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 Philippe Bettinelli, Curator of the New Media at the Centre Pompidou, who is visiting Japan as part of this exchange program. Bettinelli will introduce the museum’s new media collection and come back on the museum’s involvement with digital art, from its creation to very recent curatorial projects.
We are also pleased to welcome Hatanaka Minoru, a leading curator who has long played a key role in shaping Japan’s media art scene. In a conversation with Bettinelli, Hatanaka will reflect on the development of media art in Japan and explore key intersections between the histories of media art in France and Japan.
This event is co-organized with Le Labo, a dialogue series hosted by the Institut français de Tokyo. With the generous support of the Japanese Friends of the Centre Pompidou, a networking reception with the curators will be held after the talk. All registered attendees are welcome to join.
Event Details
Date & Time: Thursday, 27 November 2025, 19:00–21:30 (Doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Espace Images, Institut français de Tokyo (15 Ichigaya-Funagawara-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
Google Map
Speaker: Philippe Bettinelli
Guest Speaker: Hatanaka Minoru
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)
Registration
Please register via the link below:
Peatix (in Japanese)
Speakers
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Philippe Bettinelli
Curator in the new media department of the Musée national d'art moderne - Centre de Création Industrielle, within Centre Pompidou. Alongside video, sound and contemporary art in general, his research focuses on the history of digital art, from 1960’s to nowadays. His recent curatorial projects include the Marcel Duchamp Prize 2021, 目China, a new generation of artists (2024, Centre Pompidou). In the field of new media, he curated the online exhibition No item, 9 abstract works for the internet browser (2021), the NFT acquisitions and exhibition of Centre Pompidou, and the the Beyond Matter research program dedicated to the history of the exhibition Les Immatériaux (2024, Centre Pompidou). He has been a member of the editorial boards of the academic reviews Histoire de l’art and Perspective and teaches art history in Ecole du Louvre.
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Hatanaka Minoru – Curator, Critic
Hatanaka has been involved with the NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] since its establishment in 1996, organizing numerous exhibitions and events. Major exhibitions include Sound Art (2000), Sounding Space (2003), Silent Dialogue (2007), Invisible Forces (2010), and IS YOUR TIME: SAKAMOTO Ryuichi with TAKATANI Shiro, Installation Music 2 (2017). He has also curated solo shows by Dumb Type, Laurie Anderson, Hachiya Kazuhiko, and John Wood & Paul Harrison. Recent projects include Viewpoints of Reality in the Multi-layered World (2022), Tribute to RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: Music/Art/Media (2023), ICC Annual 2024: Faraway, so close (2024), and evala: Emerging Site/ Disappearing Sight (2024). He has served as an artist selection committee member for Ennova Art Biennale Vol.1 (China, 2024) and as Advisor to the Mori Art Museum for MACHINE LOVE: Video Game, AI, and Contemporary Art (2025).
