Reviews / What's been said about FAC & J+BAN

" British Art Now has for many years encourage young artists from Britain and Japan to work together and learn from the experience of being in an other culture. We support these objectives...."
Sir Stephen Gomersall, Former British Ambassador to Japan

"It is a fine thing when governments and their agencies get involved in supporting cross- cultural arts events and exhibitions. But it will always be people -- those rare and wonderful people who love to live in art -- who reach across and breathe the life into cross cultural exchanges. Luckily for artists and art lovers in Tokyo and London, we have such a person in Kathryn Bell. "

"In the work that Japanese and British Art Now and Fine Art Consultancy have become known for in Tokyo and London I feel confident that we will find something that is often missing in arts council and embassy-run programs -- and that is the good old human touch, and a sense that the working relationships here are nurtured and developed and I personally feel it's just the way art ought to be."
Monty DiPietro is the Japan Times contemporary art writer and Tokyo correspondent for ARTnews.

"I was always impressed by the creative image which Kathryn Bell and BAN gave young British artists. It demonstrated the spirit of innovation and enterprise which exists in Britain today........ correcting an excessively stereotyped view of British art."
Sir David Wright Managing Director, British Trade International, UK Ambassador to Japan until 1999

"It was fortunate that my recent trip to Japan coincided with the British Art Now exhibitions in Tokyo....I was left in admiration of the scale and ambition of such a project... and struck by how positively the Japanese public reacted to it. We should welcome the public acclaim achieved by our artists overseas".
Chris Smith, British Secretary of State for Culture, February 1999

Kathryn Bell is a rarity in Japan, in that while embracing Japanese culture she hates seeing a kimono hung on walls. She prefers to be involved in what she calls “the upward struggle of living artists” work.

The programme reveals creative processes at work as never before. Fine Art Consultancy believes that artists should never be banned from freely expressing themselves, for they show us how to think, feel and see.
Angela Jeffs, Japan Times

Bell has done a good job in the difficult task of rounding-up good young artists, then finding accommodating spaces and financial support for her ongoing cross-cultural project.
Asahi Evening News, October 1999

"Artists who take part in British Art Now reap rewards which are poured back into their work".
Chris Smith, British Secretary of State for Culture, February 1999

Such exchange programmes as this are an important and precious opportunity for not only introducing works but also in developing the communication between people such as artists. It will surely further encourage a better understanding through art. From an article that reviewed British Art Now in the Mainichi News Paper
Prof. Tatehata / Tama Art College, Critic of Art

The uniqueness of this exhibition is that they have broken down the barriers that exist between the organiser and the visitor. UK Artists also visited Japan and they conducted a workshop that offered visiting artists practical experience and the chance to answer questions light-heartedly. From an interview by
Nishi Nihon News Paper, July 1997