This note considers exhibition printed matter-posters, flyers, leaflets, and direct mail-not only as promotional tools but as media that may carry aesthetic and archival significance. Focusing on the functions of "showing / guiding / preserving," and drawing from curatorial practice and cases, it suggests possibilities for rethinking their role in shaping exhibition experience and cultural memory.This paper reconsiders exhibition-related printed matter (e.g. posters, flyers, leaflets, and direct mail) not as mere promotional tools or secondary documents, but as critical objects with aesthetic value. Although digital publicity has become dominant and printed matter is often marginalised due to budget constraints and environmental concerns, such materials frequently constitute the audience's first point of contact with an exhibition and play a crucial role in shaping both the framework of the experience and the formation of memory. Focusing on the three-layered functions of printed media —to present, to guide, and to preserve -this study examines how these materials influence exhibition perception, viewing attitudes, and the experience and documentation of exhibitions, drawing on the author's own involvement in selected projects as well as international practices. The analysis suggests that printed materials not only extend the exhibition experience but also serve as a lens through which institutional conditions and cultural contexts become visible. In doing so, the paper highlights the need to re-evaluate the significance of printed media in sustaining the quality and public dimension of exhibitions.

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In the context of a university museum, students act as agents who, through their unique generational sensibilities, create new perspectives and forms of communication. The ZINE "CoZ," published by KeMCoM, the student members of the Keio Museum Commons, is an experiment in such creative expression through printed matter. Since 2022, six issues of CoZ have approached the museum's exhibitions from a perspective unbound by existing authority, functioning as a practice that connects academic knowledge with everyday sensibilities. This paper focuses on the selection of the ZINE-printed matter-as an expressive medium. It considers the significance of digital native students choosing to give form to their thoughts using this physically constrained medium. Furthermore, it explores the educational value of the ZINE as a medium, envisioning its potential as a new model for education and communication within the university museum.

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In 2024, Keio Museum Commons held the exhibition Soichiro Mihara: Recipe: Art of the Air. This exhibition provided an opportunity for the artist himself, who develops an "art of the air" that approaches various phenomena through technology, to embody an attempt at archiving alongside the presentation of works. At the same time, throughout the process from preparation for production to the making of the record volume, instances were observed in which Mihara consciously employed the term "device" when speaking about his works. This is considered to be deeply related to the fact that his starting point lay in the field of media art. In media art, awareness of technology and media environments is indispensable, and focusing on devices, which emboded such awareness, constitutes an important perspective. This paper, taking Soichiro Mihara's practice as a point of departure, examines the relationship between device and art, and its possibilities within art studies.

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The University of London opened the "OBL Lab" in 2020. The first author visited the facility to observe one of the courses in March 2024. This class was opened to all students in any discipline. What makes this course unique was to discuss life, death, and between, incorporating various materials, such as stone tools, accessories, medical tools, animal taxonomy, resin-embedded human remains, head models (based on phrenology and eugenics) of criminals and suicides. The exhibition was organised through a group discussion based on materials that each student selected. This research note analyses this OBL Lab's course, identifying what kind of narratives were produced through analysing the materials relating to the theme of life and death.

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This research note reinterprets small-scale museums through the lens of Cultural Commons, examining the educational and social significance of collaborative practices with students. Traditionally, the relationship between museums and students has been confined to curatorial training; however, the 13th "Chiisaitoko Summit," held at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Museum of Science in 2024, showcased diverse practices of student-museum collaboration across Japan. The seven lightning talks demonstrated that students' expertise and creativity not only revitalized museums but also provided valuable opportunities for self-development and career formation. Furthermore, the workshop and discussion produced metaphors such as "mutual affection," "station," and "senpai-kohai," highlighting collaboration as a reciprocal and sustainable relationship. These findings indicate that Cultural Commons is not merely an abstract concept but a framework whose effectiveness has been confirmed at the practical level in small-scale museums, where collaboration with students proves highly compatible.

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I have long been engaged in qualitative research, primarily centered on fieldwork and interviews, and have always been interested in documenting field experiences. I eventually publish the results of my research in academic articles and books, but I also routinely compile them into booklets and private publications known as zines. Even if it is tentative, it is meaningful to me that writing down an idea on paper for the time being gives it a form I can share. Print is a medium that facilitates person-to-person communication and creates opportunities for readers to respond to colleagues and others who may be interested. Printed matter enhances motivation to continue writing further. The creation of printed matter not only contributes to the publication and preservation of research results but is itself an interactive exploration. In this paper, I will begin by giving an overview of “writing movements” in Japan, characterizing the nature of self-publishing, and then introduce my current project. In discussing the value and meaning of printed materials, I suggest that the very process of freely composing texts based on our own concerns and creating small publications constitutes an opportunity for our dialogic inquiry.

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I have long been engaged in qualitative research, primarily centered on fieldwork and interviews, and have always been interested in documenting field experiences. I eventually publish the results of my research in academic articles and books, but I also routinely compile them into booklets and private publications known as zines. Even if it is tentative, it is meaningful to me that writing down an idea on paper for the time being gives it a form I can share. Print is a medium that facilitates person-to-person communication and creates opportunities for readers to respond to colleagues and others who may be interested. Printed matter enhances motivation to continue writing further. The creation of printed matter not only contributes to the publication and preservation of research results but is itself an interactive exploration. In this paper, I will begin by giving an overview of “writing movements” in Japan, characterizing the nature of self-publishing, and then introduce my current project. In discussing the value and meaning of printed materials, I suggest that the very process of freely composing texts based on our own concerns and creating small publications constitutes an opportunity for our dialogic inquiry.

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This paper examines the pivotal role of visual materials, particularly prints and drawings, in shaping the concept of "classicism" during the Renaissance. It argues that these reproductive media were instrumental in institutionalizing ancient sculpture as "knowledge" and defining Renaissance "sculptural concepts" and "classicism". The analysis details how ancient sculptures were abstracted and archived through prints and drawings, thereby establishing an "ideal form" of classicism. Through examples such as Heemskerck's sketchbooks, Antonio Lafreri's Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, and Cassiano dal Pozzo's "Paper Museum", the research demonstrates how the juxtaposition and comparison of ancient and contemporary sculptures on paper visualized and institutionalized the meaning of "classicism" for Renaissance artists and theorists. The paper concludes that Renaissance "classicism" was a dynamic intellectual foundation, continuously reproduced through the circulation, arrangement, and comparative practices of these reproductions, rather than being solely derived from physical sculptural works.

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This paper traces the evolution and expansion of "Ephemera Studies" as an interdisciplinary field by organising literature using the term "ephemera" across disciplines. The evolution of the term "ephemera" and the trends in research employing it are analysed across four distinct periods: the pre-terminological era (up to the first half of the 20th century), the period of the term's establishment (1960-1975), the era of expanding practice and research (1975-2000), and the transformative period marked by the penetration of digital technology and deepening critical theory (2000-2025). This analysis pays attention to the social context, geographical and linguistic spread, and shifts in the term's meaning. It particularly notes how recent years have seen cases analysing ephemera against the backdrop of diverse theoretical fields such as media, film, performance, and material culture. It also observes a shift in recognition of the archival significance of ephemera, influenced by critical theories shared across disciplines in humanities and social sciences. This identifies the significance of ephemera studies as a shared interdisciplinary ground and as a paratext concerning our own understanding of materials and archives across different eras.

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This paper focuses on the form of the manuscripts for the Jiji Shinpō, founded by Fukuzawa Yukichi in March 1882, and examines how they were produced and modified. A comparative study of the extant manuscripts reveals, first, significant changes in the types of manuscript paper; second, a series of editorial annotations and modifications added to the manuscripts after Fukuzawa had completed them; third, further adjustments carried out by those involved in the printing process; and finally, additional alterations introduced by individuals who sought to preserve Fukuzawa's handwriting as a memento after the production process was corppleted. The investigation also makes clear that the process by which Fukuzawa's articles for the Jiji Shinpō were written and published did not itself undergo major changes. This study therefore provides a foundational examination of how the Jiji Shinpō manuscripts should be interpreted as source materials in future research on Fukuzawa's discourse in the newspaper.

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This study note will discuss the term "artists' books" (AB) and its subject matter, which can be considered one of the printed matter, based on the content of the talk event "Ephemera: Library, Museum, and Archive" held at the Keio Museum Commons in September 2023. While the term, AB is now widely used as books by artists or books of artists, it is also a term used to describe a genre of books that were actively produced mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, in which the artists expressed themselves as works of art. This study will examine the genesis and dissemination of the term, as well as the evolution of its definition and subject, referring to past discourses, artworks, and exhibitions. Furthermore, AB can be collected and managed among various institutions, including libraries, museums, and archives due to its characteristics, and this paper will refer to the reality and possibilities from the art museum's perspective.

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This study examines Paul Sandy's Twelve Views in Wales (1777), one of the earliest aquatint series produced in Britain, focusing on an impression held by the Koriyama City Museum of Art. It aims to clarify how Sandby selected paper in relation to the papermaking conditions of late eighteenth-century Britain. At that time, printmaking was widely practiced, and paper-the essential support for images-was continually improved with the advances of the Industrial Revolution. Despite its importance, detailed case studies of the specific papers used in individual works remain scarce. This paper therefore presents a case study of the above-mentioned example, offering insights into both the material and technical aspects of print production in late eighteenth-century Britain.

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