Events

Cooperation with Museums
Kokugakuin Museum International Symposium & Work Shop 2015
The Formation of an International Museum Network and the Study of Japanese Culture

　Statement of Purpose Exhibitions of Japanese art and historical museums in museums outside the country are on the frontlines for education and research about Japan's culture in the countries where those museums are located. The Power of Dogu exhibition held at the British Museum in 2009 was thronged day after day with many visitors. The fact that the exhibition got across the cultural value of the Jōmon period clay figurines for which the exhibition was named to a broad cross section of the public including people previously unfamiliar with them is still vivid in the memory. For those people already interested in Japanese culture, there remains the need to provide them with some means that goes beyond holding an exhibition for further deepening their understanding of the materials on display and moving toward a better understanding of that culture. One effective approach can be Internet-based collaborations with specialized museums in Japan. For this symposium, we have invited curators from museums outside of Japan that exhibit and oversee research on materials related to the country to report on current realities at their home institutions and hear what kind of information they wish to obtain from Japanese museums. In addition, they will have the chance to engage in discussions with their Japanese co-panelists and in the process all will gain a perspective on what the proper form should be for an international museum network in tune with the realities of the digital age.