[Special Feature: University Museums] Utilizing University Art Resources and the Potential of University Museums

The concept of "art resources"—meaning art as a resource for education and research within a university—originally arose from the dire situation regarding facilities for collection and exhibition within the art education and research organization at the University of Tsukuba, where I belong. I would like to touch upon this first. While it goes without saying that every university, both in Japan and abroad, has its own unique environment, I would like to offer some personal views on the utilization of art resources in universities, particularly from the perspective of exhibition, using the response to the situation at the University of Tsukuba as a concrete example.

In New York, the "NYARC (New York Art Resources Consortium)," based on web archives, has been active since 2006 as a collaboration between the libraries of the Museum of Modern Art, the Frick Collection, and the Brooklyn Museum. Its positioning is naturally different from "art resources" held by institutions that own physical artworks; NYARC's primary purpose is the sharing of research resources, and it also experiments with digital exhibitions utilizing those resources (see https://nyarc.org).

For a long time, the University of Tsukuba was the "only" national comprehensive university to possess an art education and research organization. However, for many years, there was a major question mark as to whether there was a suitable place for students studying there to exhibit their own works. As an organization, we repeatedly made budget requests on various occasions to improve this, but they were never fulfilled. Aside from large and small classrooms normally used for lessons, there was only a small exhibition space in the University Hall.

A particularly significant turning point in this situation occurred in 1990. The Tsukuba Museum of Art, Ibaraki opened nearby, staffed with curators to hold original special exhibitions and provide a venue for the general public. Thanks to this, we were able to utilize a blessed environment, including its location, every year as a place to present graduation projects for undergraduates and master's degree students. The museum eventually also became a venue for presenting research results by students in the doctoral program for practical arts.

On the other hand, in the late 1990s, there was an era when university museums were being established at national universities. Although a university-wide review organization was set up at the University of Tsukuba with the aim of securing a budget, the addition of a new university museum was passed over, and the goal was not achieved. Nevertheless, exhibition facilities within the university steadily improved. This seems to have been largely due to the university becoming a corporation and the increasing demand for social and regional contribution.

In 2003, a multi-purpose hall was established in conjunction with the construction of the University of Tsukuba 30th Anniversary Hall (131st anniversary of its foundation). This open space, with high ceilings and the potential for spatial presentation using temporary walls, was unique within the university. In addition, the University Hall, which connects to the 30th Anniversary Hall, underwent a major renovation. The University of Tsukuba Gallery was established, featuring the Tomonaga Memorial Room and Shirakawa Memorial Room honoring Nobel laureates Dr. Shin-ichiro Tomonaga and Dr. Hideki Shirakawa. Along with physical education and sports exhibits introducing the many excellent athletes and Olympians produced throughout a long history dating back to the Gymnastics Training School, a permanent art exhibition space appeared. This is the "University of Tsukuba Art Collection," which permanently displays part of the modern and contemporary painting and ceramics collection donated by Mr. Akira Ishii, who served as chairman of the Library Resources Center (at the time) from 2005 to 2010. For this collection, a dedicated storage facility with air conditioning was set up within the building used by the art-related organizations. Furthermore, the "Art Space" gallery, planned and operated by the same art organizations, was added to the University Hall.

Separately, new exhibition and storage facilities were developed in the building used by the art faculty and Doctoral Programs students (Art and Design Faculty Building) in conjunction with seismic retrofitting. As a result, a series of small and medium-sized exhibition spaces appeared along the loop road surrounding the University of Tsukuba campus, stretching from the 30th Anniversary Hall and University Hall through the art education and research buildings to General Research Building D.

Conventional exhibitions were centered on the pedestrian deck that runs north-south through the campus, intended to convey content to pedestrians on that axis. Now, however, that has been replaced by a focus on the loop road—that is, a gaze directed toward the outside of the university. From the end of 2011, a movement began to collectively refer to this series of exhibition spaces as "Art Street."

"Art Street" simply presents the vitality of diverse activities in the art education and research organization, from Western painting and Japanese painting to sculpture and design, and consists of exhibition spaces with different characters. At the 30th Anniversary Hall, exhibitions are held in collaboration with the Tsukuba Museum of Art, Ibaraki (such as the Ay-O exhibition), along with design exhibitions by Mitsuo Katsui, who was deeply involved with the art organization, exchange projects with international partner schools, and presentations of class results. Meanwhile, at "Art Space," various projects are carried out, including themed exhibitions related to the Ishii Collection, special exhibitions of art materials owned by the art department, and presentations of faculty research. Similarly, the Art Gallery in the Art and Design Faculty Building hosts planned exhibitions of art materials managed by the department, faculty research presentations, and exhibitions of award-winning works (purchased works) by undergraduate and graduate students. In Building 6A, adjacent to this research building, an exhibition space independently managed by students was established in 2001; currently, student works are exhibited almost every week at this Art Gallery T+ (T-plus).

Even before the establishment of "Art Street," the challenge had surfaced of how the art education and research organization could actively communicate diverse exhibition projects based on artistic production and related research results both inside and outside the university. An attempt to solve this as part of research activities was the two-year research project starting in 2008, "Construction of A.R.T.—Strategic Display and Utilization of Art Resources at the University of Tsukuba" (represented by Omuka). This project was adopted as a "Pre-Strategic Initiative" by the "University of Tsukuba Organization for the Support and Development of Strategic Initiatives" established by the university. A.R.T. stands for Art Resources in Tsukuba, and the intent was to explore ways to turn art into an educational and research resource. Furthermore, importantly, it sought to go beyond mere preservation and management as education/research resources to explore their utilization through "strategic display."

At the time, the art education organization was a small one, consisting of an undergraduate program with a capacity of 100 students per year, Doctoral Programs in Art (capacity of 60 for the master's level and 10 for the doctoral level), and a faculty of just under 60 members; it tended to be buried within the university-wide structure. Therefore, to increase its external communication power, we launched "Tsukuba Art A.R.T." as a banner on the top page of the university website. The physical education department, which is among the top in Japan, had already led the way by disseminating various information through "Tsukuba Sports on the WEB." "Tsukuba Art" followed this lead, collectively posting art-related information from within the organization (public information on education and research results, projects in exhibition spaces, information on collection materials, etc.). This banner can still be found on the university website today.

In this way, research activities on "art resources" began alongside Associate Professor Rintaro Terakado, who also worked energetically on the preservation, management, research, and utilization of the Ishii Collection. Subsequently, this progressed beyond the university to a stage of collaboration with practical activity groups and facilities at other distinctive universities such as Kyushu University, Nagoya University, and Keio University. Finally, we secured a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) for "Comprehensive Research on the Utilization of 'Art Resources' in Universities" (FY2015–2017), aiming for multi-faceted development. Although circumstances varied—such as groups of universities without a typical museum, groups of universities without an art education organization, or groups of universities that had a museum but sought more active engagement—we conducted surveys and research on measures for utilizing "art resources" while also pursuing international cooperation.

Joint research with research groups from other universities proceeded in two stages. The first stage was the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) "Basic Research on the Utilization of 'Art Resources' in Universities" (FY2011–2013). This was a collaboration between the AQA Project (Project for Asian Art of Q-Dai Kyushu University) regarding Asian art, launched in 2006 centered on Professor Masahiro Ushiroshoji (at the time) of Kyushu University, and the Nagoya University Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences Project Gallery "clas (cell for liberal arts & sciences)," operated primarily by Associate Professor Kiyofumi Motoyama (at the time) of Nagoya University.

Mr. Ushiroshoji retired from the university last year and is currently focusing on contemporary Asian art research based at Tokage Bunko. The diverse project activities of AQA and the subsequent Post-AQA up until last year can be viewed on their website (AQA PROJECT WEBSITE).

Unlike "clas," the AQA Project was an activity without a fixed exhibition space, but due to the nature of exhibiting contemporary art, it actively sought spaces outside the university. For example, these included the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, the Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, and the Gallery Artier in Hakata Riverain.

On the other hand, "clas" was established in 2007. Its purpose is to be used as a "space for exhibitions, presentations, seminars, meetings, etc., related to education, research, and social activities at Nagoya University, to foster multi-perspective thinking and comprehensive knowledge through visual means at the university, and to contribute to the improvement of regional culture." It continues to be maintained today with a goal of social contribution. In addition to publishing annual reports, its track record of including information science projects alongside art can be confirmed on its website (http://www.ilas.nagoya-u.ac.jp/clas/).

As the second stage based on the joint research of the three university groups, we began the aforementioned "Comprehensive Research." This became a large organization with six teams, including the three original projects. Associate Professor Misako Mishima of the Kyushu University Museum joined the Kyushu University team; Professor Setsuya Hashizume of the Museum of Osaka University joined the Osaka University team; Professor Yoko Watanabe of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) joined the Keio University team; and Associate Professor Koto Sato of the Yamagata University Museum joined as a new member for the Yamagata University team.

Unlike the basic research, the comprehensive research took the form of extending its reach to university museums that are more typical of the genre. Looking at the research project as a whole, it revealed the diverse exhibition environments for "art resources" in Japanese universities. Through international surveys and symposia referencing overseas cases, each team deepened its understanding of how to utilize "art resources" through research exchange.

Through these case studies, the significance of the space itself as an "art resource" became particularly clear, as emphasized by Ms. Mishima. An example is the No. 1 Branch Warehouse (formerly the Faculty of Engineering Intelligent Machinery Practice Factory) developed by the Kyushu University Museum in 2005, while the relocation from the Hakozaki Campus to the Ito Campus was underway. The exhibition of contemporary Korean and Japanese art "Otonari-san" (2010–2011) by the AQA Project served as eloquent proof of the possibility of effectively producing a resonance between exhibits and space while utilizing historical facilities (see Otonari-san: Korea-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition by Kyudai Student AQA Project).

Spaces on campus are not dead spaces from the perspective of "art resources." Utilizing them is directly linked to bringing them to life as visual cultural resources.

I have detailed the background related to "art resource" research, but activities during this period have centered on display/exhibition, and the perspective of examining "art" or "art resources" themselves has not been brought to the fore. For example, in formats like performance or installation, there is no need to be confined to the fixed apparatus of an exhibition room. At the University of Tsukuba, there was a "Comprehensive Art" field taught by Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, Shunsuke Mitamura, Morio Shinoda, Tatsuo Kawaguchi, and others. From the 1970s, primarily during university festivals, student-led performances titled "Space Theater" were held in the plaza in front of the University Hall as a "series of spatial alienation works." This was passed down to projects titled "Performance" in the photo studio from 1983 (for details, see the catalog "University of Tsukuba 'Comprehensive Art' Exhibition," Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, 2016).

Even so, is a guideline for the university to engage with "art" beyond the preservation and management of owned works completely unnecessary? At the same time, there was the question of whether it would be enough to simply propose a policy limited to "art," and it was difficult to deepen the discussion.

What made me think about this was the "Cultural Policy Statement" issued by the University of Melbourne in Australia in 2008. This was formulated for the university to fulfill its contribution through cultural programs and the utilization of cultural resources held for society. While the content itself might not be particularly remarkable, what is important is that the university clearly stated its social mission regarding the arts.

In that regard, at Keio University, the "Internal Regulations on the Management and Operation of Artworks (Cultural Assets) Owned by Keio University" have already been in effect since 2002. These were established with the aim of "properly managing and operating artworks and art materials (hereinafter referred to as 'artworks') owned or managed by the Juku as part of Keio University's education and research activities, to improve the campus environment, cultivate the cultural sensitivity of students, and facilitate smooth social exchange with the outside world through artworks." The establishment of an Art Management and Operation Committee should be evaluated as a pioneering initiative.

In promoting the utilization of "art resources" in this way, universities are fundamentally required to make their stance as a university clear. On the other hand, one cannot overlook the background of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in Australia, which originated as a school affiliated with a national art gallery. It was gradually integrated with other arts departments and, while possessing theaters and concert halls, was incorporated into the comprehensive University of Melbourne as a single department (Faculty of VCA and MCM) in 2006.

It is almost too obvious, but the utilization of education and research resources that encompass not only "art" but "culture" in a broad sense is also considered an important task assigned to universities.