Art, Health & Wellbeing Enhancing Wellbeing with Museums: Case Studies From the UK

100 people at venue
500 people online

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3rd Floor Auditorium,
The National Art Center,
Tokyo 7 Chome-22-2 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo 106-8558

※For location map and detailed information,
please refer to The National Art Center, Tokyo website

Mami Kataoka Director National Center for Art Research

During the years of the pandemic, the focus on wellbeing - the health of the body, mind and society - was heightened and the power of art was challenged. While there were more opportunities to experience art online, there was also a real sense of excitement in encountering artworks in real life at museums. What does it mean to "live well" with art? Let's think about it together at the museum.

National Center for Art Research (NCAR), National Museum of Art, Japan

NCAR was established in March 2023 as a new hub for social connection, linking Japanese and international museums and research institutes, with the focus of "connecting, deepening, and expanding art." With an eye on international trends, it will conduct research in specialist fields, disseminate information domestically and globally, promote the use of its collections, build human networks, expand learning, and support artists. We aim for a future in which we can all discover new values and potential through art.

Photo by Akinori Ito

Katsuhiko Hibino President Tokyo University of the Arts

The feeling that there are moments when time stretches and shrinks…the sensation of drifting softly while trying to remember colours…the floating sensation of not being able to get anywhere while thinking about what existed before the universe was created. These are the sensations that human beings have been carrying since the eve of the birth of life. They are the source of our ability to live vibrantly, and it is art that takes us to that place.

Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society

In 2023, Tokyo University of the Arts, in collaboration with the National Museum of Art, the private sector, and local government launched an initiative called the "Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society". The project supports collaborative research that transcends the boundaries of art, welfare, medicine, and technology. It aims to develop cultural prescriptions and strengthen cultural activities that create social connections. Art communication is viewed as a means of creating new pathways towards a more inclusive society, envisioning a world where everyone can be themselves, and within the context of Japan’s "super aging society" ensure that no one is left behind.

*This Creative Forum is supported by the Program on Open Innovation Platforms for Industry-academia Co-creation (COI-NEXT) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

Sawako Inaniwa National Center for Art Research Senior Curator, Learning

Sawako holds a master's degree from University College London. She was Chief of Learning and Public Projects and curator at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Focusing on social issues, she planned and ran community-based initiatives like the Tobira Project and Creative Ageing Zuttobi, responding to Japan’s rapidly ageing society. She is the author of several books in Japanese and, in English, co-author of "New Museum Practice in Asia" (Lund Humphries Pub Ltd, 2018) and "Designing Society Through Art: A Collaboration Between Citizens and Cultural Institutions" (Shogakukan, 2021).

Esme Ward Manchester Museum Director

Esme is the Director of Manchester Museum; Honorary Professor of Heritage Futures at the University of Manchester; Co-chair of the University Museums Group representing university museums on the National Museum’s Directors’ Executive Council and is Environmental Sustainability Lead for Manchester Cultural Leaders Group. Esme leads cross-sector collaboration with citizens and communities across the city to shape the museum they most need, with a mission to build understanding between cultures and a more sustainable world.

^{*Speech will be delivered by video.}

Ruth Edson Manchester Art Gallery Learning Manager: Communities

Ruth has extensive experience of co-producing exhibitions and programmes in partnership with communities, artists, charities, and academics within galleries and museums, working with local authorities, and in a freelance capacity. Ruth is passionate about placing museums and galleries at the heart of solutions that offer creativity as a means of generating societal change. Over the past three years, she has led and curated Uncertain Futures; a collaborative art and research project addressing intersectional inequalities facing women over 50 in relation to work and ageing.

Carol Rogers National Museums Liverpool Director of House of Memories

Carol leads the multi-award-winning House of Memories, a flagship dementia awareness programme for National Museums Liverpool. House of Memories is making a difference to people living with dementia, their carers, families, and communities. More than 60,000 people have benefited from the programme, which continues to expand across the UK and globally. In January 2015, Carol was acknowledged by HRH Queen Elizabeth II and awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire), for her role leading House of Memories.

Mark Miller Tate Director of Learning

Mark is the Director of Learning across Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives, and Tate Liverpool. He has over 25 years of experience in informal learning settings centring historical, modern, and contemporary art as a generative force for interdisciplinary creative learning engagement. Mark has worked at Tate for 16 years as Convenor of Young People's Programmes and Head of Programmes and Practice at Tate Britain and Tate Modern as Director of Learning. His role leads the vision, strategy, implementation, and outcomes for creative learning programs at Tate.

Tatsuya Ito Tokyo University of the Arts Project Associate Professor of the Public Collaboration Center

Tatsuya obtained a PhD at Tokyo University of the Arts, specialising in Art Education. He is the project leader of "Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society" led by Tokyo University of the Arts. He has been involved in the planning of a wide variety of cultural programs, including the Tobira Project, an art community formation project developed in collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and Tokyo University of the Arts. He is co-author of "Designing Society Through Art: A Collaboration Between Citizens and Cultural Institutions" (Seigensha, 2018) and "Classroom for Care and Art" (Sayusha, 2022).

Jane Findlay Dulwich Picture Gallery Head of Programme and Engagement

Jane is Dulwich Picture Gallery's Head of Programme and Engagement with responsibility for the Gallery's exhibitions and learning activities. She specialises in audience development, participation, and interpretation. In 2021 she curated the critically acclaimed "Helen Frankenthaler: Radical Beauty" exhibition. She has worked in learning and engagement in UK museums and galleries for 16 years. Her experience spans the British Museum, National Maritime Museum, Kenwood House, and the London Transport Museum.

Hayato Fujioka Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Curator

Hayato graduated with a master's degree from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, majoring in cultural theory and curation. From 2018, he served as a Project Assistant Professor of Global Art Practice at Tokyo University of the Arts and has worked on various cultural projects as a researcher, curator, and filmmaker. Since 2021, he has served as the curator of the Learning and Public Projects division at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, responsible for the Creative Ageing Zuttobi program for older adults.