Summary“Interactive Exhibits” – From the Collection
MIYASHITA, Tohko
As part of their educational activities, many art museums have recently
held “interactive exhibits,” focusing on individual sensations. Based on theseexhibits, I am investigating how best to put on an “interactive exhibit” wherevisitors can relax and enjoy the show without relying on any prior knowledge.
In my article, I put forth three pieces. In Ryuumi Hashimoto’s “Song ofWind,” the pictures of the Jizo force the viewer to pay closer attention, which
reveals a mysterious world hidden in the darkness. In Sadamasa Motonaga’s“Work,Pink-Red-91” the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the way the piece was painted,
allowing the viewer to see the work with a scientific eye. In Kojin Kudo’s “Night,”
viewers are made to search for the presence of “something” in the piece.
In this article, I have investigated interactive exhibits through focusedquestions on the three pieces listed above. With such a specific focus, it is easier
to gain a deeper understanding of the works without needlessly convoluting
the discussion. Additionally, I have concluded that it is important to look for areason for people’s opinions on the pieces, to use a variety of viewpoints, to notdisregard any opinion, and to encourage discussion of the pieces by rephrasing
and connecting the individual opinions.
(Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

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Trees in the Symbolist Paintings of Maurice Denis
HIRAISHI, Masako
One of the unique points of Maurice Denis’ symbolism is how he brings out
the mystical in everyday life. Trees play a particularly important role in Denis’unique brand of symbolist expression.
“Marthe in the Evening (Marthe Symbolist)” (The Niigata Prefectural
Museum of Modern Art/The Bandaijima Art Museum) is an intimate portraitof the artist’s fiancée, and at the same time, a mysterious painting full ofsymbolic meanings. The key to understanding the message of this work is thetree behind Marthe which hides the sun to produce the nightly scene. The tree
acts as a border or a gate between day/night, ordinary life/extra-ordinary life,and profane/sacred. From the artistic point of view, trees are a critical motif aswell. The decorativeness of leaves and the shape of the trunk give the painterthe possibility of opening a new horizon in the painting.
(Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

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Nikodim Kondakov and Czechoslovakia
KO, Seong-Jun
Nikodim Pavlovich KONDAKOV (b. Khalan’, Kursk in 1844, d. Prague in1925) was a prominent Russian art historian who focused on Byzantine andmedieval Russian art, and is quite well known for his works “The History ofByzantine Art and Iconography according to Miniatures of Greek Manuscripts”(Odessa, 1866) and “Iconography of Mother of God” (Petrograd, 1914-1915).Dueto his use of new methodologies and his various cutting edge studies, he isconsidered the father of Byzantine art history.
In this paper, I will focus on Kondakov’s work during the later years of hislife when he lived in Prague, the capital of the new country of Czechoslovakia.
With the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the civil war that followed, Kondakov,
along with many other intellectuals, was forced to flee Imperial Russia. He
first fled to Istanbul, where the British army had taken control following theOttoman Empire’s loss in World War I. Following this, he moved to Sofia in
Bulgaria, before finally settling in Prague. In 1922 he was invited as a professorof Prague Charles University, and taught students Byzantine and Slavic art
until his death in 1925.
Professor Kondakov was warmly received in Prague due to the “TheRussian Action,” a policy to accept Russian refugees implemented by theCzechoslovakian government under the direction of President Masaryk, inwhich scholars and intellectuals were given preference.
In this paper I will introduce the academic exchanges that occurred
between Kondakov and Czech scholars and artists such as Alfons Mucha, aswell as the academic conference Seminarium Kondakovianum that was created by
Kondakov’s pupils.
(Curator, The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum)37 ■Current State of the Database Collection in its 4th year
SATOH, Katsumi
It has now been four years since the museum created its collection database.
During this time, the museum has upgraded the software they use to File Maker
Pro12 Advanced, which allows for smoother editing of the layout.
During the third and fourth year, improvements made to the database by themuseum first included creating a data system that could handle a variety ofrequests.
The data system is made of the following 5 tables, which have beeninterconnected.
○Museum Collection Database (160 fields, 7,106 records)○Artist Database (69 fields, 795 records)○Exhibition Database (19 fields, 329 records)○Donor Database (12 fields, 208 records)○Consigner Database (12 fields, 6 records)
Additionally, the museum has created 230 layouts and 263 scripts to make thedatabase easier to use.
The library has also arranged images of the pieces and folders for paperbase works, and linked them into the database. There are also plans to create a
database for visitors to the museum, and an online database as well.
(Educator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

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Initiatives in the Exhibit “Bijutsu no Asobiba”
IZAWA, Tomomi
The special exhibit “Bijutukan no Asobiba” (held from February 28th, 2012
to April 15th, 2012) was an interactive art exhibit developed with the theme of“playing at an art museum.” For example in the “Oshaberi Hiroba” area, visitors
were asked to imagine what the characters in the paintings could be talking
about, and in the “Oto no Hiroba” to image what kind of sound each painting
would make. This kind of “playing” was introduced as a way for people to enjoy
the art, and furthermore to let visitors have “fun” with a variety of experiencesat an art museum.
In order to understand how people felt about this kind of participatory
exhibit, we distributed a questionnaire to visitors. From the answers we could
see that they were actively trying to get involved with the pieces through “play.”In this exhibit, we tried various approaches, not just in the way the exhibit wasput on, but through related events and operation structure too. In workshops aswell, we were able to form a new partnership with the surrounding community
by having outside volunteers be involved in everything from the planning to
the implementation of the workshops.
Additionally, the introduction of the exhibition support volunteers issomething we’d like to do again in the future. Though most of the plans for“Bijutsu no Asobiba” have yet to take off and a number of problems remain, wehope to provide a more welcoming environment for visitors to the art museum.
(Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)39 ■