Photo: Takahashi Munemasa
“Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” is a project running as part of the “JST COI-NEXT Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society” program, with Tokyo University of Arts playing a key role as a hub. As of May 2024, 39 organizations across industries, governments, and academia—including universities, museums such as the National Museum of Art, local governments, and private organizations—are collaborating.
Through “Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo,” we create new spaces by synergizing museum collections and cultural resources with technologies. These spaces facilitate communication through the arts, collaborating with local governments, medical, and welfare fields. Our aim is to create a society where everyone can live with dignity, free from loneliness or isolation.
“Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” is mainly operated by a joint team from the Learning Group of the National Center for Art Research and the Kiriyama Takashi Laboratory of Tokyo University of Arts. With this core team, we collaborate with various parties, including local governments, medical and welfare associations, and art communicators, leveraging diverse expertise and backgrounds in art, technology, and museums to co-create a society that centers wellbeing through the arts.
Sawako Inaniwa and Takashi Kiriyama
- This program is funded as JPMJPF2105 under the Program on Open Innovation Platforms for Industry-academia Co-creation (COI-NEXT)
Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo?
This project was named “Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” hoping “Life with Art” and “Becoming Friends with Art.” They are expressed in Japanese respectively, “aato to tomoni aru seikatsu” and “aato to tomodachi ni naru.” It also has meaning to call friends, “aa tomo yo!” (Dear friend!) The nickname of “Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” is “aa-tomo,” and its web media is called “aa-tomo TODAY.”
Message
Sawako Inaniwa
Senior Curator of the National Center for Art Research
Leader of R&D Task #1
Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society
The National Center for Art Research (NCAR) is a new organization established in March 2022 within the headquarters of the National Museum of Art, Japan. With the mission of “connecting, deepening, and expanding art,” we have begun working toward a future in which everyone can discover new values and possibilities through art.
“Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” is part of these activities; an intra-organizational venture based at Tokyo University of Arts, where we closely collaborate with museums, local governments, and citizens, working together in co-creation. We embrace trial and error and hope to find an exciting future; go beyond the boundaries of different fields of expertise; explore and share new movements in art, health, and wellbeing with many people through the online magazine “aa-tomo TODAY.”
Takashi Kiriyama
Professor, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of Arts
Leader of R&D Task #3
Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society
I am pleased to start “Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo” activities with the National Center for Art Research through the activities of Arts-based Communication Platform for Co-creation to Build a Convivial Society. We are developing technologies to support cultural prescribing under R&D Target #3. We plan to set up environments and utilize AI to enable easier and more effective viewing of art through dialogue; support both face-to-face and online dialogues; and promote technologies to enhance the connection between objects and information.
We will be conscious of and work to fulfill the activity fields’ needs that we can find through the activities.
Links to related pages:
aa-tomo TODAY editorial team
| Edited by | Sawako Inaniwa (National Center for Art Research) |
|---|---|
| Planned and edited by | Hideki Inoue (MONKEYWORKS) |
| Edited and operated by | Manabu Kanai (Tokyo University of Arts) Chunni Chiu (Tokyo University of Arts) Toru Masuyama (Tokyo University of Arts) Mei Moizumi (Tokyo University of Arts) |
Aatomo Today production
| Art Direction | Saburo Sakata (Neki Inc.) |
|---|---|
| Design | Yu Nishimiya (Neki Inc.) |
| Illustration | SANDER STUDIO |
| Logo Design | TWOTONE INC. |
| Website Construction | Tetsuyoshi Yamasaki (SUBTONIC) |
Published by
Art & Wellbeing aa-tomo
(National Center for Art Research x Tokyo University for Arts)