Art in Japan>Contemporary Art 1930-2004>Arts Initiative Tokyo

Original articles on art, artists, architecture, exhibitions, galleries, museums and cultural institutions around Tokyo, Japan.

Arts Initiative Tokyo

by John McGee

Minglius, a monthly art cafe and salon at AIT headquarters (Photos courtesy AIT)

Last September’s “AIT Hour Museum” was both formal exhibition and homey bake sale. Arts Initiative Tokyo’s (AIT) eight-hour event—held inside a Shimbashi public school gym—had the expected paintings and videos. But the huge beanbag lounge in the middle of the floor defined its unique spirit. Visitors gathered there to drink wine, eat homemade cake, listen to DJs or just chat. 

Like the beanbags, AIT is informal, flexible and people-oriented. Since 2002, the group of six art professionals that run the nonprofit organization have been bringing fresh air to Tokyo’s stuffy contemporary art world through classes, lectures, events, bilingual publications and an artist-in-residence program. 

The practical but open-ended approach of AIT’s cornerstone “Making Art Different” (MAD) education series inspires student creativity. One graduate of their curation program, Japan’s first, made a catalog for a fictional exhibition, including all the artwork. “We try to give a broad understanding of curating,” says Roger McDonald, 31, one of MAD’s main instructors and curator of “Kindergarten” (2000) and other shows. 

Over the past year, MAD classes have expanded to include nearly 80 students in six courses, ranging from reading critical theory to visiting exhibitions. One thing all students learn is how to discuss art, something Japanese colleges rarely teach. “The emphasis [in art schools] is placed on technical skill at the expense of talk on history or contemporary ideas,” says McDonald, a PhD in art history and theory and sometime professor at Japanese universities. 

The classes also give Tokyo’s scene much needed transparency. “Mapping the Art World,” one session of MAD’s “Artists” course (which teaches practicing artists how to think about and present their work), lays out “who the players are” as McDonald puts it.

AIT staff Yuko Ozawa, Yasufumi Nakamori, Roger McDonald, Yoko Miyahara,
Kai Ozawa, and Fumihiko Sumitomo

Unfortunately, non-Japanese speakers will have to skip the classes. But AIT’s key personnel (including a gallerist and a lawyer) are working hard to expand diverse cultural opportunities, many English-friendly. “Minglius,” a monthly cafe/art salon at their Daikanyama headquarters, and periodic club nights, for example, are announced in their free monthly bilingual e-newsletter. 

Speaking of players, the Whitney Museum’s Lawrence Rinder and Documenta’s Sarat Maharaj have given talks at AIT’s irregularly scheduled visiting artist and curator lecture series. The opportunity to hear such major international art world figures is rare in Tokyo, despite multiple contemporary art institutions. AIT often pulls them off on the fly, through vision, moxie and speed. And they have noble reasons. “This kind of talk doesn’t make money,” says Director Yuko Ozawa, 32, “but it’s important.” 

Of course, money helps. Lack of it partly led to the folding of another alternative group, Command N, in 2002. AIT funds come from MAD tuition, memberships, event entrance fees and foundation grants. But their main strategy is to travel quick and light, avoiding the weight and costs of a permanent home (classes currently meet in the library of Nanjo and Associates, the curatorial office where several members work) and focusing instead on building and maintaining a network of like minds. As Ozawa says, “We’re not centralized but floating.” 

AIT doesn’t oppose the art establishment, but merely bypasses many of its restrictions. For McDonald, AIT Hour Museum was an ideal. “If we could make a museum, that’s what it’d look like,” he says.

For more information, visit www.a-i-t.net.

©2006 John McGee

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