[Held] International Conference on Culture for Everyone 2026

Moving Together Five days to create a culture that lives together.
The fifth annual "Conference where everyone can connect through culture"

The "Conference Where Everyone Connects Through Culture" has been held since 2022 as part of the "Creative Well-being Tokyo" initiative by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Arts Council Tokyo. Now in its fifth year, the theme is "Moving Together: Culture Living Together." Looking back on our journey so far, we will consider what art and culture can do to help each individual live better, and explore the future form of a symbiotic society and the shape of well-being.
In recent years, well-being has gained attention in various fields and contexts, and the ideal of personal happiness has begun to be discussed. But in a complex and ever-changing world filled with climate crises, disasters, conflicts, pandemics, and rapid technological advancements, is it enough for "well" to be connected to individuals alone? As the image of well-being wavers, we reinterpret the meaning of this word from the perspective of art and culture, which reweaves our relationship with everything around us, and share the concept of "living together" from here in Tokyo to the world.
*This conference will be held in conjunction with the 15th World Urban Culture Summit 2026, which will be held in Tokyo at the same time.

About the Key Visual: Using an alphabet shaped by wild clematis and ink bleed caused by accidental drops of water on the printed paper, the key visual evokes a multi-piece world. The process of creating this alphabet in collaboration with Francois Day and the patients of the mental hospital itself embodies the theme of this conference, "Moving Together."

Conference

A total of five sessions to revisit well-being with artists and researchers from various fields

We invited a wide range of practitioners, including artists and researchers active in various fields, and established five themes to reread well-being with participants. During the three-day conference, two moderators will accompany each session, passing the baton of leading-edge dialogue between experts to the next speaker or attendee. In the closing session, we will present from Tokyo the role of art and culture in creating wellbeing in the future, integrating the discussions and ideas from the previous sessions.

prologue

Date: Friday, October 30 18:30-19:00

After the opening speech, we will look back on what we have talked about so far at the "Conference where everyone is connected through culture" and then move on to the discussion on the theme of "Moving Together: A Culture of Living Together."

Opening Session: "The Future of Art and Culture"

Date: Friday, October 30 19:00-21:00

In a complex and changing society, wellbeing is being reimagined not within the individual, but within others, the environment, and the longer term. The speakers, who open the stage with a view that is not limited to human beings (= multi-speecies), engage in practice and research on the relationship between nature, cities, and human life, and question the future of art and culture.

Session 1 "Flexible Mutual Assistance"

Date: Saturday, October 31 10:00-12:00

When a natural disaster or unforeseen accident changes a familiar place or a normal situation, and you are forced to put yourself in that environment. It is time to reconsider how communication and care between people should be. How do up-and-coming artists and researchers decipher the situation at hand and weave different relationships? We will explore the ideal way of a culture that lives together from examples of flexible mutual assistance.

Session 2 Identity and Culture

Date: Saturday, October 31 15:30-17:30

In our society, "I" is shaped by a variety of factors, including culture, history, the body, the land, and relationships with people around us.
However, the "normal" of society can sometimes silence someone and blind them to their culture and roots. In such a daily life, questioning "me" may inevitably mean questioning the relationship with someone. I will consider the difficulties and tensions inherent in living together with intellectuals who have been involved in creative and academic practices, and the possibilities of dialogue and expression.

Session 3: "Moving Together: Living with Dreams"

Date: Sunday, November 1 10:00-12:00

Society, culture, and the circumstances of the times sometimes try to block the freedom and dignity of "me," but people can still find hope and search for a way to live. The speakers, who have accumulated creativity and practice in different places and situations, have passed on their experiences and imagination to others with dreams. It talks about human dignity through a series of cases where my dreams have led to the dreams of others.

Closing Session "Creative Wellbeing: A Culture of Living Together"

Date: Sunday, November 1 15:30-18:00

In response to a complex and ever-changing society, Tokyo will deliver "Creative Well-Being" that is born out of the work of art and culture. Speakers with expertise in art and cultural policy will listen to the discussion, which begins with a multifaceted understanding of the world and develops into perspectives of mutual assistance, identity, and dignity, and offer suggestions for the future.

moderator

Naoko Horiuchi

Curator of Arts Initiative Tokyo [AIT/8], Project Director of "dear Me," Nursery Teacher
MA in Contemporary Art, Edinburgh University of the Arts. Since 2008, she has been involved in planning residency programs, exhibitions, and corporate and educational programs at Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT/8). In 2016, she launched "dear Me," a project in which diverse children and young people can learn through art and expression, and planned and managed classes that link art with mental health and welfare. While working as a nursery school teacher, she continues to create places where care and creativity intersect.

Roger McDonald

Art historian
Born in Tokyo in 1971. After studying mystical religion in England, he received a doctorate in modern art history. She was an assistant curator at the Yokohama Triennale 2001 and a curator at the Singapore Biennale 2006. He is a founding member of Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT/8). In 2013, he founded Fenberger House in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture, as an experimental place where art and life intersect. In 2022, he published "Deep Looking." From 2023, he became the director of the Museum of Folk Crafts, Megumi TATSU. In 2024, AIT established the collective "ACCJ" to promote climate action in the art sector.

Admission Fee

Free (application required)

Language used

Japanese, English, Japanese Sign Language, International Sign Language
* Simultaneous interpretation and subtitles available (International Sign Language available only in Hall B5)

Credit

Sponsor

Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture Arts Council Tokyo

Contact Us

Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture Arts Council Tokyo
Business Division, Business Coordination Section, Social Coexistence Section
E-mail: info-cwt(at)artscouncil-tokyo.jp (Please replace (at) with @)