Kyoto Art Center


The Kyoto Art Center is a venue for promoting the arts which is located in the heart of Kyoto, Japan. The center, a three-story reinforced-concrete building, occupies the site of the former Meirin Elementary School.
It has a studio, gallery, auditorium, Japanese-style hall, free space, library, an information corner, Japanese-style tea room, the Maeda Coffee Meirin coffee shop, a common room and shops.
Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation manages the center, which aims to support artistic activities, act as a clearinghouse for arts information, plan artist in residence programs and promote artists to the public.
In 2008 the north, south and west wings, the gate and wall of the center were registered as one of the Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan.

History

In addition to Japanese contemporary arts programs, a number of international events occur at the center. Since 2010, an international theater festival, the has been held in late September and October. A long-running program, the Traditional Theater Training program, originally started in 1985 by scholar of Japanese theater Jonathan Salz, and now under the aegis of the Kyoto Art Center, gives an intensive course in a traditional Japanese theatrical form – originally kyōgen, now also Noh and nihonbuyō, and a separate course in kotsuzumi – for beginners. Approximately half the participants are foreign and half are Japanese; since 2011 the weekend workshop at the start of the program, which gives a taste of various aspects of Japanese theater, has been available separately.