Roppongi Art Night 2020, a one-night-only art feast set in the Roppongi district, will be held over two days from May 30th to 31st.

(C)2020 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
(C)MADSAKI/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
(C)Fujiko-Pro

Roppongi Art Night is Tokyo's leading art festival, which began in March 2009 with the aim of proposing a new lifestyle of enjoying art in everyday life and creating a pioneering model for urban development in the metropolis of Tokyo. Set in Roppongi, home to a variety of commercial and cultural facilities, this event will feature a variety of works, including contemporary art and design, music, video, and performance, scattered throughout the city, offering a one-night-only, extraordinary experience.

This year's main program artist is Takashi Murakami, a globally active and renowned contemporary artist representing Japan. Under the theme of "A Magical Adventure: Discover the Wonders of Art in This City!", a wide variety of contemporary art pieces, light installations, video, music, theater, and more, based on Doraemon, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will be gathered from all over the world.

Roppongi Art Night 2020 Main Program Artist: Takashi Murakami
Photo by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Murakami has produced numerous works in recent years in collaboration with Fujiko F. Fujio, the artist behind Doraemon. For this event, he plans to create his largest balloon artwork to date. He will also serve as both a main program artist and a producer.

In addition, artists affiliated with Kaikai Kiki, Murakami's label, will create new Doraemon-themed works, which will be exhibited under Murakami's direction at three locations: Roppongi Hills Arena, Tokyo Midtown, and the National Art Center, Tokyo.


Regarding the holding of this event, Murakami said, "Tokyo looks like a megalopolis from overseas. It's a real Blade Runner-like metropolis. You can see beautiful robot girls walking around the city. So, what is real about the art in that city? And when you think about it, it's manga, straight out of the box. Japanese art is manga. But there is also Western-style art. When asked what is the best fusion or collaboration of these two, I personally think Doraemon is the best. Why? Because I think the subtle difference in temperature that it receives from the world's geological context is what's great. When I previously collaborated with Uniqlo to feature my flowers and Doraemon, customers from Asia were like, Ah! That's Japan after all, they get it! Doraemon! Cute, cool! A collaboration with art!" But in the West, they were like, "I don't know why Murakami collaborated with Japanese characters, but it's good!" This project leverages this difference in enthusiasm and understanding to concretely present the form of art that is sought after today. Roppongi Art Night. This year, rather than catering specifically to Japanese people, we're focusing on the perspective of international visitors, so I wonder what it'll be like? Well, just take a look. "