily basis. You can see the process of production changing. It's not easy to experience something like this, but it's interesting that it's happening in Yurakucho, a business district. I think that by installing the creative activities of these Artist in the city, it will be an exciting experience not only for art fans but also for business people.

Koyama: Roppongi, where my gallery is located, is already recognized as an art town, but showing sharp contemporary art in Yurakucho, which has no context for art, has a huge impact.

Fukai: Even though it's art, I think it's ultimately about people. A work is just a catalyst, and I think it's important to have a place where people from all walks of life can come together through it. By having Artist and people involved in the arts participate in town planning, things that Mitsubishi Estate did not previously think would have value may emerge as content, and from there, the future shape of the town may be revealed. It could be something completely different.

Koyama: However, just displaying works on the walls of a building owned by Mitsubishi Estate is not as easy as a white cube gallery, and there are many tenants, so it requires a lot of coordination. . I have also worked with Mitsubishi Estate as a judge for the `` ART AWARD TOKYO MARUNOUCHI,'' a contemporary art exhibition that began in Marunouchi in 2007, with the theme of discovering and nurturing the next generation of Artist. However, I am acutely aware of the adjustments that need to be made to the exhibition.

Fukai: On the other hand, if we can change the way we read things, I feel that there are actually infinite possibilities for new things to be born in forms that were impossible before, and places where art can enter further. Masu. It may not be easy, but by installing it in Yurakucho, where there are businesses, stores, and a huge amount of walls, there is a landscape of art that can be seen. From now on, I hope we can try out these possibilities little by little and expand them to the maximum.

Arimitsu: This March, with the cooperation of CADAN, we are planning to hold the ``Yurakucho Window Gallery,'' where works by Artist will decorate the shop windows and storefronts on Marunouchi-Nakadori Ave. on the Yurakucho side. In addition, until May 31st, we are running a four-month pilot program called ` `YAU'' by Art Urbanism (a coined word that refers to urban development through art, combining the words ``art + urbanism''). Two organizations, TOKYO PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH, which has been collaborating with us since 2020 in Yurakucho, and bench, a collective centered on performing arts, are sharing space on the 10th floor of Yurakucho Bldg. and are conducting activities, and what is Sono Aida? I have a feeling that a different kind of collaboration will emerge. There will also be an open studio Period, and there will also be events open to the public such as School program "YAU CLASS" and theater Shops, so this is a must-see for office workers in Yurakucho as well as anyone who has a chance to come to this city. , I would like you to pay attention to it.