Creating a New Museum: Keio Museum Commons Vol. 6 Reading the Scenery Behind Objects—Exhibition Activities and Educational Programs at KeMCo

2021/03/22

At the end of 2020, the offices of Keio Museum Commons (KeMCo) moved to a new building, and preparations for the opening in April are now in full swing. The overall opening project has been titled "Cross-scapes," a name that reflects KeMCo's concept of being a creative space where people, objects, and activities interact. The opening project will feature two exhibitions ("Letterscape" and "Gathering-scape") and an international symposium ("Book-scape"). In "Letterscape," masterpieces from the newly donated Century Akasaka Collection and materials accumulated at Keio University will be used to express the development of writing culture and its spread across time and place throughout the entire third-floor exhibition area. Meanwhile, "Gathering-scape," held in the ninth-floor conference room, will introduce masterpieces from the Keio University collection on a smaller scale. Unlike art museums where works are collected based on a clear concept, university and school collections accumulate works drawn by the gathering of people. Reflecting this, the "Gathering-scape" exhibition will consist of works by artists associated with Keio University and donations from alumni—works that have "come together" through various connections.

In fact, KeMCo's stance is clearly expressed in the decision to call both exhibitions and the symposium "scapes." This means that even in exhibitions, we consider the display while being conscious of the scenery that extends behind the objects. Fundamentally, an exhibition is the act of positioning a work within some kind of story. In other words, while exhibitions handle physical objects—works—they also present the context for viewing them. However, when actually arranging works, cases often arise where they do not fit into the pre-prepared story. This is a major difference from reference illustrations in papers or texts where perfect consistency can be maintained. Facing the actual object, one may realize, "This is different." Real objects have complex and diverse access points. At such times, I want to approach the work with an attitude of listening to the different voices emitted by the object before my eyes. The stance of an exhibition bearing the name "scape" is nothing other than a commitment to gazing at the complexity of objects and remaining open to new encounters.

In future exhibitions, as a hub for the exchange of cultural properties at Keio University, we plan to work on visualizing various cultural properties owned by the Juku through diverse perspectives. For example, this autumn, we are planning an exhibition to introduce works from the perspective of "restoration." In addition to exhibiting works that have undergone restoration along with related documentation, we hope to develop related events with the cooperation of experts who actually handle the restoration of cultural properties owned by the Juku. This has the aspect of refreshing the perception of works found in familiar places within the university, while simultaneously expanding into various fields through the scientific methods used for analysis and the tools and materials used for restoration.

As described, there are various ways to present a specific work or object, and the strength of a university museum lies in its ability to develop these from multiple angles by leveraging its university background. Therefore, by setting the object as a contact point, KeMCo aims to actively draw out cross-disciplinary approaches in its exhibitions as well.

As a predecessor facility to KeMCo, a 45-square-meter permanent exhibition room was established at the Keio University Art Center (KUAC) in 2011, which has held exhibitions in collaboration with various institutions. In fact, materials and cultural properties within the university were not well known to anyone other than the professors in charge or relevant experts, and through exhibitions, they were sometimes opened up to other professional viewpoints. The public display created a state of "free access," so to speak, leading to new encounters and evaluations from new perspectives. The exhibited objects orchestrated an academic "Cross-scape." KeMCo intends to develop such interactions more actively. We envision a framework for research exhibitions where multiple departments are always involved in planning and implementing the display. Matching different fields and experts will enable new exhibition activities unique to a university.

Cultural properties at Keio University have long been used as teaching materials in museum practice courses and classes utilizing rare books, and they will also play an important role in KeMCo's educational programs. KeMCo will engage in Object Based Learning (OBL), which has garnered attention in recent years as a program to utilize university museum collections and cultural properties for education.

OBL is a learning method where the learner directly accesses objects, and it can be viewed as a form of active learning conducted through objects held by university cultural properties, museums, and archives. In this method, objects are not used as illustrations for an explanation or understanding; rather, one starts from the object itself. By coming into direct contact with an object, observing it, describing it, and sharing that with others, learners realize the diversity of values while also being led to an understanding of their own backgrounds. OBL is an educational theory that has spread particularly in the UK and Australia over the last decade. This implies that in the UK, which accepts international students from extremely diverse cultural regions, and in Australia, which seeks the coexistence of ethnic diversity, OBL functions as a practical tool for mutual understanding. While looking at the same single object, one realizes that the observation, description, and the background leading to them are truly diverse, making it possible to communicate based on that premise. While there are still few practical examples in Japan, in an environment said to have strong peer pressure, it can be expected to function as a liberation toward diversity and a guide to creative communication.

Since it is difficult to understand through theoretical explanation alone, let me provide a practical example. In the autumn semester of 2020, prior to the opening, KeMCo launched the course "Museums and Commons." Faculty members involved with KeMCo took turns teaching the class, and we attempted this OBL practice. Unfortunately, due to the spread of COVID-19, it was conducted as an online workshop, making it impossible for participants to have the same object in front of them. Therefore, we asked each person to prepare one "cup." They then proceeded to describe that cup according to an OBL description sheet. The description sheet begins with a basic grasp of the object: size, color, shape... When describing these, the descriptions of size were already unique. "A size that fits perfectly in the palm," "About 10 cm high with a 5 cm diameter," "Looks like it holds 200 ml"... Even the way of perceiving "size" varies by individual. Above all, the meaning of the "cup" they were asked to prepare varied. There were glass cups, mugs, and paper cups. Although this was an irregular practical example, the diversity revealed through the task of preparing and describing a single cup—the fact that people are already different when perceiving objects and that there is variety in the way they describe them—was likely felt firsthand. In OBL, one starts by observing and describing from one's own perspective, learning that there is diversity in differences with others and basic perceptions, while also becoming aware of one's own way of grasping and feeling objects. From here, communication is born, developing into dialogue and discussion.

For example, when facing a single bronze sculpture, an art history expert, a metallurgy expert, and an expert in medical sciences will each perform different observations and descriptions. Could we not build a class where such a wide range of experts target the same single bronze statue? If realized, it would surely be a program unique to a university museum like KeMCo. The academic expansion that develops precisely because it centers on objects will not only be enjoyed by students as an educational program but will also lead to cross-disciplinary research.

Whether through exhibition activities, the practice of educational programs, or research connecting the two, we hope you will experience the rich creative world at KeMCo that unfolds by starting from objects and reading the scenery that extends behind them.