NCAR Talk 009: "The State of Art Brut in France and Japan" A Conversation with Cristina Agostinelli (Centre Pompidou), Kenjiro Hosaka (Shiga Museum of Art), and Rena Kano (Independent Curator)

Artwork Image: Aloïse Corbaz, dite Aloïse, « Collier en serpent », vers 1956. – © Association Aloïse.
Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Audrey Laurans

NCAR Talks are a series of public events organized by the National Center for Art Research (NCAR) that invite guest speakers to engage in open dialogue with our audiences. Each session explores a specific theme, offering an opportunity to learn more about NCAR’s initiatives and artistic research.

Since 2024, NCAR has been running a curatorial exchange program with the Institut français du Japon and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Through this initiative, curators are dispatched between the Centre Pompidou and National Museums of Art in Japan, with the aim of deepening mutual understanding of modern and contemporary art and strengthening cultural ties between France and Japan.

For this edition, we are delighted to welcome Cristina Agostinelli, involved in the preservation, enhancement, and development of the Art Brut collection at the Centre Pompidou, who is visiting Japan as part of this exchange program. Drawing on works from the museum's collection, she will trace the development of the concept of Art Brut, its history, and its significance.

We are also pleased to welcome Kenjiro Hosaka, Director of Shiga Museum of Art, who specializes in Art Brut, alongside Rena Kano, a collaborator of Agostinelli and a curator who organizes events focused on Art Brut in France, Japan, and internationally. The three speakers will share their perspectives on recent developments and the current state of Art Brut in France, Europe, and Japan.

This event is co-organized with Le Labo, a dialogue series hosted by the Institut français de Tokyo. A networking reception with the speakers will be held after the talk, which all registered attendees are welcome to join.

Date & Time:

Thursday, 22 October 2026, 19:00-21:30 *Talk and reception
(Doors open at 18:30)

Venue:

Espace Images, Institut français de Tokyo (15 Ichigaya-Funagawara-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
Google Map

Speaker:

Cristina Agostinelli

Guest Speakers:

Kenjiro Hosaka, Rena Kano

Capacity:

100 (Advance registration required; closes when full)

Admission:

¥1,000 general
Free for students and Institut français members
Please present valid ID (membership card or student ID) at reception. If not provided, the general rate will apply.

Languages:

French & Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation)

Organizers:

National Center for Art Research (NCAR), Institut français de Tokyo

Inquiries:

03-5206-2500 (Institut français de Tokyo)

Please register via the link below:
Registration (PEATIX)

• Cristina Agostinelli

  

  Photo: Hervé Véronèse
  
  Cristina Agostinelli is an art historian at Centre Pompidou. A specialist in Iris Clert and Yüksel Arslan, she has curated exhibitions on both figures and is currently preparing a major exhibition on Clert. Since 2021, she has been responsible for the preservation, development, and promotion of the museum’s Art Brut collection following the Decharme donation. She has curated several Art Brut exhibitions, oversees the AB/CP lecture series, and served as associate curator of the exhibition "Art brut - The Decharme donation to the Centre Pompidou". She is also a committee member for the “Art Brut: The Decharme Donation” research program at the Kandinsky Library of the National Museum of Modern Art (MNAM). As a member of several Art Brut-focused scholarly committees in France and abroad, she is currently involved in a number of exhibition and publication projects. Selected for the 2026 Franco-Japanese Curator Exchange Program, she is undertaking a research residency in Japan aimed at increasing the representation of Japanese artists in the MNAM collection and developing an exhibition that highlights the relationship between French and Japanese Art Brut collections.

• Kenjiro Hosaka

  

  Director (Museum Director) of the Shiga Museum of Art. After serving as Senior Curator at the The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, he assumed his current position in January 2021. Major exhibitions he has curated include "Francis Bacon" (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 2013), "Genius: The Human Gift for Creating and Living" (Shiga Museum of Art, 2022), and "AWT FOCUS Worlds in Balance:
  Art in Japan from the Postwar to the Present" (Okura Museum of Art, 2023). He also serves as a Special Member of the Cultural Policy Subcommittee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Council for Cultural Affairs, a member of the Expert Panel for the Promotion of Cultural and Artistic Activities by Persons with Disabilities convened by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and an editorial committee member for "Bijutsu" published by Mitsumura Tosho Publishing. His major publications include "ART BRUT ART NIPPON" (Supervision: Heibonsha, 2013).

• Rena Kano

  

  Exhibition curator, art historian, and anthropologist. Born in Kobe, she holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and Ethnology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). She has been involved in the development of Art Brut exhibitions, writing, and the organization of symposiums and conferences held in Japan and internationally. Most recently, she published "Les Honda de Raynaud" (2025) with Éditions du Regard in France.
  In 2026, she founded the Izumi Art Museum within Izumi Hospital in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, where she serves as Curator and Head of Exhibitions and Research.
  Her major exhibitions include "Banditi dell’Arte" (an exhibition featuring six Japanese and Italian artists) at 3331 Arts Chiyoda, and "Chance and Necessity and…", the largest international Art Brut exhibition ever held in Japan, presenting 250 works by 50 artists from 22 countries.
  Among her recent collaborations is "Art brut - The Decharme donation to the Centre Pompidou" (2025), co-organized by the Centre Pompidou and the Grand Palais Museum.
  She also leads "Tonari no hi", a co-creation workshop that provides a space for dialogue and artistic creation among people from diverse backgrounds, with and without disabilities.