慶應義塾大学アート・センター　Keio University Art Center

Research projects

Cultural Narrative of a City

Minato City is at once an international centre, rich in contemporary culture, and at the same time an area full of historial sites of interest, temples, shrines, and long-established businesses. The project “Cultural Narrative of a City” aims to access the dynamic axis that runs historically through Minato city.

Drawing connections between the old and new cultural resources of the city and the research activities that surround these resources, we hope to support current and future artistic and cultural activities, and at the same time to deepen the cultural tourism of the city. 

“Architecture of Keio” Project

Started in 2008, the “Architecture of Keio” is a project that aims to document and preserve a record of the architecture of Keio University, including its integrated schools, and to archive its memory. In addition to practicing architecture archiving, the project also researches and explores the process of archiving itself.
Since 2009, as our main activities, we have been researching the state of architectural records, photographing and documenting structures, digitizing documents, and collecting and maintaining basic data on architectural architecture. In terms of spreading and sharing information, we also organize photo exhibitions, architectural tours, and workshops.
Once or twice a year, we offer a guided tour “Architecture Promenade - Keio University Art and Architecture Open Days” where participants can explore buildings and sculptures located at Mita campus, as well as paintings and other various works of art. 

**You can view the 2020 online tour here**

Video Information Center and Documentation of Art in 1970s Japan

This project aims at archiving the tape library and other resources of Video Information Center (VIC), and investigating the activities of VIC.
The VIC tape library consists of approximately 1,200 tapes recording performances, exhibitions,symposiums in 1970-80s, such as: Interview with Jiro Takamatsu at his studio, Interview with Nam June Paik, Kishio Suga Event (1975).

Activity report (PDF, Japanese and English)

#MuseumFromHome at KUAC

#MuseumFromHome from KUAC - exhibitions not open to the public, research, study, and archival work from home.

SHOW-CASE project

A new exhibition project that can be displayed on a small scale and in a diverse variety of locations. It is an attempt to create a small exhibition space and publish printed materials in cooperation with the artist.

Research Project on Tokyo Biennale 1970

The 10th Japan International Art Exhibition (Tokyo Biennial), held in May 1970, was the tenth of eighteen international art exhibitions held between 1952 and 1990, in principle, every other year. However, with Nakahara Yusuke as commissioner, the 1970 exhibition with the theme of "Between Man and Matter" was a special exhibition.


The Keio University Art Center was entrusted with the materials belonging to Minemura Toshiaki Minemura, the Mainichi Shimbun bureaucrat who was responsible for the realization of the exhibition, and thus launched a research project to study the exhibition.

Meeting Artists in Keio

This project provides the opportunity for Keio students to meet contemporary artists working in an international setting, and to cultivate a broad perspective on their times, as well as develop a deep insight into the history and a creative mind in the process.

Genetic Engine

    In 1998, Keio University Art Center (KUAC) opened Hijikata Tatsumi Archive, which has served as a model for our “Genetic Engine” and led us to work on art archive. As it marks the 25th anniversary this year, we are planning a series of events and publications to review and reconstruct the system of “Genetic Engine.”

    Art archive can be regarded as “Genetic Engine.” Memory of an individual or an organization is quasi-material, but it essentially stays inside them. In contrast, record is externalized memory, where memory have contact with record. At this point arises an archive. Integrating the genetic elements of past event, archive re-generates them in new, various perspectives. In this sense, we call archive “Genetic Engine.” 

    Our attempt to revise "Genetic Engine" will be made in various field, e.g. exhibitions, publications, a symposium. We are looking forward to your participation.

Butoh: A Body Over the Edge

Half a century has passed since the premiere of Tatsumi Hijikata's performance "Kinjiki" (1959), and now Butoh is spreading beyond national and regional borders. Performances and workshops are taking place all over the world, and research on Butoh is flourishing more than ever.

“Butoh: A Body Over the Edge" aims to connect international trends in Butoh practice and studies with domestic developments. In addition, we actively promote the research activities of the Tatsumi Hijikata Archive at Keio University Art Center.

Arts Management educational program

Our main objectives are to question current educational approaches to the management of cultural and public arts organizations (or Arts Management), attempting to move beyond the limited understanding or shortsightedness of purely academic enquiries. In addition to this, we aim to promote the development and practice of efficient Arts Management Educational Programs, through evaluating educational targets, objectives, and methods.

Project details (2013)

Digitalization and Recording of Video Art Related Materials of Ko Nakajima and VIC

This project aims to reconsider the activities of media arts in Japan from the postwar period to present within the framework of “intermedia”, as well as to build a foundation for a clearer understanding of the history of media arts in Japan through the video art-related materials, which are located at the intersection of art and video history and various artistic activities of the same period, and represented here by Ko Nakajima and VIC.

Project Report (2020)

Project Report (2021)

 

Digitizing and Cataloging of Performance and Exhibition Video Records from the post-1970s

本事業は、戦後から現代にいたる日本のメディア芸術の諸活動を、「インターメディア」という枠組みにおいてとらえ直し、芸術史・映像史という縦軸と、同時代の様々な芸術諸活動という横軸との交差点に位置するビデオアート関連資料群が包含するパフォーマンスおよび展覧会記録に着目し、それらのデジタル化・レコード化を通じ、日本のメディア芸術史をよりよく精査可能にするための基盤構築を目指す。

 

What's on