Thank you very much for your warm support to the activities of AIT this year.
2021 marked 20 years since we began AIT!
We renewed our website, redesigned the MAD (Making Art Different) course that has been offered for about 20 years, and launched the online art course “TOTAL ARTS STUDIES Premier (TAS Premier)”. Considering art as “energy that sustains life,” TAS Premier will provide a venue for multifaceted study of the global climate crisis, social issues, welfare and medical care, and other fields through artistic expressions, research and practice. As one manifestation of our commitment, we became the first Japanese organization to join the “Gallery Climate Coalition [GCC]”, which was established in London in October 2020.
The residency program continued to receive support from the Backers Foundation to encourage the activities of two Japanese artists. In our partnership programs with overseas cultural institutions, we continue to cultivate new thoughts for the near future on how we can learn, discuss and experience together while supporting artists from Japan and abroad.
As a new project, we participated in the renewal of the “Mitsubishi Corporation ART GATE Program” as an advisor. We are enjoying working with and learning from the artists who are connecting their thoughts and developing their works and activities through learning and mentorship, one of the core features of the program.
For the “Mercedes-Benz Art Scope,” project which we have been involved in as a planning partner, we published a catalog that summarizes the history of the program and the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art over the past 17 years. A total of 22 artists from Germany and Japan contributed to the catalog, sharing episodes from their stay in each other’s countries and their thoughts on the current situation in 2021. From the warm words received, we realized once again the significance of corporate support for emerging artists in culture and art, and the importance of continuing such support. The program will enter a new phase with the closing of the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art.
In 2021, the “dear Me Project” continued to collaborate with companies, foundations, children’s support groups, and child welfare facilities to create opportunities for expression and exhibition of artworks with diverse children. It was a valuable experience for us to see the expressions and perspectives of the children through the workshops that eventually developed into actual exhibitions, in addition to the learning courses that connected the thinking of art with science and daily life by inviting artists.
We would like to continue discovering unconventional ways of thinking and creating dialogues about art and society in all kinds of spaces.
We hope you have a healthy and safe holiday season, and wish you all a prosperous new year!
Yuko Shiomi, Roger McDonald, Naoko Horiuchi, Akiko Hida, Rie Okuma, Rika Fujii (Yoda), Shintaro Tokairin
*The office will be closed for the winter holidays from Monday, December 27, 2021 to Friday, January 7, 2022.