Asakusa is housed in a small residential property built in 1965 in Asakusa, one of the Tokyo’s most bustling tourist districts, and is located steps away from busy streets in a secluded area where 20 households live side-to-side and back-to-back, forming a discreet colony. The renovation project took place in early 2015. Asakusa opened in October, 2015.

The space is intended to serve as a platform through which to engage with art-historical research and independent exhibition projects, making possible various approach to work both with public institutions and private initiatives.

The first edition of our exhibitions focused on our post-industrial society, sharing of knowledge and energy resources through the works by Taka Atsugi (1907-1998, arguably the first Japanese feminist documentary video artist); Mikhail Karikis and Héctor Zamora. The archival edition “1923” investigated the 1920s Dada and Proletariat movement in Tokyo (art collective Mavo, and Sanka Art Association) as the first point of reference in Japanese art history where the role of avant-garde was played in the struggle for political reform. The exhibition with Santiago Sierra and Thomas Hirschhorn considered the limitations of art versus activism, which seeks to physically remedy social realities. Our 8th exhibition, “A Tribute to Prokino” was a screening exhibition with a dedicated archive of newsreels and periodicals by the filmmakers’ collective Prokino (1929-1934), and a day-long programme of contemporary documentaries including ”Yama—Attack to Attack” (1985).

For all our past exhibitions, please find the "exhibition" tab of this website.

Director: Koichiro Osaka

Current project members: Koichiro Osaka, Mariko Mikami, Akiyoshi Nitta