| The Nagaoka Contemporary Art Museum was a museum of art located in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is regarded as the first contemporary art museum in the country. Founded in 1964 by Jūkichi Komagata [ja], it was established with the aim of actively assisting the development of gendai bijutsu (contemporary art) scene in Niigata and beyond. In addition to hosting an annual international art competition that highlighted the work and fostered the development of up-and-coming avant-garde artists, it also developed a rich and diverse contemporary art collection through both the fruits of these competitions and acquisition of works by established well-known artists. The Museum is particularly well-known for its connection to the artist collective Group Ultra Niigata (GUN), which developed in the lobby cafe of the Museum's building with the ultimately successful aspiration of showcasing their work there. The Museum closed in 1979 after being open for only fifteen years, but its legacy as one of Japan's earliest sites dedicated to contemporary art lives on to this day. |
