NGMA to Host ‘Tokyo Before/After’ Photography Exhibition, Tracing a Century of Change

New Delhi, September 2, 2026:

The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, in collaboration with The Japan Foundation, will host ‘Tokyo Before/After’, a photography exhibition tracing the transformation of Tokyo across nearly a century. The exhibition will be open to visitors from September 3 to 19, 2026.

The exhibition, originally produced on the occasion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, features around 80 photographs from two distinct periods of Tokyo’s history. Photographs taken during the 1930s and 1940s are presented alongside works created from the 2010s onwards, offering viewers a visual dialogue between Tokyo’s past and present.

Featuring works by renowned Japanese photographers including Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki and other leading artists, the exhibition explores the changing character of Tokyo through its streets, architecture, people and everyday life. It also examines how photography preserves urban memories and captures the impact of social and cultural transformation.

NGMA Director General Dr. Sanjeev Kishor Gautam said that a city is shaped not only by what is visible in the present but also by the memories it carries. He said the exhibition provides an opportunity to experience Tokyo through two different moments in time and discover the connections between memory, transformation and human experience.

Koji Sato, Director General of The Japan Foundation, New Delhi, said photography provides a unique way of understanding a city. According to him, photographs not only document streets, buildings and people but also preserve moments of transformation and reveal how different generations have perceived the same place over time.

Strengthening India-Japan Cultural Ties

The exhibition marks an important cultural collaboration between NGMA and The Japan Foundation and is expected to provide Indian audiences with an opportunity to explore Japanese photographic expression and urban culture.

The initiative also highlights the longstanding cultural friendship between India and Japan, using photography as a medium to encourage dialogue between different cultures, generations and artistic traditions.

The inauguration ceremony was held at 6:30 PM on September 2, 2026, at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Jinichi Kadowaki, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan in India, and Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, among other dignitaries.