A Creative Window Open to Society: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC)

In October 1993, the opening ceremony for the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) was held in the Large Conference Room of the Old University Library. Thirty years have passed since then—if we consider the phrase "standing firm at thirty," it could be said that the Keio University Art Center (KUAC), which began as a new research institute, has naturally reached the stage of taking the steps of a mature adult.

The Keio University Art Center (KUAC) is currently located in the South Annex across Sakurada-dori from the main gate of the Mita Campus, with a small exhibition room on the first floor and offices on the second floor. I understand that it settled in this location in the fall of 2011, having started from a single small office. After changing locations several times and settling for a while on the third floor of the West Annex next to Keio Girls Senior High School, it reached its current location. Whether in the West Annex or the South Annex, its geographical position—adjacent to the Mita Campus yet on its periphery—symbolizes the activities and role of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC). This is because, despite being a university research institute, it is an entity that is always open to the outside. In fact, a characteristic of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) is that its activities have changed flexibly in a sense.

At the time of its establishment, it took on art management ahead of other universities nationwide, attracting significant attention. Expanding beyond the scope of the university into commissioned projects for local governments, it led to a multi-year art management practice project with the local Minato City. Today, as the role of universities in local communities is being widely discussed, it could be said that these were pioneering activities. The connection with the local community continues today, having changed form and further diversified as "Urban Cultural Narratives."

In its fifth year, the acquisition of the Tatsumi Hijikata Archive triggered the launch of archiving, which would later become a core activity of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC). The efforts in art archives were advanced for that time. While the importance and significance of archives are widely recognized today, looking back at being in the midst of activities to spread that significance a dozen years ago brings a sense of how much the world has changed. Archiving activities coincided with the development of the digital environment, and several university-like projects were attempted. Through repeated trial and error regarding archives, research and practice have been conducted together. It is a site for the practice of archiving, as well as a place for thinking about, researching, and educating on it (the Art Archive lectures began in 2006). The stance of running practical activities alongside theoretical research, not limited to archives, is at the core of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC)'s activities. By maintaining such a stance, it can be said that we have been able to constantly reflect contemporary trends and issues in our activities.

While the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) has held exhibitions in various locations on campus since its opening, since 2006 it has held regular exhibitions centered on the East Building Exhibition Room. In 2011, it took over the management and operation of the permanent exhibition facility in the South Annex, making its museum-like activities more visible. In 2013, it was certified as a "facility equivalent to a museum," contributing to university education as a foundational facility for the curator certification course. The revised Museum Act came into effect this April, requiring all certified facilities to reapply, and we are currently preparing to aim for registered museum status following the relaxation of establishment requirements. Regarding artwork management, we have served as the secretariat for the Committee for the Management and Operation of Artworks since its inception in 2002, alongside the Office of Facilities and Property Management, striving to preserve and restore the artworks of Keio University, including those at affiliated schools. Caring for artworks owned by universities and schools is often difficult due to the complexity of ownership and jurisdiction, and is a challenge for many universities. The nature of this committee is attracting attention from other universities as a potential solution. The biennial cleaning and preservation activities for outdoor sculptures have continued for about 20 years; originally limited to the Mita Campus, the scope has expanded to each campus of the university and affiliated schools, with the activities themselves growing to include students working together on the cleaning. Turning to exhibitions, since 2011, we have consistently held about 4 to 6 exhibitions per year. We also strive to create opportunities for people to experience archiving activities by exhibiting archive materials that can be considered part of the collection. Furthermore, we develop unique contemporary art exhibitions that make use of the small 45-square-meter space. This is because we believe that providing students with opportunities to encounter contemporary works is an important role for a university facility.

The Keio University Art Center (KUAC) has developed a wide range of activities targeting the arts (see the website for details), but at its root is the "inquiry into the relationship between art and contemporary society" stated in its prospectus. The five basic principles (Human Education, Trans-art, Proactive, Interdisciplinary, and Open Forum) are always kept in mind. I mentioned at the beginning that the flexible change in its activities is a characteristic of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC). In other words, rather than protecting the scope or nature of its activities, it aims for an open and creative space that is cross-disciplinary, seeks new values and perspectives, and possesses expertise, as stated in these basic principles. It is because we have maintained a mindset of disseminating and sharing this that our activities have changed. This was something that could only be achieved because we conducted theoretical research and practical activities together.

Perhaps the steps of a mature 30-year-old look different—positively, as described so far, in the stance of maintaining creativity that does not fear change. However, unfortunately, there is also a negative meaning included. It cannot be denied that we have managed to survive through constant management efforts and much cooperation in a situation where stable operation could not be guaranteed. It is also a fact that I feel we have narrowly managed to hold on and continue for 30 years. Will we be able to safely reach 40 or 50 years? In a situation where the significance and role of art are attracting even more attention from perspectives such as well-being in society, what will become of the existence of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC), which can be called a small window that continues to explore the relationship between contemporary society and art, and remains open to the outside within the university? In a sense, the stance of Keio University as a university is being questioned here: how does it view art in contemporary society?