This series “Arts on the Globe” is supported and supervised by Toshiro Mitsuoka (Professor, Faculty of Communication Studies, Tokyo Keizai University).

Our way of life has been transformed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020.You could say that the social impact of coronavirus has been particularly significant because it relates to the most fundamental aspect of everybody life: communication. In other words because it is a virus that spreads through the process of meeting people and conveying something to them.

This aspect of the virus also presented a serious problem for arts and culture. This is because arts and culture are a highly communicative activity involving the delivery of something someone has created to other people. Performances of theater and music, which involve real human beings communicating the message, have been canceled, and many exhibitions, where people exchange conversation while they appreciate art works, have been postponed.

Over the past year, here in Japan we have been exposed to the plight of arts and culture mainly through reports and views from the creative frontlines. On the other hand, with the vaccination program expected to make progress going forward, arts and culture may have gone from the infection prevention stage to that of determining a path towards survival, while controlling the risks. In this special series we report on how arts and culture have faced up to the challenges of coronavirus in Europe, North America and neighboring countries. We hope it aids understanding of the current state of arts and culture in Japan and Tokyo and helps spark new ideas.

Contribution

• CASE01
  U.S: Transformation caused by the pandemic, transformation ongoing under the pandemic
  Kosuke Fujitaka (NY Art Beat co-founder)
• CASE02
  Art in the Face of COVID-19 – Australia
  Julia Yonetani (Contemporary Japanese-Australian Artist Duo “Ken + Julia Yonetani”)
• CASE03
  Taiwan: The state of museums in Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic
  Huang Shan Shan (Director, Jut Art Museum)
• CASE04
  Hong Kong: What Opportunities Does COVID-19 Offer the Arts?
  Mizuki Takahashi (HAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) Executive Director and Chief Curator
  )
• CASE05
  The Outlook for Japan through the lens of Germany’s pandemic-related cultural policy (Part 1)
  Yuki Akino (Associate Professor, Dokkyo University)
• CASE05
  The Outlook for Japan through the lens of Germany’s pandemic-related cultural policy (Part 2)
  Yuki Akino (Associate Professor, Dokkyo University)
• CASE06
  Reflections: Preparing fertile ground for culture beyond the COVID-19 pandemic (Part 1)
  Shunya Yoshimi (Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)
• CASE06
  Reflections: Preparing fertile ground for culture beyond the COVID-19 pandemic (Part 2)
  Shunya Yoshimi (Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)

Toshiro Mitsuoka (Professor, Faculty of Communication Studies, Tokyo Keizai University)
Born in 1978. Completed a doctoral course at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology and Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo. Currently Professor at the Faculty of Communication Studies, Tokyo Keizai University. Specializes in media studies and the sociology of art and culture. Major publications include “Museum Communication in Transition: Visitors, Exhibition Spaces and Media Technologies” (Serica-Shobo, 2017), “Doing Screen Studies in Japan: Viewing / Media experience in the digital age” (University of Tokyo Press, 2019, co-edited), and “Post-Media Theories: New directions in Media Studies” (Minerva Shobo, 2021, contributing writer).