Why Do the Arts Orientate “Region”?: A Case Study of Actual Sites of “Socialization of the Arts”

Abstract

An “Art project” is one form of the contemporary arts, which has increased since the early 2000s in Japan. They are produced in various sites by the collaboration of artists, local residents, volunteers and others.

This situation has arisen from the artists’ needs for their own creation, and the tendency of a cultural policy that is oriented to taking advantage of the arts and culture in a social context: for example, regional development, industrial promotion and social inclusion. In particular, international art festivals are expected to lie at the core of regional development. Actually, some art projects confront the regional resources or problems and successes to make some alternative value in the process of creation. Some criticize such a use of the arts as means. It is more important to observe the whole process, whereby various people create art in daily life by collaboration.

However, there are actually some problems: the difficulty of consensus-building among residents for project participation, labor issues, such as working long hours, the mismatch between working style and contract of employment, low wages, lack of social security cover, and difficulty in career development. This comes from the structural pressure in our society for accepting low wages or unpaid work because it is “voluntary” and we are doing something “worthwhile”, not for money.

It is expected for various actors to face these issues and to keep thinking about the reasons for an “art” project. Toward 2020, the cultural policy which positions arts as means will be further carried out. It is necessary to create a new evaluation system to express the values that we cannot judge by a merit-based policy system.