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Fram Kitagawa

きたがわふらむ

Kitagawa Furamu

Pen Names: Fram（His given name; uses the Norwegian word meaning "advance."）

Profile

Gender: Male
Born: 1946-10-05 （Takada, Niigata Prefecture (now Jōetsu), Japan）
Nationality: Japan
Languages: Japanese
Residence History: Japan

Career

Occupations: Art director, Gallery director, Art educator, Producer
Active Years: 1971-
Affiliations: Art Front Gallery (Representative Director), Gendai Kikakushitsu (Representative Director), Fukutake Foundation (Executive Director), Joshibi University of Art and Design (Professor / Visiting Professor)

Education

Institution	Faculty	Department	Degree	Period	Country
Tokyo University of the Arts	Faculty of Fine Arts	History of Buddhist Sculpture (major)	—	—	Japan

Tokyo University of the Arts

Faculty of Fine Arts / History of Buddhist Sculpture (major)

Country: Japan

Active in student movements and underground cultural networks during university.

Awards

Year	Award	Work	Category	Organization	Result
1994	Planning and Design Award	—	—	Japan Society of Urban Planning	受賞
1994	Special Prize	—	—	Japan Association of Architectural Art and Craft	受賞
1998	Mecenat Grand Prize	—	—	Mecenat	受賞
2003	Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Chevalier	—	—	French Republic	受章
2003	Cultural Medal	—	—	Republic of Poland	受章
2007	Art Encouragement Prize, Minister of Education Award (Fine Arts)	—	美術	Agency for Cultural Affairs (Art Encouragement Prize)	受賞
2007	International Exchange Encouragement Award / Cultural Exchange Award	—	—	Japan Foundation	受賞
2010	Kagawa Prefecture Cultural Merit	—	—	Kagawa Prefecture	顕彰
2016	Medal with Purple Ribbon	—	—	Government of Japan	受章
2018	Asahi Prize	—	—	The Asahi Shimbun Company	受賞
2018	Person of Cultural Merit	—	—	Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology	顕彰
2019	Miyazawa Kenji / Ihatov Prize	—	—	Miyazawa Kenji Prize Committee	受賞

Planning and Design Award

1994

Organization: Japan Society of Urban Planning

Result: 受賞

Special Prize

1994

Organization: Japan Association of Architectural Art and Craft

Result: 受賞

Mecenat Grand Prize

1998

Organization: Mecenat

Result: 受賞

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Chevalier

2003

Organization: French Republic

Result: 受章

Cultural Medal

2003

Organization: Republic of Poland

Result: 受章

Art Encouragement Prize, Minister of Education Award (Fine Arts)

2007

Category: 美術

Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Art Encouragement Prize)

Result: 受賞

International Exchange Encouragement Award / Cultural Exchange Award

2007

Organization: Japan Foundation

Result: 受賞

Kagawa Prefecture Cultural Merit

2010

Organization: Kagawa Prefecture

Result: 顕彰

Medal with Purple Ribbon

2016

Organization: Government of Japan

Result: 受章

Asahi Prize

2018

Organization: The Asahi Shimbun Company

Result: 受賞

Person of Cultural Merit

2018

Organization: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Result: 顕彰

Miyazawa Kenji / Ihatov Prize

2019

Organization: Miyazawa Kenji Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Art Encouragement Prize for Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2 appearances

Edition 57 (2007) award
Edition 57 (2007) award

Works

Major Works

Not Me, but the Sea of Shiranuhi

1981 Essay / Criticism

An early work collecting his reflections on his activities and art in relation to local communities; discusses production and regional collaboration.

RegionalityArt and societyCollaboration

Art of Hope, Dream of Collaboration: Fram Kitagawa's 40 Years 1965–2004

2005 Memoir / Exhibition record

A retrospective on Kitagawa's forty years of activity, including records and reflections on exhibitions and projects.

Exhibition curationRegional revitalizationPublic art

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale: The Land Art Festival 2006

2007 Exhibition catalogue / Project book

A publication documenting the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, summarizing concepts and focusing on the relationship between region and art.

TriennaleRegion and artCollaborative production

Bibliography

Not Me, but the Sea of Shiranuhi (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 1981)
ART UNIVERSIADE - Nanohana Satomi Discovery Exhibition Record (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 2003)
Ryo-kan Who Is There Now (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 2004)
Art of Hope, Dream of Collaboration: Fram Kitagawa's 40 Years 1965–2004 (Kadokawa Gakugei Publishing, 2005)
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2006 (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 2007)
Opening Art: Restoring Connections Between Regions and People (Chikuma Shinsho, 2015)
From Naoshima to the Setouchi Art Festival — How Art Changed Regions (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 2016)
FARÉ Tachikawa Public Art Project (Gendai Kikakushitsu, 2017)

Style & Themes

Literary Style: Critical and practice-based toneEmphasis on regional collaboration
Recurring Motifs: Regional revitalizationUse of public spaceCollaboration and participation

Legacy

Fram Kitagawa is recognized as a producer/director who linked art with local communities, notably shaping large regional art festivals in Japan (Echigo-Tsumari, Setouchi) and urban public art initiatives. He is credited with popularizing the relationship between regional revitalization and art, while also having experienced controversies over organizational management.

Museums

Chichu Art Museum Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan Opened in 2004
Art Front Gallery Daikanyama, Shibuya, Tokyo (operational base) Opened in 1982

Quotes

Regarding the Niigata incident, I got carried away.

Source: Asahi Shimbun (interview) (2013)

Trivia

"Fram" is his real name, derived from the Norwegian word meaning "advance."
He was dismissed from the directorship of the Niigata City Art Museum amid reported management and operational disputes.