Arts Council Tokyo is promoting a project called "Creative Well-Being Tokyo" to improve accessibility, develop programs, and build networks. Yukiko Otaka, who works in charge of social coexistence, and Yuriko Komai, team leader, are responsible for coordinating with each facility and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. We spoke to them about their respective jobs and how they joined the organization.
*Department names and titles are those at the time of the interview.
(Part 2 (Click here)
To make accessibility infrastructure. Yukiko Otaka
Yukiko Otaka will be working at Arts Council Tokyo as a social coexistence specialist from April 2024. In her previous job, she worked in a different field, so she was on the user side of art galleries and museums. Although she loves cultural facilities, as a deaf person she felt frustrated by the lack of guaranteed access to information. However, one experience she had attending an artist talk accompanied by a sign language interpreter was what led to her current job.
"Until then, I'd just looked at the works. Even if I wanted to participate in an event, there was no guarantee of information, and even if there was, I thought it would require specialized knowledge, so it was a high hurdle. But meeting the artist in person for the first time and being able to communicate and learn about the artist's creative intentions and thoughts through sign language interpretation was a deeply moving experience. I really wanted as many people as possible to have this experience, and I felt that it was a shame in the current situation."
Currently, I am mainly responsible for two tasks. One is compiling information on the accessibility status of each facility. The other is running training for sign language interpreters. Although the term "sign language interpreter" is broadly used, there are many different areas of expertise and specialization. Compared to those in education, government, and local government, there are still not many sign language interpreters specializing in the arts and culture field. For this reason, Arts Council Tokyo held a sign language interpreter training session in the arts and culture field this year.
It has been six months since I started this job, and what made me happy were the voices of Deaf people who participated in events with sign language interpreters.
I heard a voice from a building saying, "I had come to see another exhibition, but I was happy to participate in this event that happened to be going on." The event was not an advance application system but an event that you could participate on the day.
The current situation of events with information security is that the date and time are limited, and in many cases, there is a pre-application system and a limited number of seats. When you go to see an exhibition at a facility, even if there happens to be an interesting related event or other exhibition related event being held on the day, there are cases where information is not guaranteed. In other words, we are in a situation where we cannot participate unless we check the date and time of information security. In the case of events that can be attended on the day, the organizers do not know in advance whether participants who need accessibility, such as information security, will come, but users were able to just drop by and participate. "< br>In the first part of the discussion, Mr. Otaka said," I want accessibility to become like 'infrastructure.' ". "I hope that there will be more opportunities to improve the environment in the future by having people like me involved in the management of arts and cultural facilities." he says.
to be a bridge to the future of cultural institutions. Yuriko Komai
Ms. Yuriko Komai, who leads the Social Symbiosis Team as the section manager in charge of business coordination, previously worked for an organization that manages halls and theaters in Kanagawa Prefecture. It all started about 10 years ago. When I was in charge of renting halls.
"Managing the hall was my favorite job. At a piano class recital, a karaoke contest, or an opera at an Italian opera house, I take off the shutter when I see people coming to the hall and leaving with smiles. And that was fun."
There happened to be a period when there was a concentration of applications from various groups of people with disabilities such as dyslexia (*) and physical disabilities. However, the hall was “full of barriers ” due to its age.
"How can we make them feel at ease? Because it was a big competition, I had about two years to prepare for the competition, so I studied hard."
The event was a success. However, I wanted to spread the knowledge I had gained through this experience to other employees, so I continued to work steadily by inviting lecturers to give lectures regularly. Before long, the foundation to which I belonged established a division to think about a symbiotic society from the standpoint of cultural institutions, and I became the leader of the team.
*a learning disorder characterized by normal comprehension but difficulty learning to read and write
Currently, I am in charge of coordinating the social coexistence staff at each facility as the section chief for project coordination at Arts Council Tokyo. "Coordination" involves thinking about and communicating how to realize the city's projects in accordance with the characteristics of each facility.
Under the "Creative Well-Being Tokyo" project, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Council Tokyo, and metropolitan cultural facilities are promoting a three-phase plan: "information support" to help people get to the cultural facilities in 2023, "appreciation support" to help people actually enjoy art in 2024, and "participation support" to help people get involved in planning and management in 2025.
クリエイティブ・ウェルビーイング・トーキョーwebサイト内「アクセシビリティに関わる取組一覧」では、高齢者、障害者、乳幼児、海外にルーツをもつ人などを対象とした取組や情報保障支援等のあるプログラム、芸術文化の鑑賞や体験をサポートするツールなど多角的に紹介しています
Mr. Komai said in the discussion in Part 1 that his job is to "reduce the negative to zero." He points out that this is a turning point for cultural institutions to end their role.
"About 50 to 60 years have passed since the period of intensive opening and maintenance of public facilities due to the high economic growth, and it is the time when the physical role of the service life ends. In that sense, it may be time to reconsider the way cultural institutions should be. I believe that accessibility is a bridge to the next stage of enjoying art and culture."
Aiming for a future in which many people can enjoy a single work of art together, we are taking a step forward as a person in charge of social harmony.
Interpreters: Naoko Iizumi, Yuki Toi
Creative Well-being Tokyo
This project aims to improve accessibility to culture and the arts, so that everyone, from infants to the elderly, with or without disabilities, and those with roots overseas, can easily encounter and participate in cultural facilities and art programs. We will work in collaboration with cultural facilities both in Japan and overseas, as well as NPOs involved in local issues, to utilize the perspectives and experiences of each organization to promote initiatives necessary for future cultural and artistic activities.
Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Arts Council Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
https://creativewell.rekibun.or.jp/about/
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