The reopened Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu aims at “encounter with art, conversation with art, and enjoyment of art.”
People working together toward this new vision are art communicators, nicknamed “Nagarers.”

What are art communicators?

Art communicators are people who work together to connect people—through art—with people, with art works, and with places.
They are community builders, for they connect people with a variety of value systems by fostering communication.
Coming from a wide array of backgrounds, they include company workers, students, homemakers, retirees, freelancers, and so on.

Who Are the Nagarers?

Cherishing communication through art, Nagarers engage in activities based at the Museum to foster “art relationships” involving people living in Gifu and Gifu-related topics. They connect people to people, people with works of art, and people and culture, and thereby open the way for new values and relationships in society.

We Call Art Communicators “Nagarers”

Message from Museum Director HIBINO Katsuhiko: The Origin of the Nickname “Nagarer”

Experience the fascination of the Museum and introduce to visitors the attraction of art
while encountering, conversing with, and enjoying art—

“Nagarers”!

“Nagarer” is coined from the Japanese word “…-nagara,” meaning “while—as in ‘kaiwa shi-nagara’ (while engaged in conversation).”

… while building relationships, but at your own pace

… while accepting the needs of another person as your own

… while being considerate to the other

Communication cannot take place without someone else.
Other people are indispensable. “Nagara” comes into being between you and others.
It is, rather than being absorbed with yourself, being with someone else or other people, simultaneously enjoying conversation and building relationships.

“Nagarer” also evokes Gifu’s famous river, the Nagara.

Human beings have a way of always marking time, drawing boundaries on the land, defining colors with names, and so on, but in fact time, land, and colors are boundless. They are part of a continuum, and it is this state that we describe as “nagara.” This “nagara” continuum connects you and me and it connects me to art.

HIBINO Katsuhiko
Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu

Message from the Art Communication Project Team

We invite people who love art, people who have creative ideas, people interested in community building to join our team—people who think, “Art seems interesting though I know little about it; but I want to try it!” and are willing to take the first step forward. Come join us to work for the betterment of the Museum, which serves as a social community where people of various backgrounds can gather, connect with one another, and exchange ideas.