3
「DOMANI・明日展」船出の記憶と、未来へのエール

田中 通孝
美術評論家
元文化庁主任芸術文化調査官(第1 ~3回DOMANI・明日展担当)、元武蔵野音楽大学教授

1990年代当時、文化庁の旧芸術家在外研修制度(現在の新進芸術家海外研修制度)は発足後20数年が経ち、初期からの修了者たち個々の成果は目を見張るものがあった。また、何らかの形でその成果を集約できないかとの要望が修了者から高まってきた。この時期には民間の芸術家海外派遣制度も次第に充実し帰国後に発表の場をセットとしたものが主流であった。こうしたなか「文化庁芸術家在外研修員の会」(在研会)の当時の会長でいらした奥谷博氏からの強い要望もあり、文化庁では修了者の成果発表の場をつくるべく、新たな予算獲得のための起案がなされたのである。1998年度の新規事業として概算要求が通ったときの、同庁芸術文化課職員の喜び様は忘れることは出来ない。

美術分野は展覧会開催を目指すことになったが、既存の国立の施設での開催は難しく、民間施設を探すことになり、これは予算面のこともあり都内では苦戦の連続であった。その折、読売新聞社の谷矢哲夫氏から安田火災東郷青児美術館の紹介があり、3者が主催者で開催することでどうにか会場に目途が立ち安堵した。関係者各位に敬意を表したい。展覧会名は長く発展してほしいとの希望を込めて「DOMANI・明日」に決定した。

海外との交流が容易になり盛んになった今日、芸術家が国費を使って海外で学ぶ意義は変化して当然であろう。美術家の場合、帰国後数年ないし10年後に成果が作品となり現れる人が多いように感じている。海外での研修施設は大学他様々であるが、語学が堪能な人は少なく、皆創作活動の中断ないし変更を強いられることになるようだ。だが自分は1年ないし2・3年、現在の制作ペースを変えることに意義があるのではないかと考えている。

従来は派遣国が欧米に偏った感があったが、近年はアフリカ、アジア・オセアニアを希望する研修者の増加が興味深い。自分は 20数年青年海外協力隊の技術顧問等として多くの美術隊員と接してきたが、帰国時の面談では学ぶことが多かったとよく耳にした。このことは島国である日本を離れ、遠くの国から見つめ直すことの重要性を指摘しているのであろう。また、世界のどこの国・地域にも異なった歴史があり文化があり、そこには皆他に代え難い素晴らしい美術表現が存在るに違いない。異文化の中で生活し人々と接し帰国して、その後の活躍に繋がっているようだ。多くの19世紀後半フランスの画家たちがアフリカの表現に興味を示し自分のものとして発展させたことは周知の通りである。もちろん我々はまだ、欧米の先進国に学ばなければならない。また、近代文化活動においては100周遅れのトップランナーの位置は変ることはなく、最近ではその距離が離されているようにも感じている。

「第24回DOMANI・明日展」はコロナ禍の中、複数の地方会場で地元出身の作家を中心に展開する展覧会となった。当然地域の人たちには我が国の現代美術に接する良い機会であり、美術を志す多くの若者たちが海外を身近に感じたことだろう。こうした取り組みも通じて、今後も多くの才能を秘めた新進芸術家がこの研修制度を利用して海外で学ぶという目標をもってほしいと願っている。

3
Domani: Memories of the Early Days and Hopes for the Future

Tanaka Michitaka
Art critic; former Chief Senior Specialist for Arts and Culture
Agency for Cultural Affairs (responsible for the first three “Domani: The Art of Tomorrow” exhibitions); former professor, Musashino Academia Musicae

In the 1990s, more than twenty years after Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs launched the Overseas Study Program for Artists (now the Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists), a number of the early participants were showing remarkable outcomes on an individual basis. At the same time, an increasing number of these OSP artists were also asking if these outcomes could be presented together in some form. During this period, it was becoming commonplace for private overseas study programs to also offer ample opportunities for participants to showcase the outcomes of their overseas studies upon their return. With the then chairman of the Agency for Cultural Affairs Overseas Study Program for Artists Alumni Association, Okutani Hiroshi, strongly supporting the creation of such opportunities for OSP artists, preparations were made within the Agency for Cultural Affairs for a new budgetary request for this purpose. I cannot forget the joy among the staff at the Agency’s Arts and Culture Division when this request was approved as a new project for fiscal 1998.

In the domain of fine art we aimed to stage an exhibition, but holding such a show at an existing national facility was problematic, and we ended up looking for a suitable private facility. Partly for budgetary reasons, in the Tokyo metropolitan area we encountered a succession of hardships. Then, Taniya Tetsuo of the Yomiuri Shimbun introduced us to the Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, and with the three organizations as hosts we were eventually able to secure a venue. I would like to pay tribute to everyone involved. Out of a desire to see the exhibition develop over the long term, we settled on the title “Domani: The Art of Tomorrow.”

Today, when overseas exchanges have become easy and widespread, it is perhaps to be expected that the value of artists studying overseas using government money is changing. In the case of fine art, I get the sense that many artists produce outcomes in the form of artworks between a few years and a decade after returning. Relevant institutions overseas come in various forms in addition to universities, and because few OSP artists are proficient in languages, they often have to interrupt or make changes to their practices. But I think there is value in altering one’s current creative pace for one or even two or three years.

Previously, host countries were skewed toward Europe and North America, but interestingly, there has been an increase in recent years in the number of artists wishing to study in Africa, Asia or Oceania. I have met numerous art volunteers over the last twenty-plus years in my role as technical advisor to Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCA), and in interviews upon their return I often heard them say how much they learned. This indicates the importance of leaving Japan, an island nation, and reflecting on it from a distant country. Each country or region in the world has its own history and culture, as well as its own wonderful, irreplaceable artistic expression, and living amid a different culture and interacting with its people can be linked to an artist’s later activities after their return. As is commonly known, many French painters in the late 19th century developed an interest in African art and incorporated it into their own expression. Of course, we in Japan still must learn from advanced countries in Europe and North America. In terms of modern cultural activities, we are still far behind, and recently it seems as if the gap is widening.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it was decided to stage the 24th “Domani: The Art of Tomorrow” exhibition in multiple regional venues with mainly locally born artists. It was a great opportunity for people in the regions to encounter Japanese contemporary art, and many young people aspiring to become artists no doubt felt closer to overseas. I hope that through such initiatives, even more up-and-coming artists with hidden talents will set their sights on using this program to study abroad.