On Monday (5 November 2018), Curator Lindsay Taylor returned from a 10-day research trip to Japan, generously funded by the Japan Foundation and the Ishibashi Foundation. Six professionals from the UK, Germany and Poland were invited to participate in the Exchange Programme for Specialists in Contemporary Art. The intensive programme included visits to museums and galleries in Tokyo, Yamaguchi, Chiba and Towada and introductions to artists and curators from across Japan. It culminated in an international symposium in Mito: Play ⇔ Replay: staging & re-staging time-based media art, which brought together experts from Europe and Japan, to exchange views and ideas on the production and exhibition of time-based media art and present specific examples from their own perspectives.
“The entire trip was exceptionally well planned and considered. In addition to increasing my knowledge of Japanese contemporary culture, I also return to the UK with a strong network of peers from Germany and Poland. In particular the research visit to Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media was mind blowing. It demonstrated how art and technology can thrive together and offer new and exciting opportunities for communities to engage with both. On our visit we encountered a great exhibition (Reincarnation of Media Art) in a specially constructed ‘mausoleum’, as well as an amazing and packed interactive indoor playground, designed in part by local children. We also visited the workshops and research labs, the theatre and cinema and learnt about their progressive approach to artist led research and development.” Lindsay Taylor.
Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media workshop.
Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Playground.
Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, mausoleum entrance.
The Ishibashi Foundation / The Japan Foundation have recently launched a Fellowship programme for Research on Japanese Art. More details can be found on The Japan Foundation website.