Yumiko Kamada - Awarded in 2019
Participant Profile
Yumiko Kamada
Art History, particularly Islamic Art History2002: Graduated from the Department of Aesthetics and Art History, Faculty of Letters, Keio University 2004: Completed a master's program in Art History at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo 2008–2010: Whitney Fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2011: Received her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University After serving as an Assistant Professor at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, and a Full-time Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Keio University, she has held her current position since 2017. In 2018, she received the Japan Academy Medal, the JSPS Prize, and the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
Yumiko Kamada
Art History, particularly Islamic Art History2002: Graduated from the Department of Aesthetics and Art History, Faculty of Letters, Keio University 2004: Completed a master's program in Art History at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo 2008–2010: Whitney Fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2011: Received her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University After serving as an Assistant Professor at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, and a Full-time Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Keio University, she has held her current position since 2017. In 2018, she received the Japan Academy Medal, the JSPS Prize, and the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
The Significance of Researching Islamic Art as a Japanese Scholar
Encountering Her Research Theme
Where in India were the Indian carpets associated with Kyoto's Gion Festival woven, how did they circulate throughout the world, and how were they received differently in various places? I addressed this question in my book "A World Connected by Carpets: The Path to the Indian Carpets of the Gion Festival" (University of Nagoya Press, 2016). I am greatly honored to have recently received the Keio Award for my "contribution to the study of Islamic art history from the perspective of global history." This theme originated when my academic advisor at New York University suggested I choose a research topic that would leverage my identity as a Japanese person, which led me to focus on the Indian carpets of the Gion Festival. Until then, I had been studying manuscript painting, so I was hesitant at first, but as I proceeded with my research, I began to discover many new things. Just as with meeting people, I believe there is an element of fate and timing in encountering a research theme.
The Appeal and Fascination of the Research Theme
A major appeal of Islamic art is that there is still much that is unknown, offering significant potential to contribute to the academic world with new findings. For my research, I travel to examine artworks held by museums and collectors both in Japan and abroad. While examining the artworks is important, I find that meeting various people and exchanging opinions with them is also one of the fascinating aspects of research. When I teach Islamic art in my classes, I find it very rewarding to hear students say things like, "It corrected the negative image I had of Islam." In the future, alongside my research, I hope to work on publications that can convey the appeal of Islamic art to a Japanese audience.
A Message for Students
Your university years are a time for trial and error, a time to discover what you want to do with your life. When I was a student, I felt an urgent need to find what I truly wanted to do and what interested me, so I read various books, audited interesting classes, engaged with art, met people, traveled, and studied abroad. Studying abroad at the University of London in my third year of university made me realize that I wanted to pursue a life as a researcher. Your four years at university are precious. It would be wonderful if, during that time, you could find something you love, something you want to devote your life to.
(Interview conducted in December 2019)