Most people know the Nagoya International Center as the place to go for language support, practical advice, or help figuring out life in Japan. But for six days a year, its fourth floor is given over to art.
The 41st Foreign Artists Exhibition (FAE) opens on Culture Day, Tuesday, November 3, and runs through Sunday, November 8. It brings together work by international artists living in Nagoya and the wider Chubu region. Some are relatively new to Japan. Others are established professionals who have spent decades developing their work here.
Forty-One Exhibitions and Counting
The exhibition is organized by the Central Japan International Society (CJIS) with the support of the Nagoya International Center, and it is now into its fifth decade.
The original idea was straightforward: give international artists living in central Japan somewhere to exhibit, and get them talking with the people who come to look.
Over the years, that has meant painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture, and digital and mixed-media work, often sharing the same room.
More Than Something on a Wall
Unlike the big-ticket museum shows, where the artist may have been dead for a century or two, the people making this work live here. At the FAE you have a good chance of meeting some of them while you're visiting. Artists often stand by their work to explore their work and ideas. That is just one of the things that brings people, a dialogue that expands beyond art into shared experiences and questions.
So ask a question. You don't need to know much about art to have a meaninful conversation with someone who makes it.
The exhibition doesn't insist on a specific movement or a theme. The participants are connected by the fact that they've made their homes in this part of Japan. Beyond that, their work is undefined by traditional frameworks and categories. The art flows from the power of the freedom to express.
Admission is free, and you can drop in any time during exhibition hours.
Quite a lot of art gets described as starting a conversation.
Here, you might actually have one.
Exhibiting this year? Nagoya Buzz would like to hear about your work. The Nagoya Buzz Quarterly also carries contributor art and photography in print and online. Get in touch at info@nagoyabuzz.com
The Details
The 41st Foreign Artists Exhibition (FAE 41)
Venue
Nagoya International Center
4F Exhibition Rooms 1–3
Date
Tuesday, November 3 – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Time
10:00–18:00 (November 8: 10:00–17:00)
Price
Free
Address
1-47-1 Nagono, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
Website
Nagoya International Center – FAE 41
Organizer
Central Japan International Society (CJIS)
Supported by Nagoya International Center
Contact
nagoyafae@hotmail.com
Access
By Subway
Sakuradori Line, Kokusai Center Station (S03), Exit 2. The exit connects directly to the building; take the elevators to 4F. From Nagoya Station (S02), it's one stop, or a 7–10 minute walk through the Unimall underground passage.
Nagoya Subway Map
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