Nana Poulot: “Black Art in Japan is aimed at anyone who wants to develop opportunities, create or strengthen ties between these cultures, and foster this artistic and commercial dialogue in a space for meeting, (re)connecting, and

Asakan: You’re currently pursuing a master’s degree in Art, Business, and Art Market Law at the Courtauld Institute and King’s College London, but you’re already making your mark on the global art scene. Can you tell us a little about your background?

Nana Poulot: Having studied at the Sorbonne in France and the University of Waterloo in Canada, I combined my dual degree in Literature and Art History with various professional experiences, including stints at the Taménaga Gallery, Kayokoyuki, Frieze London, the cultural department of the French Embassy in The Hague, and Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto.

This year, while continuing my studies in London, I gained insight into the intricacies of the art dealer and consultant’s profession by helping to organize private artist shows. This was invaluable and pivotal because it gave me a concrete and vivid understanding of the market as a whole, which taught me to approach art in multiple ways.

Asakan: “In diverse ways”—what do you mean by that?

Nana Poulot: I’d say these experiences gave me a more holistic approach to the art world. Through my interactions with galleries, art fairs, and collectors, I came to understand the skills required to open and run a gallery—including financial, institutional, legal, and interpersonal skills—which are essential for effectively promoting and supporting artists.

Asakan: Why did you choose the Courtauld Institute even though you were born and raised in France?

Nana Poulot: As far back as I can remember, I developed a genuine fascination with other countries at a very early age, along with a deep desire to live and work abroad.

After completing my dual bachelor’s degree, I wanted to pursue a program [Art, Business, and Art Market Law] that combined my interest in art with an understanding of the economic challenges facing the art world. So, quite naturally, the Courtauld Institute presented itself as the obvious choice, with its long tradition of teaching art history and the legal aspects of the art market, supervision by Dorothy Price, and the opportunity to study at King’s Business School.

I also wanted to move away from the compartmentalized educational systems in France and Japan—where I spent part of my high school years—and find an institution where alternative voices and perspectives could coexist, including those of Black British artists. I find the art market in London far more dynamic and inspiring than that of Paris, not only because of its many galleries and exhibitions, but also because of its promotion of more cosmopolitan and emerging artists. There’s a real culture of risk-taking.

Asakan: Alongside this journey, you’ve also worked as a contributor to the Kyoto Journal...

Nana Poulot: The Kyoto Journal allows me to reach a broader international audience and open up new platforms for the artists I wish to support and promote.

Promoting contemporary artists from Japan, Africa, and their diasporas is a deeply personal commitment, born from the convergence of various experiences and an intimate connection to writing and the transmission of knowledge.

Writing has always played a central role in my career. It allows ideas to circulate, breaks down barriers between perspectives, and helps build a collective memory. Very early on, I felt the need to create a kind of archive, a record.

Asakan: What exactly is the legacy of Black artists and the galleries representing them in Japan? And how is the art market faring in the Land of the Rising Sun?

Nana Poulot: I’m currently writing my Master’s thesis on the influence and impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the Japanese art scene, with a particular focus on the inclusion and representation of Black artists in Japan since 2020.

Black Lives Matter marked a moment of global awareness—including in Japan—regarding persistent inequalities, both societal and artistic. The Black community in Japan has a different history from Black communities in the West, as it did not grow up or establish itself in a country that was its former colonizer or slave-holding nation. Many arrived from the Middle East or China in the 1980s, hoping for better economic opportunities in a country then experiencing rapid economic growth.

The Japanese art market has historically developed by drawing inspiration from Western models, which have long incorporated mechanisms of exclusion toward Black artists. A significant part of the work undertaken in recent years—by both academics and local and international art market professionals—has focused on challenging these mechanisms to deconstruct what some describe as “cultural imperialism.” I’m thinking in particular of spaces like Standing Pine and Space Un in Tokyo, the Mori Art Museum, and the exhibition *Blows Like a Monsoon: Contemporary Afro-Asian Arts on the Great Journey and Exchange*, currently on view at the Gifu Museum of Fine Arts.

Asakan: We’re also thinking of the Black Art in Japan platform that you launched in February 2026…

Nana Poulot: I created the Black Art in Japan platform with the idea of making it the first port of call for anyone interested in Black and mixed-race artists in Japan. There are Black artists who are virtually unknown, and one of the missions of “Black Art in Japan” is to raise awareness of them among the Japanese public.

I came to this out of a genuine appreciation for Japanese and African contemporary art—and, of course, their diasporas—but also because I saw that there was no dedicated space, no representation, and no archives. In fact, Japan has been forging commercial and diplomatic ties with several African countries for over 500 years, but few people are aware of this.

I take on the humble role of advisor, archivist, and guide throughout the exhibition and research process. And then, being able to combine Black Excellence and Japanese culture was like returning to my first love: fostering dialogue among artists who draw on their differences as the source of their art and success.

Asakan: How would you describe your target audience?

Nana Poulot: I primarily reach out to emerging Black artists living and exhibiting in Japan, to those with an interest in the country, but also to those who are unaware of the opportunities it offers.

My goal is to create a meeting place, to serve as a bridge between these artistic ecosystems where different voices—those of gallery owners, curators, collectors, art lovers, and artists—can engage with one another.

I’m always on the lookout for future developments, with my eyes and ears wide open, as my project includes opening a gallery in Tokyo to represent these artists and to help promote their work with the best possible support and expertise. That’s one of the challenges I’ll be facing in the coming years.

Asakan: So this platform isn’t just for Japanese people?

Nana Poulot: That’s exactly right. Black Art in Japan is aimed at anyone who wishes to develop opportunities, create or deepen connections between these cultures, and foster this artistic and commercial dialogue in a space for meeting, (re)connecting, and exchanging ideas.

The Japanese contemporary art market appeals to a broad audience of collectors and art lovers, but it hasn’t been studied extensively, particularly from an external perspective. At the same time, the promotion of Black artists remains severely limited on the Japanese art scene. To navigate this landscape, one needs specific knowledge—which I hope to provide—since it can sometimes be difficult to know where to find concrete and accessible information. It’s a shame because there’s so much to discover.

Asakan: In your interactions with the various stakeholders in the art world, what common misconceptions or myths do you often hear about Japan, and how does your platform address or debunk these perceptions?

Nana Poulot: I wouldn’t say there are necessarily misconceptions, but one opinion I sometimes hear is that Japanese people don’t like foreigners. Of course, one can’t speak for the entire country, but I think that cultural differences in Japan stem—even more so than elsewhere—from a deep lack of understanding of the other, as well as from the difficulty of discussing these topics in a society perceived as “smooth.”

Although Black artists are more represented than they were a few years ago, this visibility does not necessarily translate into intercultural understanding. In Japan, as elsewhere, Africa is still too often associated with certain clichés or outdated visual images.

Simon Njami, one of the leading intellectual figures in contemporary African art, speaks of the need to reflect on oneself, “that we must give people the means to think for themselves, the means to have tools and to create tools that are endogenous and that allow them not to be followers but actors in their own endeavors”; I find that this resonates particularly well with the current Japanese context.

In 2020, the Japanese broadcaster NHK aired a documentary intended to explain the Black Lives Matter movement to a young audience. However, the documentary was strongly criticized by the Japanese public as well as by members of Black communities in Japan and the United States for oversimplifying the issue, reducing the movement to income disparities between Black and white people. This reception highlighted a certain lack of understanding—whether conscious or not—of the structural issues related to systemic racism and historical violence that underlie the movement.

However, what is certain is that in Japan, more and more artists, professors, researchers, and citizens are reflecting on topics such as migration, xenophobia, and colonialism. These reflections show that society is evolving. Today, the fact that several Black artists are represented and exhibited in Japanese galleries is proof of this.

Another “misconception” is that Japanese contemporary art—much like Black artists in the West—is, in reality, limited in the public’s eyes to a handful of big names, who, however, cannot embody it on their own. In fact, for several decades, Western collectors took an interest only in pieces they considered “authentically” Japanese: works closely tied to traditional materials or craftsmanship, such as nihonga, mokuhanga (woodblock prints), rakuyaki (ceramics), or shikki (lacquer), in exhibitions that merely perpetuated the illusion of a Japan frozen in archaism, while fueling Orientalist fantasies that draw a distinction between, on the one hand, a primitive and mysterious East, and on the other, a resolutely progressive and industrialized West.

For me, this backward-looking vision must be challenged and dismantled. One of my missions is to introduce the public to numerous emerging and avant-garde artists who are not exhibited on the global stage; I’m thinking of Caroline Gueye, who represented Senegal at the 61st Venice Biennale, or the South African artist Bezalel—both of whom find inspiration in the dialogue between cultures, particularly with Japan.

Asakan: To what extent can Japan help bridge the divide between Black and Western artists—both in terms of representation and recognition, as well as access to the global art market?

Nana Poulot: I don’t believe that the major players in the Japanese art market are currently seeking to actively bridge these divides. Nevertheless, in recent years we have seen a gradual shift toward better representation of these artists, both globally and within Japan. Black and African artists are increasingly present and in demand on the international art market. In 2020, many set records at auctions in the West, and it was at that point that major galleries—both Western and Japanese—gradually began representing them, incorporating them into their programming, and dedicating more exhibitions to them, even though much remains to be done.

The Kyotographie festival, in particular, has developed the “African Artists in Residence” program, inviting African artists to stay in Japan for two weeks, providing them with a creative environment and the opportunity to produce new works.

I believe that major Japanese cultural institutions—whether museums, galleries, or the media—have a vital role to play in democratizing access to these artists, increasing their visibility, and promoting their work to a wider audience. Furthermore, the concepts of cooperation and mutual support are deeply embedded in the functioning of the Japanese art market. In my view, they constitute a genuine strength that opens up the possibility of envisioning an autonomous ecosystem, one in which certain exclusionary dynamics—still evident in major Western art capitals—would not be replicated.

My reflection, therefore, stems more from a desire to create and facilitate bridges, and to explore how the Japanese art scene could open up new avenues for creation, representation, and integration of Black artists into the art market. I see this as an opportunity for dialogue and mutual enrichment.

Asakan: Any final thoughts?

Nana Poulot: Dare.

Dare to learn from our differences, dare to deconstruct ourselves, dare to imagine.

To learn more about Nana Poulot’s work, visit her website or follow the Black Art in Japan Instagram account. The Editorial Team.