Past Programs

Program proceedings, discussions, and other events by the Art Platform Japan project from 2018 to 2023 have been recorded. Videos of symposiums can also be viewed.

Book Project

Conversations

March 26, 2023

How to Use SHŪZŌ? Thinking with Artists about the practical uses of museum collection databases

Nariai Hajime and Soeda Kazuho, members of the Research Resource Committee, part of the Preparatory Office of the National Center for Art Research, sat down with artists Fujii Hikaru and Iiyama Yuki to discuss SHŪZŌ, a platform which enables users to search artworks across museum collections nationwide. Tezen Wakako, who is involved in the operation of SHŪZŌ, was present from Art Platfrom Japan. Together, they consider the present and future of databases. (Titles omitted)

Conversations

March 5, 2023

Recognizing what you don’t know: Kathy Halbreich x Kamiya Yukie

The landmark 1989 exhibition "Against Nature: Japanese Art in the Eighties" moved the needle on how Japanese art was understood overseas and raised the profile of several contemporary Japanese artists, such as Dumb Type, Miyajima Tatsuo, Morimura Yasumasa and Otake Shinro. Kathy Halbreich, Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, was one of the exhibition’s curators and made many trips to Japan during the research period and later. Kamiya Yukie, a steering committee for APJ, spoke to Ms. Halbreich in New York recently about the impact the exhibition had on the art world and on her personally, as well as opportunities for cultural exchange and how best to support artists.

Conversations

February 17, 2023

On Support for Artists: Sasamoto Aki x Kamiya Yukie

The Agency for Cultural Affairs' Art Platform Program (APJ) has organized international symposiums and provided grants to artists who have gained important opportunities through their international reputation. New York-based artist Sasamoto Aki talks about what kinds of support are most helpful for artists, as well as her hopes for the future. She was interviewed by Kamiya Yukie, who represented the steering committee for APJ (Titles omitted).

Conversations

February 9, 2023

The state and future of Art Platform Japan, according to a trio of American professors

Chelsea Foxwell, an associate professor of art history and East Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Chicago; Gabriel Ritter, an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Bert Winther-Tamaki, a professor of art history at the University of California, Irvine; discussed the state and future of Art Platform Japan.

Conversations

January 25, 2023

What is APJ? What We’ve Accomplished in the last Five Years and Where We’re Going: Robert Campbell x Kataoka Mami

Art Platform Japan is a project led by the Agency for Cultural Affairs whose goal is the sustainable development of contemporary Japanese art. In March of 2023, APJ will achieve a major milestone. In the interview below, Robert Campbell, who has successfully spearheaded a campaign to digitize works of classical Japanese literature, talks with Kataoka Mami, chair of the Committee on Contemporary Japanese Art, about the digitization of artifacts in Japanese art museums, translating texts into English, the successes the project has yielded thanks to its ‘three pillars,’ the work that remains, and future goals for the project. (Titles omitted)

2022

Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan Symposium

February 23, 2023

Art Platform Japan: Its achievements over five years and prospects going forward