Tsumari Archive Center

After becoming the site of the Interlocal Art Network Center directed by Kawamata Tadashi in 2009, Shimizu Elementary School, which has maintained a deep connection with the local community, has evolved into an archive/library facility. In addition to exhibiting new works, the building will also serve as a huge library of art-related materials, including materials from the art festival and community-based art projects, as well as a collection of approximately 30,000 books donated by the late art critic Yusuke Nakahara.

A site-specific archive is open to the public inside the building. All documents of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale to date, as well as Tadashi Kawamata’s activities from 1980 to 2005, will be preserved. The materials are also available for viewing. The Atelier Gallery, Tadashi Kawamata’s base of operations, will also be open to the public for the first time. In the accompanying art gallery, maquette works including past projects and records of Kawamata’s activities in Japan and abroad will be on display.

Kawamata Tadashi

Born 1953 in Hokkaido, Japan. Major exhibitions and projects include “Tadashi Kawamata Tokyo Improgress” (Tokyo, 2010-13), “Corridor of Chairs” (Festival d’automna Paris, Salpêtrière Hospital Saint-Louis Church, France) (1997), “Working Progress” (Alkmaar, Netherlands) (1996-99), and “Destroyed Church” (Documenta, Kassel, Germany) (1987). Working Progress” (Alkmaar, the Netherlands), and “Destroyed Church” (Documenta, Kassel, Germany) in 1987. He is the author of “Artless: Contemporary Art as Minority” (2001, Filmart, Inc.).