Overview of
Kyushu University Social Art Lab
Established in April 2015 as
an auxiliary organization of
the Faculty of Design within
Kyushu University, the Social
Art Lab has developed a varietyof projects.

ArtSocial issues

SocialArt Lab
Te c h n o l o g y1

New perspectives

Environment

Philosophy
The Social Art Lab aims to present new values of “life” through research,education, practice and advocacy of “social art”*, which is an art practicethat commits to social issues and creates new connections among people.
Here, “art” is used in the broad sense of the word rather than just the fieldof fine arts, emphasizing not only produced artwork itself but also practicalaspects as we attempt a holistic approach that includes environmental design,technology, and management.
*Also referred to as socially engaged art or social practice art.

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34Guiding Principle
Under its motto “Give form to ‘interesting’ and make ‘abundance’ visible,” theSocial Art Lab aims to conceptualize the design of a society ready for the postmodern era through democratic interaction between a variety of things.

MissionOur mission is to use interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve research,education, practice, and advocacies related to methods that utilize art tosolve societal challenges which are difficult to resolve through science andreason alone. We aim to develop social installations by maintaining a constantawareness of the flow of education, practice, and advocacy based on the resultsof research conducted both on and off campus. By staying conscious of theentire sequence that goes into producing artwork and managing events—not
just implementing the events themselves, but also recording and editing
them—we are able to focus our efforts on publicizing research results andother PR activities.
Social Art Lab undertakes research, education, practice, and advocacy in aninterrelated way.
»» Relationship of art and society»» Evaluative methods for theeffects of art»» Understanding of diverse values»» Assessment of project
management»» Consideration of futurecommunities»» Critical awareness of socialissues»» Integrated learning programs»»Practical learning
opportunities

Research

Education

Advocacy

Practice

BackgroundIn modern times, art as a form of expression supported by technology has
evolved into an existence that connects to the inner life of an individual and isautonomous from social life. This was brought about by an escape from thespell of religion, liberation from the traditional model of community-basedsocieties, and a clear separation from government and commerce. However, as
the lines between reason and sensitivity and between public and private blur,
we face a myriad of societal challenges that cannot be solved through sciencealone, creating the need for art that rebuilds the relationships between people
and enables free movement between our inner selves and the outer world.

»» Cultural policies inpost-global society»» Values for co-existence»»Engagement with socialissues»»Making art projects»» Networking strategies forcommunity design»» Collaboration among diversepeople»» Models for socially engaged artprojects»» Raising public awareness2

Kyushu University Social Art Lab (SAL)
2018–2020 Activities — Projects Overview
What is needed to implement collaborative artistic projects that connect to socialinclusion? To answer this question, the Social Art Lab has [1] implemented threepractical courses that investigate better methods for cultivating human resources
through practice, [2] held public seminars that introduce a wide range of examples
related to diverse social inclusion, and [3] developed educational resources forcultivating human resources.
The practical courses in [1] included (a) the Nothern Kyushu Floods Recovery
Support Project “Kurogawa Garden and Bio-art—Zen and Mt. Hiko Shugendō
as Role Models” at Kyosei-no-sato Kurogawa INN Museum in the Kurogawa
area of Asakura, Fukuoka that received heavy damage during the torrential rainsthat struck northern Kyushu in July 2017; (b) “Theater Arts and Social Inclusion”
Practical Production Seminar in collaboration with Nicochan no Kai, a certified
NPO that provides support to people with serious illnesses or disabilities inFukuoka City; and (c) together with the certified NPO Sanson-juku, the Oku
Yame Art and Agricultural Project in the Kasahara District of Kurogimachi,
a town in the Yame city which suffered damage in the heavy rains that struck
northern Kyushu in July of 2012.
For the public seminars in [2], we held viewing parties for documentary films
related to the artistic activities of people with disabilities; an introduction to theunique art initiatives at Hong Kong’s large-scale welfare institutions; a talk on
the forefront of outsider art that isn’t limited by the restrictions of “disability”;
an exhibition of photos depicting San Francisco’s inclusive agricultural initiative
known as the Garden Project; a visual performance that delves into the issues of
HIV/AIDS and sexual minorities; a lecture on art projects in housing complexes
with elderly populations; the screening of a documentary that depicts the lives of
Korean musicians living in Japan; and online seminars through cooperation withacademic societies.
3Regarding the development of educational resources in [3], we conducted researchthen created handbooks for people involved in policy management; the books
consider basic approaches and evaluation methods for artistic activities connected
to social inclusion. We also studied models for cultivating human resources in art
management that furthers art projects with an awareness of social inclusion.
Through these initiatives, we worked over the past three years to enshrine
knowledge on socially inclusive artistic activities as a resource for society and toproduce many individuals in art management from fields related to art and culture.

Creating an inclusive Society through Artist Activities
1. Education Targets

Government and NPO officials etc. who are active in the fields of culture, art, welfare, and community
development.

2. Background and SignificanceCollaborative artistic activities with an awareness of social inclusion are flourishing, but knowledge
and know-how is not being shared. → Verbalize the meaning and methods of projects so that they canbe shared.

3. Details

Propose a model for cultivating talent for art management by alternately implementing practicalcourses and research.

4. Results of FY 2018 – FY 2019 projects

Created two handbooks. → Disseminated to municipalities and cultural organizations throughout Japan.

5. Initiatives for FY 2020
Practical Courses (three projects)

Research[1] Nothern Kyushu Floods Recovery Support Project→ Learning about support activities through art indisaster areas.
[2] “Theater Arts and Social Inclusion” PracticalProduction Seminar→ Learning about art practice and communicatingwith people with disabilities.
[3] Oku Yame Art and Agricultural Project→ Learning about research-style art projects at ahalf-farm, half-art camp.

• Public seminars→ Learn about socially inclusive projects
at public theaters and knowledge related
to evaluating such projects.
• Educational Resources Development→ Draft reports with the goal of building
a model for cultivating human resources
based on practical courses and research.

6. Future Outlook(1) Enshrine knowledge on socially inclusive art activities as a resource for society.
(2) Produce many individuals in art management from fields related to art and culture.

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Self-Building a Gazebo in the Kurogawa Garden.

Nothern Kyushu Floods Recovery Support ProjectKurogawa Garden and Bio-art—Zen and Mt. Hiko Shugendō as Role Models—This course was started with the intention of contributing to the recovery efforts after theheavy-rain disaster in Northern Kyushu in 2017 by using artistic activities to get close to thearea’s people and environment. We decided to create a Kurogawa garden in the outdoor spaceof Kyosei-no-sato Kurogawa INN Museum, located in a repurposed school building in theKurogawa District of Asakura, Fukuoka, which was hit particularly hard by the disaster.
In the first year, we planned and designed the garden together with members acquired
through a public appeal of participants. In the second year, we also created a booklet
introducing people and organizations engaged in creative activities within the disaster area.
At the same time, we completed the garden by planting trees and self-building a pavilion. In
the third year, we held a variety of artistic activities in the completed garden and one of thearea’s historic temples; we also held a virtual “Tea & Art Workshop for Healing of Life” inwhich online participants could view a video record of those activities.
Throughout the three years of activities, participants learned techniques for engaging
in art projects in a disaster area. And although many of the participants originally had
no connection to the disaster area, some of their reactions included: “I did on-site artistic
activities because I wanted to encourage the people living in the disaster area; but when they
were so pleased with my unfamiliar activities, I was the one that felt encouraged.” “Throughthese activities, I came to look at the disaster area as my second hometown. I want tocontinue my involvement with this community in the future, too.”513

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1. Kyosei-no-sato in July 2018, immediately after thedisaster. Large quantities of driftwood and rocks arestrewn about.

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2. Before making the garden, we conducted on-site
observations in the disaster area.
3. A lecture by garden designer Shunmyō Masuno.
Foundational concepts were learned.
4. Thinking about the garden’s design while walking
around the site.
5. Discussing the plan in earnest while considering whowill visit the garden and what they will use it for.
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2020
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1. A workshop was held with children of the community at Fumon-in
Temple in Haki, Asakura.

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1. The Katari booklet. Participants gathered andedited the information contained in it.
2. Wood was reclaimed from damaged building andused in the garden.

2. 3. “Sound Hunting,” a workshop for listening carefully and locatingsounds.
4. A Digital Zen Garden that capitalizes on Kyosei-no-sato’s garden
space for an audience-less presentation.
5. Live-streaming of the Tea & Art Workshop for Healing of Life.

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6. “TOMOIKI” an audience-less art performance in Kyosei-no-sato.

3. Planting in the garden. Participants designed theplan for which saplings to plant.
4. Participants volunteered to conduct an art
performance using the garden as a stage, which
was well-received by local residents.

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5. The gazebo was self-built using wood reclaimed
from the disaster.

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Pr ac tic al C our se 2

20181
Participants playing various instruments while moving in an improvised manner.

“Theater Arts and Social Inclusion,”a practical course on production
This course was held with the purpose of cultivating human resources for art management
related to “theater arts and social inclusion.”In the first year, participants with diverse physical conditions experienced the process of
producing a play, during which they learned hands-on about the things needed to support
diverse expression, such as how to communicate with people with disabilities and how toprovide on-site care at a stage production.
The second year provided opportunities to learn and think about the management of places
where people who require daily care and support engage in expressive activities. Participants
left with new realizations arising from their exposure to unexpected disabilities as they
worked creatively and had discussions with actors and dancers requiring daily care andsupport who were invited to give lectures.
The third year was held entirely online. Based on the theme of “daily interaction,”
participants learned about their mutual similarities and differences by expressing theirrespective daily routines while considering the ideal state of places for diverse expression
from the viewpoints of expression and care. They also created new performance pieces
through their online conversations with each other about performance. Many participants
said that they want to continue engaging in expressive activities with a diverse group ofpeople in the future.

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1. Working on expressing the words of others with one’s body.

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2. Searching for production material while strolling around thecampus.
3. Improvised three-person dance by Makoto Enda, Yu-ki Mori,and Ayumu Satomura.
4. An instructor with a hearing disability gives a lecture using
sign language.
5. Internship for a public performance of the play Run, Melos!
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2019

2020

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1. Reenactment of the daily scene ofpouring a cup of tea and making atoast.

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2. Online performance by Ayumu
Satomura and Makoto Enda.
3. Freely expressing one’s current
feelings as a way of reflecting.
4. Performance of newly created dance
by Ayumu Satomura and Makoto
Enda.

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1. Moving the body freely while holding various
musical instruments.

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2. Groups of three work on synchronizing their
movements to express one person’s thoughts.
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3. Learning about the physical condition ofpeople with disabilities at Yu-ki Mori’s lecture.
4. Eating with people with disabilities to think
about their expressive activities.
5. Sharing opinions with actors with disabilities.

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Pr ac tic al C our se 32018

12Participants gazing at the terraced rice fields in the Kasahara District.

Oku Yame Art and Agricultural Project3Since 2015, SAL has collaborated with the NPO Sanson-juku to implement projects thatconsider the relationship between art and community development in the Kasahara Districtof Kurogimachi, a town in Yame city, Fukuoka. This course continued those efforts byasking questions about how to achieve rich and sustainable ways of life in which people areconnected to each other and the natural environment.
The camp-style course titled “Oku Yame Art and Agricultural School” was designed sothat each participant could experience being on an actual farm and consider firsthand thelinks between art and agriculture while attending workshops held by artists who specialize infolk performing arts, photography, and socially engaged art.
After the area suffered damage from typhoons in 2019, we also assisted with the recovery
efforts.
In 2020, we had a course with online participation, attempting an experimental
curriculum under the theme of “Nurturing the Soil” as things like soil and rice weredelivered from the area to the homes of participants.
At the Oku Yame Art and Agricultural Work Camp, which was held as part of Sansonjuku’s international camp program, volunteers from around the world joined director andfolk performing arts archiver Riki Takeda in an artist-in-residence experience that involved
local research and the production of art. In 2019, this culminated in the creation of the dance
Yame-chayama-odori, based on a traditional regional song known as the folk song Yamechayama-uta. The dance is now being inherited by people of the community.

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1. Orientation was held in the gymnasium of a former
elementary school.
2. A workshop by James Jack titled “Migrating Stories.”
3. Rice cultivated through organic agriculture. Recognizing
and pulling weeds together with participants.
4. From the workshop, presentation of a dance basedon the movements made when cutting trees with achainsaw.
5. Riki Takeda’s workshop based on the physicalmovements experienced at the camp.

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6. Takeda explaining the dance through Egao no Mori.

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1. Singers ascend the rice fields and present the danceYame-chayama-odori .
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2. Participants from across the country joining a Zoommeeting.
3. “Greetings from Chayama” and agricultural products
mailed to participants.
4. Tea farmer Fukuo Miyazono is invited to speak at an inperson lecture.
5. Participants discussing the relationship between riceand money.

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6. Participants sharing and discussing their “Nurturing
the Soil” experiences.

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1. Creating a dance with participants by using the folk soong Yame-chayama-uta as a guide.
2. Debut of the dance Yame-chayama-odori to local residents.
3. Hiroyo Kaneko’s workshop incorporating the cyanotype (sunlight photography) technique.

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4. Working to restore the irrigation canals of the terraced rice fields, which were clogged by the torrential rains.
5. A symposium for informing local residents about the activities, results, and possibilities thus far.
6. Group photo of camp participants, together with a goat raised on the rice farm.

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Public seminars

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Dumb Type “S/N” screening and talk.
5Because the three practical courses had different perspectives, we held public seminars
each year covering multiple themes to present a diverse set of case studies related to art
and social inclusion. These themes included the practice of art by disabled people both
domestically and abroad; outsider art; plantations in the United States run by former inmatesand low-income workers; forms of expression born within the context of HIV and AIDS;
the revitalization of housing complexes; the music of Koreans residing in Japan; and theaccessibility of public halls. A variety of specific examples of artistic expression were also
discussed, such as paintings, sculptures, ethnic music, photographs, stage performances, andart projects, as well as ways to evaluate these works.
In their responses to the surveys we conducted during the course, many participants statedthat their previous notion that social inclusion and art are “special things” had transformed
into an awareness that these concepts are “intricately connected to our daily lives.”
What forms can social inclusion take within our everyday lives? And how can art be used
to achieve them? By appreciating artwork and listening to speakers who continue to practicein various fields, participants had the opportunity to consider these questions deeply and gaina concrete idea of answers to them.

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1. Things in the background of the phrase “Disabled Art” — speakers giving a talk.
2. “Disabled Art” potential in Hong Kong — speakers giving a talk.
3. The questions asked by outsider art — introducing artwork and creators.
4. Garden Project — an art exhibit and photographer Hiroyo Kaneko.
5. Housing complexes enriched by art — speakers giving a talk.
6. Music for Life — Ahn Sungmin singing an Arirang medley while playing a janggu.

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Educ ational Resources Development
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Social Inclusion through Culture and the Arts: A Handbook (published 2018–2020.)

Society’s interest in artistic activities connected tosocial inclusion is growing, but there is still a lack ofsystematic knowledge and resources related to thisarea. Therefore, we conducted research to develop
some educational resources. This primarily consistedof the following three projects: [1] producing Social
Inclusion through Culture and the Arts: A Handbook (ajoint project with the Agency for Cultural Affairs
and in collaboration with the NPO Donner LeMot); [2] holding planning meetings aimed at
designing a program for cultivating individuals in art
management for artistic activities connected to socialinclusion; and [3] holding public study sessions
in which concerned individuals meet and discuss
the results of each year’s activities as well as futurechallenges. In addition, we published a report (thisdocument) in 2020 that summarizes the results ofour projects over the past three years.

A planning meeting in [2]. All SAL
members discussing matters in depth.

Participants, partner organizations, andSAL members having discussions in [3].