A Small, Unique University Museum Becomes a "Registered Museum" — Keio University Art Center (KUAC)

2025/04/18

At the end of 2024, a long-awaited notification arrived. It was a notice from the Tokyo Metropolitan Curriculum Advisory Committee stating that, as of December 23, the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) had been newly registered as a "Registered Museum." This good news came after we submitted the application documents at the end of August and spent anxious days anticipating additional inquiries. Even writing this, those not directly involved might have no idea what a Registered Museum is or what it means to apply for it, and it may not even seem right to call the Art Center a museum.

The Keio University Art Center (KUAC) was established in 1993 as the only arts-related Research Centers and Institutes within the university. Since its opening, it has moved between several locations, eventually relocating to its current site in the Mita Campus South Annex in 2011, at which time an exhibition space was added on the first floor. This happened to be a time when the requirements for the national curator qualification, which the university can grant upon completion of prescribed courses, were being revised. In line with this, university museums were being renovated or newly established. This was because it was indicated that facilities equivalent to museums, or facilities based on them, should be available to conduct museum studies training within the university.

Following this trend, we worked on applying for status as a "Facility Equivalent to a Museum" after the relocation and were designated as such in 2013. Under the old Museum Act, once an application was made and the designation granted, it would remain that way for decades. However, the Museum Act, enacted shortly after the war (enacted in 1951, amended independently in 1955), contained parts that no longer fit the current situation, and there was reflection on whether a law that certifies once and provides no subsequent care was appropriate. Consequently, the first major revision of the Museum Act in about 70 years was undertaken. In April 2022, the "Act for Partial Revision of the Museum Act," the so-called Revised Museum Act, was promulgated and came into effect in April 2023.

The most significant point of this revision was the removal of restrictions on the establishing entity. This opened the way for museums established by school corporations, which previously were only allowed to apply for "Equivalent Facility" status, to become "Registered Museums." Furthermore, following the enforcement of the Revised Museum Act, Registered Museums and Equivalent Facilities under the old law were required to re-apply within five years. This meant that KUAC also had to re-apply within five years. It was necessary to scrutinize the list of collection materials and prepare all required related documents, including drawings, registrations, and organizational structures. The memory of the enormous amount of work during the 2013 application crossed my mind. Moreover, at the time of promulgation, the document requirements set by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the application were not clear, and there were unpredictable aspects due to the legal revision. Since it was considered difficult to re-apply in the first year, we planned to use the 2023 academic year as a preparation period and re-apply during the 2024 academic year.

Initially, although the path to becoming a Registered Museum had opened for school corporations, our policy was to re-apply as an Equivalent Facility. This was because, despite the major changes to the Museum Act, the requirement to be open 150 days a year remained unchanged. With our current organizational scale, it was clear from over 10 years of operation that consistently opening for the 100 days required for an Equivalent Facility was the best we could do, and opening for 150 days was impossible. However, it was later discovered that "days when materials are accessible" could be included in the opening days, in addition to actual exhibition days. Since KUAC makes archive materials available to visitors throughout the year (for example, 245 days in the 2023 academic year), we determined that we met the application requirements and switched our policy to apply as a Registered Museum.

Thus, after two years of preparation by the entire Art Center, which began with study sessions on the revised law to prepare materials, and following consultation hearings with the Tokyo Metropolitan Curriculum Advisory Committee, we completed the submission at the end of August. Following the Kyoritsu Women's University Museum, which was the first to be registered as a university museum in Tokyo in the 2023 academic year, and the Komazawa University Museum of Zen Culture and History in September 2024, we became the third group of institutions to be registered, along with the Meiji University Museum.

Admittedly, compared to other university museums, KUAC has aspects of its collection and activities that are not very "museum-like." Furthermore, its museum-like activities are expansive, not limited to its own location. For example, the Committee for the Management and Utilization of Artworks, for which the Art Center serves as the secretariat along with the Office of Facilities and Property Management, is an activity that cares for artworks across the entire university and school. This has drawn significant attention from other universities as a unique and effective method for the management and utilization of artworks in a university setting (click here for details). Additionally, the "Cultural Narrative of a City" project, which we have worked on for many years, is a project that opens the university to the local community (click here for project details). The revised law includes a new item requiring museums to contribute to the revitalization of local cultural activities, and our activities can be described as a development that anticipates exactly that.

Finally, I must mention a major challenge. In the revised law, a new item was added as a business to be undertaken: "creating and publishing electromagnetic records related to museum materials." The digitization and publication of material information is something many museums are struggling with. During our consultation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for this application, great importance was placed on how much information is published on the web. I strongly felt that the revised law has a major intention to encourage adaptation to the digital age. Although KUAC has become a Registered Museum, we are still insufficient in this regard, and further efforts will be required in the future.

KUAC is a small university museum, but we hope to continue developing open activities while contributing to university education as a "Registered Museum." Please do come and visit us.