Activating Collaboration: KeMCo Grand Opening Project "Cross-scape"

2021/08/25

Image: Scene from the Chutobu Junior High School workshop

On June 18, 2021, the Keio Museum Commons (KeMCo) grand opening project "Cross-scape" came to a close. In "Moji-kei: Writing and Imagery in Masterpieces from the Century Akao Collection," we traced the development of writing culture by combining masterpieces from the newly donated Century Akao Collection with rare books from the Juku collection. In "Shu-kei: Gathering Landscapes from the Cultural Properties of Keio University," we selected and introduced masterpieces from the Juku's art collection that feature human connections as their background. Centered on these two exhibitions and the international symposium "Hon-kei: Landscapes of Association Created by Book Culture," we collaborated with teams from both within and outside the Juku to conduct various experiments exploring the possibilities of museums. KeMCo's mission is to serve as a "hub" for the decentralized museums at Keio University and to create interactions surrounding cultural properties. We believe we were able to present one form of that practice through this project. In this article, I would like to report on the grand opening project from the perspective of collaboration.

In conjunction with the grand opening of KeMCo, exhibitions were held on the Mita Campus at the Art Space (South Annex) of the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) and the Mita Media Center exhibition room (Keio University Library (New Building)). The exhibition at the Art Space was "Artist Voice I: Tatsuo Kawaguchi - Apnea." It focused on new works by Tatsuo Kawaguchi, who practiced art production while facing the COVID-19 situation head-on. At the Mita Media Center, as a counterpart to "Moji-kei," the exhibition "(Western) Moji-kei: Typefaces and Movable Type in Western Rare Books from the Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)" was held under the supervision of Takami Matsuda (Professor, Faculty of Letters / Director of KeMCo).

KeMCo planned the "Keio Culture Pass," a common ticket for visiting the three venues. We attempted to connect the exhibitions and highlight the art and culture hubs scattered across the Mita Campus.

On April 14, prior to the opening, the "Keio Object Hub (KOH)" was released. KOH is a website that provides an overview of the cultural collections of Keio University. At the time of release, approximately 11,500 cultural properties were registered in collaboration with the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, the Faculty of Letters Major in Archaeology and Ethnology, the Media Center, and the Committee for the Management and Operation of Art Objects. Furthermore, in May, we began collaborating with "Japan Search," a national cross-disciplinary integrated portal. This established the basic framework for connecting Keio University and cultural properties nationwide in a digital environment. We encourage everyone to try searching for "Yukichi Fukuzawa" on Japan Search.

The transcription of "kuzushiji" (cursive script), which is necessary for deciphering historical materials, is undergoing a major period of transformation due to AI technology. In the "Moji-kei" exhibition, with the cooperation of the Center for Open Data in the Humanities (CODH), we released CODH's mobile app "miwo," which features kuzushiji recognition AI, to the general public for the first time. We also held a workshop using the app with students from the calligraphy and art clubs of Keio Chutobu Junior High School. The workshop was designed so that students could appreciate works while learning kuzushiji through experience, and then use the fabrication equipment at KeMCo StudI/O to create secondary works based on their favorite exhibition pieces. The works by the Chutobu Junior High School students were all masterpieces, and we were surprised by their imagination and creative skills.

A major force in connecting exhibitions and events with various people was "KeMCoM," which operates out of KeMCo StudI/O on the 8th floor. KeMCoM is a team of Keio students who work across academic disciplines and campuses, exploring new possibilities for culture, art, and fabrication from a perspective and context unique to Keio students. For the grand opening, they presented three projects: "Kawaiinfo" (sharing art that can be easily felt from a "kawaii" perspective on social media), "3D Virtual Exhibitions" (a KeMCo experience in virtual space), and "Augmented Aesthetics" (expanding aesthetic "senses"). The Keio students spent every single day at KeMCo StudI/O, explaining not only their own projects but also the studio concept and exhibition highlights. They also served as tutors for the workshop with the Chutobu Junior High School and handled the program composition and appearances for the "Shu-kei" gallery talks entirely on their own.

Looking back quickly at the grand opening, these two months made me realize that KeMCo is a place where exhibitions and their related programs work together to activate dynamic collaborations. The next project is "Object Reading: Eight Views of Close Reading." This exhibition, a collaboration between eight departments on the Mita Campus, will be held starting August 16.