The Museum as a Place to Encounter the "Power of Life"

What the recent COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed for me is the self-evident truth that art possesses the power to stir people's souls and give them the courage to live. Because of this, we must believe in the power of art and work to ensure its flame is never extinguished.

Under the recent state of emergency, we were forced to stay at home under the slogan "Stay Home," refraining from non-essential outings. We were asked to exercise self-restraint in all activities except for the bare minimum, such as grocery shopping—let alone going out for leisure or even meeting friends for a meal. Opportunities to appreciate art and music in person were also taken away, as cultural facilities such as museums and concert halls across the country were temporarily closed.

Now that the state of emergency has been lifted, we are once again able to appreciate works of art in person. Facing an original work once more, what I feel is the "power of life" that the work possesses. This is likely because great works of art are always imbued with "vitality." In other words, the artist's personality, philosophy, thoughts, and the historical and social context behind them are reflected and expressed in some form within the work.

For example, one artist began the act of covering their own body in paint to remove the fear of losing the sense of "being here now" as reality grew thin in daily life, and to confirm that they were indeed alive. That act, which should have been personal, results in captivating the viewer as a form of universal beauty. Furthermore, representative 20th-century artists such as Picasso and Matisse were astonished and fascinated by the forms of African tribal masks and wood carvings. These works captivate and move the viewer because the artist's earnest feelings toward "life"—a theme common to us all—are contained within each work and object with overwhelming intensity and purity.

This applies not only to fine art but also to music and dance. The once-in-a-lifetime experience of resonance between an orchestra and the audience in a concert hall, or the breathing and atmosphere of a dancer performing right before your eyes, are things that can never be obtained except through live art.

During the recent period of self-restraint, artists and cultural facilities have undertaken unprecedented new initiatives for people deprived of opportunities to visit museums and concert halls. These include dancers performing online and museum curators conducting gallery talks of exhibitions via the internet.

During our temporary closure, our museum also connected the venue online with Mr. Shigeru Ban in Tokyo to hold a gallery talk for the exhibition "Shigeru Ban: Projects in Progress" while it awaited its opening. We also conducted internet broadcasts of gallery talks for collection exhibitions by curators, a "Picture Shiritori" through the exchange of postcards between educational outreach staff and participants, and the distribution of workshop programs via our blog.

Outside the field of art, various initiatives were also carried out, such as the "#YellMeshi" campaign to support restaurants through takeout promotion, and the "Oita Cloudfunding" project, which collected support funds for restaurants where people could provide support now with cash and encouragement in exchange for meal vouchers to be used in the "future."

Despite the many restrictions imposed by self-restraint, each of these initiatives ignored those limits—or even turned them to their advantage—to create and execute new methods that did not exist in daily life before COVID-19. Being able to witness this great human creativity was a welcome byproduct of the pandemic.

After two temporary closures, our museum reopened on May 11 and has been welcoming visitors daily. Upon reopening, we have implemented measures against COVID-19, such as requiring masks, encouraging hand disinfection with alcohol, measuring body temperature with thermal cameras upon entry, limiting the number of people in the exhibition rooms, and asking for contact information in preparation for potential interviews by public health centers and other administrative agencies. Because we implemented these measures and reopened even before the Japan Association of Museums released its "Guidelines for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Museums" on May 14, our museum's efforts attracted national attention.

I believe that the important role of a public art museum is to continue fostering a place of creation together with visitors and artists, while keeping the health of our guests and staff as the top priority.

To achieve this, it is essential to firmly carry out the fundamental activities of a museum—"research," "preservation/restoration," "exhibition," and "outreach"—and to conduct activities such as exhibitions, outreach, and information dissemination that always provide new discoveries and stimulation to viewers and participants, while also creating opportunities for artists to be active. I believe that keeping these two wheels turning will further enhance the power of art, and through that, people's lives will become richer.

I hope that we, as a society, will continue to work to ensure that the flame of art—which stirs the soul and gives the courage to live—is never extinguished, believing in its power.