Explore Art and Diversity in Vibrant Shibuya
Take the opportunity to explore your creative side at a new gallery in Shibuya. Located right in the heart of a vibrant neighborhood, this inclusive and diverse space aims to be welcoming for everyone.
Tips
- The gallery has a focus on Art Brut, or "Outsider Art," which is known for unique forms of expression and outside inspiration. It hosts exhibitions featuring a wide array of genres
- The gallery's interactive space faces the popular youth area Shibuya Koen-dori, and has large windows. It's easy to drop in for casual events, or to enjoy some light reading
- The gallery is free to visit, so come by whenever you have a free moment
Shibuya is famous for attracting a diverse mix of visitors, businesses, and residents. It's the spiritual home for an array of youth subcultures, as well as broader fashion, street, and club cultures. Exciting, vibrant, and constantly evolving, Shibuya is a fun neighborhood to explore.
One recent addition to the area is the Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery, which opened in 2020. The gallery's main goal is to use art to promote greater understanding of diversity. The gallery considers its activities to be a tangible way to contribute to the creation of a more welcoming and inclusive society.
"Tomorrow's Surprises" exhibit (Photo: Tatsuro Kakishima)
"Unframed" exhibit (Photo: Satoshi Takaishi)
The gallery holds exhibitions, interactive programs, and programs for disseminating information and ideas. One key thread that runs through all these is a focus on Art Brut, or "Outsider Art." The term was first proposed in the 1920s by French artist Jean Dubuffet. Today, it refers to art with unique ideas and means of expression that is often created by artists who have not received a formal art education.
The Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery's exhibitions showcase the creativity of diverse individuals through a variety of works, including pieces of Outsider Art. It also holds interactive programs which promote creative exchanges to help people discover diverse values and learn to respect other ways of thinking. Its dissemination programs provide a broad range of information that the gallery has gathered in order to promote harmonious co-existence through art.
Its well-lit interactive space has a variety of books and magazines for visitors to enjoy. This space is also where the gallery hosts functions such as workshops, talks, and live concerts to encourage interaction between artists, visitors, and others.
"Kids meet 02" interactive program (Photo: Motoi Sato)
The gallery's dedication to diversity and creativity is even reflected in its logo, which mixes the shape of a person with the exclamation mark, expressing the surprises and discoveries to be found in meeting different people. The logo also resembles a Japanese ladder lottery, to signify surprise encounters with people and discoveries we could not have imagined ourselves.
Come visit the Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery, where you're sure to make a discovery of your own.
