ANB

Based at ANB Tokyo in Roppongi, aspiring to create a cultural ecosystem and new nexus of art and society

Tokyo Art Acceleration (TAA) was founded with the aim of cultivating an ecosystem in society for culture to flourish through art.
Based at ANB Tokyo, a newly opened complex in Roppongi, TAA supports artists with ambitious practices, builds an art-centered community, and plans and runs exhibitions, talks, and other events.
Harnessing an interdisciplinary network through its future activities, it will strive to create a new nexus between art and society in ANB Tokyo and beyond.

ANB Tokyo

Based at ANB Tokyo in Roppongi, aspiring to create a cultural ecosystem and new nexus of art and society

Tokyo Art Acceleration (TAA) was founded with the aim of cultivating an ecosystem in society for culture to flourish through art.
Based at ANB Tokyo, a newly opened complex in Roppongi, TAA supports artists with ambitious practices, builds an art-centered community, and plans and runs exhibitions, talks, and other events.
Harnessing an interdisciplinary network through its future activities, it will strive to create a new nexus between art and society in ANB Tokyo and beyond.

ANB Tokyo
Tetsuro Kouda note

Thinking about a future ecosystem for art that seizes on art’s power to captivate people

Tokyo Art Acceleration is a foundation established with a private donation from myself as well as a donation from Akatsuki Inc., the company where I serve as CEO, via its scheme launched in 2018 to use 1 percent of business profits for nonprofit activities.
I came to conceive of setting up an art foundation from my experience of traveling to art fairs and museums in Japan and overseas from around late 2017, witnessing their sheer scale as well as how the visitors comprised people of all ages and genders enjoying art in various ways. As someone always conscious especially in terms of digital entertainment of how to attract people and entice them to try my company’s services, I developed an interest at some point in the dynamism and power art has to captivate.
At the same time, I also sensed a disparity between Japan and the rest of the world in regard to the level of sophistication of the art industry. Like how the efforts of various older peers helped to grow the ecosystem for startups in Japan over the past ten or fifteen years, the state of the Japanese contemporary art ecosystem is perhaps similar to that situation ten or fifteen years ago. Not only enjoying art as a collector, it is my hope that I can make a contribution to the future ecosystem of contemporary art in Japan through creating a platform and community, and by building bridges with IT and other industries.

Junya Yamamine note

Reciprocity after dialogue
A new challenge as a curator

Until now, I have carried out projects with many artists and art industry peers at home and abroad. I have shared values and experiences across nationality, generation, field, and specialty, and come into contact with those ways of living. This has been an indispensable experience for me. Getting out of the art museum came from my desire to try new challenges while accumulating different encounters in freer environments.
As the first node between Kouda and myself, this foundation will carry out various projects and build relationships that are like clusters of beads. Representative Director Kouda comes from the business world, while I hail from the art world. As such, our perspectives diverge significantly, but we came to realize things over the course of dialogue. It feels like this kind of reciprocal influence and change is what is also needed in the art scene right now.
It takes time and effort for people from different contexts and areas to understand one another, but I believe such potential is cultivated by working together toward new things. I regard my mission in this foundation as that of harnessing my experiences until now and undertaking facilitation that connects art and society.

From our base at ANB Tokyo, creating multiplex communication and engaging in projects that connect with various channels

With community lounge, gallery, and studio facilities, ANB Tokyo utilizes the functionality of each floor to support the creative activities of artists, build an art-centered community, and plan and run exhibitions, talks, and other events. From artists to curators, collectors, business people, government officials, and researchers, out of the multiplex communication that arises at ANB Tokyo, we engage in new project planning and operation.
We also aspire to work beyond ANB Tokyo, tying up with corporations and governments to expand the channels and platforms for for artistic activities. Aiming for an everyday life enriched by art in the home or workplace, we propose ways for art to form part of your private space and time.

COLLABORATORS

  • 株式会社アカツキ(Akatsuki Inc.)
  • Tokyo Photographic Reseach
  • WATOWA,INC.
  • 渋谷芸術祭/SIW
  • Artlogue

TOKYO ART ACCELERATION (一般財団法人東京アートアクセラレーション)

OVERVIEW

Name
Tokyo Art Acceleration
Founded
November 26, 2019
Representative Director
Tetsuro Kouda
Co-Representative
Junya Yamamine
Director
Jungo Kanayama
Director
Takaya Shinozuka
Address
2F ANB Tokyo, 5-2-4 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo