Tomoko Ishida (Takamatsu Art Museum) x Emi Kuraza [Part 2] | Works = A Sense That Can Only Be Nurtured Through Dialogue with Objects - Hello, Curator? Vol. 13
Tomoko Ishida and Emi Kuraza discuss outreach activities, emphasizing the importance of direct dialogue with art objects and sensory experience.Summary
In this second part of the dialogue, Tomoko Ishida, curator at the Takamatsu Art Museum, and Emi Kuraza, who organizes exhibitions of works by residents of the National Hansen's Disease Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen, discuss their outreach activities, particularly 'Outing Museum' sessions in schools. Ishida employs quizzes to engage children and ensures she validates all answers, not just expected ones, to foster an environment where children feel free to speak honestly. Kuraza, dealing with the sensitive background of Hansen's disease, emphasizes seriously engaging with difficult questions and uses Tomoko Konoike's "Finger Puppets" to help adults drop their biases and speak candidly. Both stress that experiencing physical objects and textures, rather than relying solely on knowledge, is crucial for raising the resolution of perception in an increasingly digitized world, serving as vital nourishment for life. Ishida concludes that these external activities have helped her define the scope of the museum's role, realizing that what cannot be done inside the museum can be achieved by going out into the community.
(Source：artscape)