{"id":3794,"date":"2025-04-03T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/?p=3794"},"modified":"2026-03-02T01:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:26:48","slug":"hellofuture100ws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/en\/hellofuture100ws\/","title":{"rendered":"A Report on\u00a0\u201cDiscover Cultural\u00a0Prescribing!\u00a0Hello\u00a0Future! 100- Year Museum\u201d\u00a0Workshop Edition\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cCultural Prescribing\u201d\u00a0connecting\u00a0people through art.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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At the exhibition \u201cDiscover Cultural\u00a0Prescriptions!\u00a0Hello\u00a0Future! 100-Year Museum,\u201d we proposed a framework called \u201cCultural Prescribing\u201d to create connections within a society through art and culture, as a remedy for unwanted loneliness and isolation. Along with paintings by Kaoru Ueno and artworks by Katsuhiko Hibino, pictures from the artists\u2019 own photo albums depicting their childhoods, and pictures taken by residents showing the scenery around Kawasaki City were\u00a0exhibited\u00a0at the event. Visitors were free to pick up the photo\u00a0panels\u00a0and related\u00a0movies\u00a0and information would be displayed when the images were placed in front of the monitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The exhibition titled \u201cPhotos from Civic Photo Competitions of Kawasaki City\u201d used digital techniques to\u00a0maintain\u00a0and reproduce images capturing a record of Kawasaki City from the residents’ point of view. It was a good example of how Cultural Prescribing can help to promote a connection that goes beyond generational divides by sharing memories particular to a region. Aa-tomo\u00a0Cultural Link Workers actively engaged with visitors viewing the pictures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cultural Link Workers are experts at enhancing social connections and wellbeing (mental health and happiness) through art. Rather than simply offering their extensive professional knowledge on the subject, aa-tomo\u00a0created the\u00a0event\u00a0 \u201cArt Appreciation through Conversation\u201d where visitors could discuss their own feelings and experiences. Few visitors even knew Cultural Link Workers existed as a\u00a0profession\u00a0and some visitors were surprised when they were approached by staff.\u00a0\u00a0But they soon relaxed and started talking freely about their thoughts on the works of art. Aa-tomo\u2019s\u00a0ability to communicate was excellent. Cultural Link Workers brought out the views and emotional responses from the visitors and encouraged them to find new meanings in the artworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFirst, I try to start a dialogue exploring a visitor\u2019s interests. Some consider art difficult and highbrow. I try to overcome such bias through dialogue,\u201d said aa-tomo\u00a0member\u00a0Zaitsu\u00a0smiling. Interestingly, the conversation often started on a topic unrelated to art. One parent and child had no interest in art or Cultural Prescribing. However, through talking about the Near Field Communication (NFC) tags attached to the photo panels, they could segue into their favorite topic of conversation – trains. When the Cultural Link Worker\u00a0mentioned\u00a0the same NFC technology is used in electronic IC travel cards, the child suddenly became\u00a0interested. Through\u00a0this connection to a favored topic of conversation, the visitors could feel closer to the art on display.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cArt Appreciation through Conversation\u201d used Object Based Learning (OBL) to observe the target and build a conversation. Based on the thought that knowledge is built collaboratively, the success of OBL lies with overlapping several viewpoints rather than a single perspective. The artwork being observed would appear different by leveraging the thoughts and opinions of different people. Through dialogue, aa-tomo Cultural Link Workers aimed to suggest new avenues of thought and appreciation beyond what people would see by themselves. As they discuss their experience with family and friends, this naturally widens the scale of cultural connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A colorful folding screen was placed at the corner of the venue. Visitors who looked at the artworks, could write notes to stick on the panel under the topic headings \u201cWhat I want to pass on to the world 100 years in the future\u201d and \u201cArtworks I was interested in.\u201dTheir opinions were displayed at the venue and the panel itself became an space for conversation and exchange that went beyond generational divides. According to Zaitsu, the enjoyment of appreciating artwork using the OBL method is how we can build equal relationships through dialogue based on viewing the same work of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sound sculpture made by \u201cSpatial Musical Instruments: Musicking\u201d<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 Kiyoshi Furukawa held the workshop \u201cSpatial Musical Instruments: Musicking\u201d on stage.  Attendees could participate simply by reading a QR code with their smartphones. Without any musical expertise or technique, participants could simply read a QR code that would turn their smartphone into a musical instrument, letting them play music instantly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They held a performance titled \u201cTry to Play Mozart\u201d and the musical piece was \u201cEine kleine Nachtmusik\u201d – a famous piece of music with a melody familiar to most people. The parts of the first violin, second violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon were allocated to each participant. This piece is originally for a string orchestra, but the score was arranged to include woodwind instruments.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It opened strongly with each sound in unison. The first violin played the main tune with gusto followed by each instrument playing its own part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The participants could recognize the sound of their specific instrument and they felt as if they had been a part of an orchestra. At first, they seemed a little perplexed at the situation, but soon people were smiling and communicating with each other. The volume would change depending on the angle the participant held the phone, so they really felt as if they had played a musical instrument. Though the participants had all been strangers, they could use music to become one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI call this system \u2018Spatial Musical Instruments.\u2019 In the beginning, I planned to create a huge sound sculpture within a space by freely moving many sound sources. While I tried this, I thought it might be interesting if I made music with different sound elements and this idea took shape,\u201d explained Furukawa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was true. When I recognized the element of the sound I was responsible for, it made me feel a deeper connection to the music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is interesting to recognize the relationship between music and the self,\u201d says Furukawa. \u201cYou realize how the parts are combined and connected.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNow society has changed\u00a0greatly, the\u00a0image of artists will also change,\u201d says Furukawa. \u201cThe image of an artist as a \u2018solitary genius\u2019 no longer fits with the times. Instead, there are artworks born from\u00a0the relationships\u00a0between people, like those created by Hibino and others. I feel satisfied creating artworks that everybody can enjoy. Of course, I also still make contemporary music that is not easy to understand,\u201d says Furukawa with a smile.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Furukawa created a space where anybody could participate with Spatial Musical Instruments even if they were not familiar with music. In principle, the idea of Spatial Musical Instruments can be upscaled to hundreds or thousands of participants. In the future, it could be implemented in an enormous space such as a baseball field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The\u00a0Potential offered by Cultural Prescri<\/strong>bing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During this event, interpersonal connections became tighter through interactive experiences with participants as key players, rather than experts unilaterally talking about their knowledge. Cultural Prescribing are a way of encouraging people to recognize the connections everybody has with society. It can promote mental and physical health, solve loneliness, and rebuild communities. Both \u201cArt Appreciation through Conversation\u201d based on OBL by Cultural Link Workers and \u201cSpatial Musical Instruments: Musicking\u201d by Furukawa are practical examples of Cultural Prescriptions that build relationships through art. Introducing such artistic and musical experiences into a society will increase the potential to create more inclusive and creative societies.\u00a0This exhibition was a great opportunity to show this potential to a large number of people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cScience: Connecting You to the Future,\u201d an Expo 2025-related event, was held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technologies (MEXT) at Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB) in Tokyo. \u201cDiscover Cultural Prescribing! Hello Future! 100-Year Museum,\u201d one of the exhibitions at the event, \u201cArt Appreciation through Conversation\u201d by Cultural Link Workers, and \u201cSpatial Musical Instruments: Musicking\u201d by Kiyoshi Furukawa, a musician and Professor of Tokyo University of the Arts both garnered plenty of attention. Here, we are reporting on the Cultural Prescribing workshop used to connect people and people with society through art. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/?p=2520","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[17,19,27,29,37,2],"post_label":[],"class_list":["post-3794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-prescribing-today","tag-art-communicator","tag-event-report","tag-museum","tag-workshop","tag-civil-society","tag-activities","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3794"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3842,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions\/3842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3794"},{"taxonomy":"post_label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aatomo.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_label?post=3794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}