It is a pleasure to be holding the “Shinbism 4” exhibition where contemporary artists, connected to Shinshu and selected by the Shinshu Museum Network, exhibit their works.

“Shinbism” is an exhibition organized by curators having a variety of careers, working for various kinds of museums and galleries in Nagano Prefecture. Through exchanges and discussions among members across their affiliations, they materialized this event for the sake of introducing artists connected to this prefecture, which marks the 4th exhibition this time. Meantime, “Shinbism” originated from ideas proposed by Mr. Kunio Motoe, the late Art Director of Nagano Prefecture, who passed away in June, 2019. His thinking was that, “The best way to materialize networking among museums is to build up the impartial relationships among curators in Nagano Prefecture, which boasts the largest number of museums nationwide, many having only one curator.”

So far, the first two exhibitions, “Shinbism” and “Shinbism 2,” focused on the introduction of young and emerging artists, which breathed new life into contemporary art in Shinshu. Furthermore, this exhibition, in succession to the “Shinbism 3” exhibition, focused on the artists important in tracing post-war art history in this prefecture, which dealt with the attraction of the artists who were active on the front line at home and abroad, together with their works, from various points of view.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to those who worked hard toward the opening of this exhibition, in spite of the difficulties in cultural and artistic activities caused by the influences of COVID-19.

In Nagano Prefecture, “the Nagano Prefectural Ar tistic Supervisory Team,” consisting of specialists selected from multiple artistic fields, was established within the Nagano Prefectural Agency for Cultural Promotion, a general incorporated foundation, in April, the 28th year of the Heisei Era. Since then, various cultural programs, attractive not only at home, but also abroad, have been planned and executed by them for the vitalization of cultural and artistic activities in the prefecture. This exhibition is planned and organized as one of the culminations of the Nagano Prefectural Artistic Supervisory Team’s projects, under the theme, “Shinshu Art Rings -- Connecting with Culture. Creating Culture. And Toward a Beautiful Future.”

Through the “Shinbism” exhibitions organized and held so far, new connections have been generated among curators, between artists and curators, as well as between artists and local residents, creating new trends of culture, such as the special exhibitions organized by the artists themselves who were introduced at the “Shinbism” exhibitions, or co-organized exhibitions by museums in Nagano Prefecture.

I sincerely wish this exhibition will serve as an opportunity for many more people to learn and create new cultures through their encounter and interaction with the artists and their works.

Establishing the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum as the nucleus of the prefecture’s museums, which will be reborn in April, the 3rd year of the Reiwa Era, we shall contribute to the further promotion of culture and the arts by facilitating collaboration and interchange between those museums, adhering to the foundation of the network firmly laid down by the late Art Director, Mr. Motoe.

We appreciate your continued support and understanding.

The Nagano Prefectural Agency for Cultural Promotion, a general incorporated foundation, set up the “Nagano Prefectural Artistic Supervisory Team” consisting of four different fields, in April 2016, and has been working hard toward the promotion of cultural and artistic activities in Nagano Prefecture, together with the Art Directors of the Team, who are active contributors at the front lines of their respective fields.

This time marks the 4th “Shinbism” exhibition. The Shinbism exhibitions were originally conceived under the careful planning of Mr. Kunio Motoe, the late Art Director in charge of Fine Arts, who passed away in June 2019, from whom we received great advice and guidance. The curators belonging to the Shinshu Museum Network, after repeated consultation among all members inheriting the vision of Director Motoe, selected contemporary artists, who represent and are involved in Nagano Prefecture, from their new points of view. Again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have exerted every effort as a single body for the materialization of the “Shinbism 4” exhibition, overcoming various kinds of difficulties under the terrible situation these days, when COVID-19 is rampant all over the world.

Moreover, this exhibition is held as the culmination of the Nagano Prefectural Artistic Supervisory Team’s projects, under the unified theme of “Shinshu Art Rings-Connecting with Culture. Creating Culture And Toward a Beautiful Future.” As I hold that encouraging talent itself is the clue to making the most of the cultural potential in Nagano Prefecture, I thought the centerpiece of the Artistic Supervisory Team’s projects should be that each of the Art Directors would find and encourage the local artists and people engaged in art and culture in the region. The “Shinbism,” where artists and curators involved in Nagano Prefecture conceived their plan, exercising their ingenuity, and working together with the local people including the citizens-supporters and students, became an example representing the approaches which symbolize the idea of the Artistic Supervisory Team’s projects.

I think, in the post-Corona world, cultural power, which cultivates humanity and connects our hearts together, will be needed more and more, from both medium- and long-term perspectives. I wish the Nagano Prefecture, which boasts the largest number of museums and galleries nationwide, would become the model prefecture, where cultural power makes local people happy, and the leading prefecture toward the regeneration of Japan, by further promotion of networking among all museums and galleries in the prefecture.

I sincerely appreciate your continued support and cooperation.

Thank you.

The Shinbism exhibition stood at a turning point at its 3rd exhibition last year in 2019, after the preceding two exhibitions which introduced 20 contemporary artists each, mostly from the younger generation, who are connected to Nagano Prefecture. After the 2nd exhibition, the members of the Working Group decided to include the works of deceased artists into this exhibition and set a basic guideline toward the 4th Shinbism exhibition, which is regarded as a kind of summary of the Shinbism exhibitions as a whole, through an overall consideration of the outline of the remaining two exhibitions, such as the composition of the artists, viewing the contribution of Nagano Prefecture to post-war art history in Japan.

During that t ime, we were st ruck by an unexpected event of the sudden death of Mr. Kunio Motoe, the late Art Director of Nagano Prefecture, who advocated this project. This 4th Shinbism exhibition can be regarded as the culminating event that was held under the leadership and selfless enthusiasm of Mr. Kunio Motoe who had been engaged in the research and support of contemporary art for decades.

In this exhibition, not only painters and sculptors, but also an architect, FUJIMORI Terunobu and a photographer/writer, KOBAYASHI Kisei are introduced as exhibitors. It has been our basic attitude from the beginning of the Shinbism exhibitions to reflect widely a variety of voices of contemporary artists who express themselves in various fields such as crafts, photography and animation.

It is an unprecedented attempt that the curators and staff members, who worked at various kinds of museums including memorial museums, galleries and Boards of Education around the prefecture, voluntarily gathered and materialized their project to hold contemporary art exhibitions with all their strength unwaveringly. In addition to that, another characteristic of the Shinbism exhibitions is that we have published museum catalogues, which include shor t personal histories of the exhibitors, artists’ comments and curators’ texts on the artists and their works along with general introductions, in both Japanese and English for each. It is a pity to admit that exhibitions cannot escape from their transient nature. After the exhibitions, all that remains behind is the fact that the exhibitions were held along with their catalogues. From now on, leaving solid records will become increasingly important. Besides, seeing the names of exhibitors, such as MATSUZAWA Yutaka (1922-2006), TATSUNO Toeko (1950-2014), and KOMATSU Yoshikazu (1949-1985), I am reminded of the fact that the life of works of art is longer than that of the artists, which is an undisputable fact. But, on the other hand, it might seem to be an encouragement for us who are left behind. In contemporary art, “the present” is not just a section of time but, one which represents multi-layered and polyphonic voices of various artists of different generations and times, just like the signals of light reaching us from stars.