Tama Art University

In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tokyo Electric Power nuclear plant accident, Japan is facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions. At times, one cannot help feeling that art is powerless against such harsh realities. However, looking at things from a different point of view, we can also regard this as an opportunity for the Japanese art world to transform itself. This is how I choose to see it.

Until now, contemporary painting and sculpture has been complacently confined to the rarefied environments of museums and galleries. Design, meanwhile, has devolved into a mere tool of industry and commerce. We need to reflect on this state of affairs, and strive to make art more visceral, more integral to everyday life and the world at large. I believe the young people who constitute the future of the art world must face our dire situation head on, and take steps to address it in their work and in their lives.

Since its establishment in 1935, Tama Art University has consistently upheld the ethos of “Freedom and Will.” In addition to traditional painting, sculpture and crafts, the University has brought contemporary sensibilities and the latest, most advanced techniques to bear on a wide range of fields including design, video, theater, performance art, media arts, and multimedia, making penetrating explorations into the very nature of art and design, and producing thoroughly competent artists who can address the issues of the times. Now we stand at a crossroads, and looking toward the future, we see a clear need for sharing of fresh talent and new humanistic values: in other words a need for transformation.

This “transformation” is partly one from material riches to the spiritual enrichment that art can provide. Human beings need not only intellect, reason and emotion, but also the spirituality that comes from movement of the body. By turning Tama Art University into a testing ground for these ideas, we can turn some of the academic challenges facing the University into a means of contributing voluntarily to society.

In recent years, educational programs have increasingly been moving outside the bounds of the campus. The speed of this process is truly dizzying, with an ever greater number of partnerships between industry, academia and government, and exchange programs and joint projects with universities both in Japan and overseas. An example is Tama Art University's own Banana Textile Project, a project which started with a reappraisal of the humble banana's potential, and went on to make a strong impact on the culture and industry of several African nations, and to achieve notable results as an international research project. At the Graduate School, much of practical value has been accomplished through joint initiatives with researchers from other universities, including the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, as well as in the Strategic Creative Research Promotion Program (Basic Research Program) aimed at developing a new platform for the emerging “people's art,” and other projects.

The University also places high value on ties with the community, holding exhibitions, lectures, workshops and other events that make full use of the Tama Art University Museum and multiple galleries found on campus. In terms of safety and security, every possible step is being taken to ensure students have the best possible learning environment, including establishment of a disaster and emergency response system, and rigorous safety standards for all campus facilities and equipment. With eyes firmly on the future, Tama Art University teaching staff and students will work side by side to make this university the ideal forum for art education in the 21st century.