The Ainu Museum which operated in Shiraoi, Hokkaido until 2018, employed staff who specialized in traditional crafts. Some of the ethnic materials produced by staff were assigned a serial number, stored in the museum’s collection storage facility, and used in exhibitions and cultural activities such as rituals. Today, in 2024, these objects form part of the collection of the National Ainu Museum, which opened in 2020. In this paper, the author interviewed former employees of the Shiraoi Folk Museum (the predecessor of the Ainu Museum) and the Ainu Museum in order to clarify lineages of craft techniques, materials used as reference sources, and the reproduction projects carried out at these institutions. The paper focuses on the works of Yaeko Matsunaga, who worked at the former Ainu Museum, also known as Porotokotan, from 1978 to 2002. The research method used in order to investigate Matsunaga’s background and the lineage of her craft techniques is based upon interviews with Matsunaga’s colleagues and members of the craft circle “Citarpe”, which she presided over. The author also conducted a survey of the objects in the collection of the National Ainu Museum, including clothing and mats that were made by Matsunaga and formerly in her possession to determine the techniques that were passed on under her guidance. Based on this information, the paper discusses the techniques used to make clothes and mats by Matsunaga and those around her that originated in Porotokotan and spread into Shiraoi town. The paper also describes issues that need to be addressed in future research into the materials created by Matsunaga.

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Although many collections of Ainu-related materials are known in Japan and abroad, the Ainu collection held by the Museu Etnològic de Barcelona (MEB) was only partially described in Josef Kreiner’s “Ainu Collections in European Museums”, and neither the total number of collections nor their details seem to have been researched. In order to clarify the particulars, this research aimed to compile a list of Ainu-related materials not only from the MEB but also from all of Catalonia, Spain. For this purpose, a preliminary study of documents and materials and a field survey were conducted in 2023. As a result, it was possible to identify four collections, of which three related to the sculptor and ethnographer Eudald Serra. However, further research is needed to clarify details such as the locality and authorship of these materials.

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This paper examines the works and projects of artist Mayunkiki from 2020 to 2024 within the contexts of music, performing arts, and contemporary art. Initially recognized as a musician and specialist in the Ainu language, Mayunkiki’s career as a contemporary artist gained significant momentum following her participation in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020). This study explores her major contributions to contemporary art exhibitions during this period, including the Reborn-Art Festival in Ishinomaki (2021–22), her solo exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK (2022), and “Where My Words Belong” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2024). In addition to these exhibitions, the paper analyzes her interventions in ethnographic displays at institutions such as the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne, Germany, the Hokkaido Museum, and the William Morris Gallery, UK. Furthermore, it examines her recent experimental works in music and performing arts, as well as Galang, a museum decolonization project and publication initiated by the Powerhouse Museum, Australia. Ultimately, this paper reconfirmed that Mayunkiki’s artistic methodology is a process of decolonization and indigenization of expression, while also critically questioning the problematic implications of the concept of “Ainu Art” led by non-indigenous/Wajin scholars.

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