Tokyo’s Ueno Park has a popular public participation project. A collaborative project between Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and Tokyo University of the Arts started just less than a decade ago now has a long line of people wanting to join. Art communicators, called “Tobira”, are selected from the general public every year to take on the leading role in the project. The openings for the position get flooded with many applications every year and some had to make several attempts over years to get accepted. Why does this Tobira Project attract so much attention? Sakura Koshikawa, Coordinator of Tobira Project, as well as Project Research Associate of Tokyo University of the Arts, gave us an insight.
Sakura KOSHIKAWA, Coordinator of Tobira Project
―Would you tell me what is so unique about this Tobira Project?
It must be the art communicator, Tobira,
acting as the main players in the activities: they are neither mere volunteer
staff in the museum nor apprentice waiting to be taught how to appreciate art.
They stand equal to the museum curators and university faculties. Three parties
altogether aim for the same goal, which is to encourage communication among
people through art.
―How did Tobira Project
come to take shape?
It started when the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum reopened after renovations in 2012. The primal purpose is to foster the community through art, by connecting people with people, people with space while working together with the citizens. When people from different age and social groups work together towards the same goal, they start seeing and accepting different points of view. That kind of open-mindedness enriches the community built within the museum visitors and society around it. Museum space functioning as a communication platform, that is what we’d like to see.
―What do you learn as Tobira?
At the year of enrollment, Tobira first attend six lectures called the Principal Session. The lectures cover a wide array of subject matters from how to appreciate art to how to facilitate a discussion among a diverse range of people, but the fundamental skill to be developed through the lectures is the ability to listen. Tobira have to be able to listen, piercing through the surface of the words spoken, and to see where the speaker is coming from, and understand what s/he is feeling at that moment.
A scene from the Principal Session, where Tobira freshmen learn principal values of Tobira activities.
―Why is it important to
cultivate the ability to listen?
Listening is the foundation for every form of communication. Tobira is a group of people from diverse backgrounds, the age groups ranging from students in their twenties to business leaders, and the retired, senior citizens looking for new means for social involvement. For a group of people with different lifestyles and ways of thinking to work together, ability to facilitate middle ground among many opinions is crucial, and that cannot be done without listening to each other. At the implementation stage, or when interacting with museum visitors, listening is a vital skill in every aspect of Tobira activities.
―You’re one of the first
members of the project too.
Yes, I joined the Tobira Project when it
just started in 2012. By the time of completing the Principal Session, I was so
excited that I couldn’t wait to put what I had learnt into practice. More than
anything, other members who I would have never met if not for Tobira Project,
were all very inspiring.
―What happens after the
three months of Principal Session?
Next phase is called Practical Session which consists of three courses; art appreciation, accessibility, and architecture. We can choose as many as we wish. As we deepen our knowledge in the courses, we also have chances to practice what we have learned through actual interaction with museum visitors. Tobira can initiate these programmes and play the facilitator role in them.
Practical skills are acquired through three pragmatic courses focusing on art appreciation, accessibility, and architecture in order to connect people with people, people with space through art.The cycle of learning and practicing is one of the focal points of Tobira Project. “Special Day for People with Disabilities”, held on the museum’s closing days, is one of such programmes, where Tobira support the participants. A scene from “Art appreciation programme for people with special needs” (PUSHKIN ― Masterpieces of French Landscape Paintings from The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 2018)
―I heard there are many
meetings held on Tobira’s own initiatives?
Yes. Tobira are encouraged to plan
and run their own project utilising the museum space. There is a web forum
shared among 150 Tobira members where any of them can throw in their
ideas. If the idea speaks to anyone on the forum, they’ll gather and brainstorm
a new project. These projects are called Tobi-Labo.
More than 300 Tobi-Labo meetings are held yearly in the space called Art Study Room, located inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. You can see active discussions happening on the web forum too. The environment where Tobira can feel safe and relaxed to share their thoughts helps build the bond among them.
―I can tell they are all
very passionate.
Programmes born out of this Tobi-Labo, and
the process of Tobi-Labo itself are the very unique essence of Tobira Project.
They are neither university faculties nor museum curators, their diverse
backgrounds and life experiences contribute to creating programmes that appeal
to participants.
One of the popular programmes born out of Tobi-Labo is “Twilight Architecture Tour [Tobikan Yakan Kaikan Tour] ”. It was initiated by Tobira who wanted to share the beauty of architecture illuminated at night. It has become our regular programme to be held every Friday, when the museum opens till late. Tobira curate the tour course by themselves. Some of our Tobira members first joined this architecture tour as guests and fell in love so much, that they decided to join the Tobira Project next year.
A scene from Tobi-Labo activities. The themes vary from exhibitions, architecture, to outdoor sculptures at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. It is crucial that Tobira first familiarise themselves with art and the museum, then share what they genuinely find interesting with the visitors.A popular “Twilight Architecture Tour [Tobikan Yakan Kaikan Tour] ”. Some of the then-participants, struck by the beauty of the lit-up museum and the charming personalities of tour guide, Tobira, have now become Tobira themselves.
―After three years of
experience at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, what do Tobira do?
Many of them still continue to be involved
with communities as art communicators: some start up organisations to help
build community through art, some are in the field of town planning, or welfare
work. There are many museums in Japan that started following the Tobira Project
scheme in order to foster community together with art communicators.
―This spring marks the 9th
year since Tobira Project started. Any message to the newcomers?
I feel culture is most needed now, when society is divided, people are feeling isolated and no way out; all as the result of economic growth being prioritised over everything else. Culture is something nurtured and passed down over a long period with collective effort of people. And touching upon culture and taking part itself is a gateway to re-thinking society. I would be so happy if we can create an art community where people connect through art, together with the 9th generation of Tobira.
Text: Naoko Tsunoda (Fillmore East Co., Ltd.) Courtesy of Ryo Fujishima (first photo at the top) and Tobira Project (the rest)
