Job Tours at the National Art Center, Tokyo: Behind-the-Scenes Interviews by Interns! Vol. 2　Curatorial Department: Education and Public Programs

Tell us what kind of work you typically do in the Office of Education and Public Programs!

While being a member of the Office of Education and Public Programs (hereafter, “Education Office”), I work on both exhibitions and education and public programs concurrently. A lot of the work I do in the Education Office is coordinating things in the museum. When we hold educational and public programs, there are a variety of departments in NACT, and it’s necessary to seek cooperation and permission from them. Once we’ve set up a system for receiving cooperation, the members of the Education Office begin moving forward with the project in earnest. I sort of serve as an initial news bringer.

Also, there are a variety of things to check in putting together educational and public programs, such as whether the safety of visitors has been secured, whether there are any omissions in our preparations, and making sure the content isn’t self-conceited. For example, taking care in summer to make sure people don’t get heat stroke on a hot day, or if there will be participants who use a wheelchair, making sure the environment won’t make it difficult for them to take part. I also plan programs, but in general the members of the Education Office put it together so that I can focus on the unique parts which will require attention during the program’s duration.

Have you been interested in the art world since university?

Before that. From the time I was little, I was the kind of child who, if there was a pencil and paper, would just constantly draw. I began painting oil paintings in earnest in junior high school art club, and I also began regularly visiting art museums around that time as well. I feel like I started “looking” and “creating” at the same time about when I was 13 years old. I loved seeing actual art in art museums and often went to immerse myself, so it was only natural that I wanted to go to an art school in order to become an artist when I grew up. In university, however, I quickly became aware of my lack of talent and promptly gave up on following the path of an artist.

Today your work involves education and public programs, but did you start with a vision that this was the kind of work you wanted to do?

Worried about what kind of work to do, I felt I wanted to do a job involving art other than as an artist. The first thing that came to mind was a school art teacher, but I didn’t really like school and so considered other options. In the end, I realized I wanted to work in an art museum, a place I had loved since I was a child. Becoming a curator would enable me to work in an art museum, so that’s what I aimed for. At the time, I didn’t know what kind of work a curator did, but as I did all sorts of research, my interest in art museums grew and grew.

Particularly, around that time, educational and public programs called workshops began being held at art museums, and a lot of attention began being paid to this new way of connecting with art that was different from standard technical courses. I sensed possibility in this, and I also had relevant practical skills, so I took part in part-time job programs at a variety of art museums in Tokyo. I worked together with children and artists participating in workshops to create and appreciate tangibles and intangibles, building experience as what we now call a facilitator.

Another big factor was a discussion and appreciation workshop with Amelia Arenas from the Museum of Modern Art in New York I went to while in graduate school. Talking with others deepened my viewing experience, showed me the joy of having your world expand, and gave me a strong desire to do this in an art museum. The experiences I had then are deeply ingrained in me and are what brought me to where I am now.

I feel my interest has always been in educational and public programs for art, providing the assistance needed for as many people as possible to enjoy art. I happened to get hired by the Shimane Art Museum, and at that time, it was still rare to hire a curator specializing in educational promotion and public programs. Accordingly, instead of education and public programs, I was in charge of Japanese modern art as an exhibition curator. Today, I still take charge of exhibitions alongside education and public programs. I feel that all of the work done in an art museum has educational implications, so I feel both aspects of my work are important.

Is there a field you are particularly interested in?

As I’m Japanese, I do find that in the field of art history, I am more able to understand works created by Japanese artists. I also love Western art and have studied the Bible and Western mythology, so I have a perfunctory knowledge, but as I didn’t actually live in that environment, I feel like I can’t understand Western art on an experiential, non-logical level. Having said that, it’s not like my home is decorated with Japanese folding screens or anything (laughs). It’s just that there’s a kind of connection and I find I can more properly understand works created by Japanese artists.

There’s also the fact that I did oil painting myself, but I have an affinity for modern and contemporary Japanese art. Coupled with my own lived experience, I respond to and enjoy the kind of conflict which emerges when an oil painting is first becoming a part of your identity as Japanese. When I was in Shimane, I integrated these kinds of fields I’m interested in in my exhibitions as well.

However, from the perspective of doing a workshop, I like art which enables you to interact directly with the artists like you can with contemporary art. An artist’s concerns are often rooted in the today, and this enables children to exhibit their flexibility to take in information and sympathize, and for adults to personally identify with things, as well, so this kind of art also makes for an effective program.

Is there anything which has been particularly memorable in your work to date?

We did an exhibition on manga and anime in Myanmar and Thailand, and I vividly remember the exhibition preparations and workshops when we went there. The actual content of the workshops was simple—making a zoetrope (revolving picture stripe animation device) from a kit, but if we showed people a completed example, many would copy the example. Local museum staff strongly encouraged everyone, telling them they could draw whatever they liked, but it seemed a lot of people didn’t understand what this meant. I also felt this from the adult Myanmar people who helped up with the exhibition work. Although everyone was highly skilled, they weren’t used to working in an autonomous, proactive way. They wouldn’t do anything unless instructed by a leader.

A lot of education in Myanmar is rote memorization. The country has also been ruled by the military for a long time, so the tacit rule of “doing what the leader says” is deeply rooted, and I got the sensation that people felt they shouldn’t think and act for themselves. Perhaps it was because of this national character, but through the workshops, it was apparent that it was difficult for people to be creative and draw whatever they liked, however they liked.

The people in Thailand, however, were basically the same as in Japan. They naturally drew what they wanted to. Even though Thailand and Myanmar are neighboring countries, it made me re-realize that different countries will also have different educations and cultures. I also realized that even though human beings are born free and equal, if we don’t consciously acquire it, we don’t learn how to be freely creative. That’s something that made a very lasting impression on me.

Through the workshops, I gained a better understanding of Myanmar and was also given a lot of things to think about. I think it’s interesting how if you do the same workshop in a variety of different countries, each country’s differences will emerge.

Note: Details on the workshops held in Myanmar and the country’s education system are included in an article by Natsumi Yoshizawa in the third issue of NACT Review: Bulletin of the National Art Center, Tokyo (Japanese language only).

Is there anything in particular you remember from your time in Shimane?

Because I was born and raised in Tokyo and grew up without any connection to Japan’s countryside, everything was fresh and novel. I was fortunate to live in Shimane Prefecture for 14 years, but in my last four years, I worked at the Iwami Art Museum, which is located in Masuda, a city with a population of only 50,000. I’m happy I was able to experience the differences between the children from highly populated urban areas and those from depopulated towns.

There are differences in how they relate to others in term of interpersonal distance and values. When a small school up in the mountains came to the museum, the entire student body, from the highest to the lowest grades would come (and even then would only be around 10 students), and the older students would naturally look after the younger ones. The upper level students would sense what the young children wanted to do and take action, like they were siblings. Conversely, urban children would confirm their place in their large classes and take action accordingly, and as a result I felt this had increased their ability to verbalize things.

What points were emphasized in their learning differed between their environments, and I thought that perhaps the skills they had might be a result of the abilities needed in their everyday lives. Having had the opportunity to view both kinds of children has been very useful in my work.

Have you sensed differences in how urban and rural children respond in workshops and appreciation and discussion programs?

I feel the innate innocence children have is the same. In appreciation and discussion programs, we look at works of art and verbalize our thoughts, and as I stated a moment ago, urban children often have a stronger ability to put things into words. However, children only know the language and knowledge they have come in contact with up to that point in their lives, and what children raised in the mountains and children raised in buildings have experienced will differ. It’s only natural for there to be differences in the words they use, what they know, and how they express themselves. In that sense, as well, the differences in the tendencies which appear in the process of engaging in a deep analysis of a piece are extremely interesting. However, while the tendencies which emerge on the surface may be different, the result—giving more depth to their appreciation of art—is undoubtedly the same. Or rather, if different results were to emerge, that would be on the adults in charge.

Lastly, please share a message for students interested in working an art museum!

Do anything and everything you can while you are young! When I was a student, what I wanted to do was very clear to me, but conversely you could also say that it resulted in me only having a narrow range of experiences. I am sure there are some of out there who do not yet clearly know what you want to do, but as they say, it’s easier to do something than worry about it—do all kinds of things, and you’ll find yourself. Have all kinds of different experiences and I think you’ll find hints as to what you want to do in the future. While you are young, you can embarrass yourself, you can fail, and you can pick yourself back up time and again, so please, don’t be afraid and be bold in trying out the things you are interested in. And if you’re interested in interning at NACT as part of those things you want to try, we’ll do our best to live up to your expectations!