This series introduces the work and people of the "nakanjin" who work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture. This article introduces the work of the Arts Council Tokyo Tokyo Smart Culture Project (Hereinafter Sumakar). In the second part, we asked Kumiko Fukui, Manae Kobayashi, and Minako Taguchi about their careers and what they value when working.
* Department names and titles are current at the time of interview
(First part is here)
Using my experience as a curator. Aie Kobayashi
2023年度にスマカル担当になり、都立博物館・美術館の収蔵品データベース「ToMuCo（トムコ）東京都立博物館・美術館収蔵品検索サイト」の管理や、収蔵品の3Dデータ化やその利活用を担当する小林愛恵さん。江戸東京博物館の小判や印籠といった小さなものから、江戸東京たてもの園の銭湯「子宝湯」まで、さまざまな大きさ･形状の収蔵品の3Dデータ化を試みています。データは江戸東京博物館のスマートフォンアプリ「ハイパー江戸博」やオンライン展覧会「Meta Bath（メタバス）～デジタルで見る東京型銭湯～」にも活かされています。
Kobayashi, who has worked for the Foundation for 10 years, has built up a career as a curator even before joining the organization. After joining the Foundation, he was assigned to the permanent exhibition room of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the management of the collection of the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Before joining his current organization, he was already working on digital archives at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, "In preparation for the large-scale renovation, we moved a large number of items and cleaned up a large number of rooms, including storage rooms managed by the department, while at the same time preparing for the full-scale digitization work."
Enchanted by art and precious materials, a new challenge. Mitsunako Taguchi
2024年に入団した田口充奈子さん。現在は東京文化会館、東京芸術劇場の資料のデジタル化やデータベース整備を主に担当しています。今年度新たに東京都庭園美術館でも取り組んでいる収蔵品の3Dデータ化に携わりながら、2023年度に開発・リリースされた江戸東京たてもの園のウェブアプリ「たてもの園ナビ」の改修も担当しています。
"I became interested in digital archiving because I was involved in the archiving of news footage at my former job at a broadcasting station and a news agency." Taguchi says. After that, he discovered the interest of art while working at a facility run by the foundation. In his next job, he worked on creating a database of valuable materials such as performance records and photographs related to traditional performing arts. I wanted to learn more about digital archives, so I applied for a position in charge of Sumakal.
"The time spent facing the materials is still fun. On the other hand, every job here is a new challenge. In the past, most of the work was completed by the library or department to which I belonged, but now nothing can progress without cooperation with each library." Taguchi says. He goes to the site as much as possible and tries to communicate.
from media art's encounter with digital archives. KUMIKO FUKUI
KUMIKO FUKUI joined the group in 2023 and is in charge of planning and budget management for Sumacal as a whole, as well as individual projects. Together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, we are involved in the migration of video works (data migration and conversion to different system environments). At the same time, we have been in charge of the Music Appreciation Support Program "Watching music, listening to videos, online concerts" at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan since fiscal 2024.
Fukui studied media art at an art college and created works. Looking back on the starting point leading to the present, he says, "Then I got a job at a printing company and created a digital archive of a museum gallery. That was the beginning of my archival life.".
Later, while working in galleries and museums, I realized the importance of the materials that an artist keeps, such as preliminary sketches and manuscripts. He is still involved in archiving materials for writers as his life's work. "When dealing with a huge amount of data, it is important to look at it from a perspective. Therefore, it is necessary not to concentrate on one material, but to deal with several materials simultaneously." says Fukui. He is the perfect person for Sumakal, which deals with a wide range of materials including art, history, folklore, music and architecture.
Reporting and text by Nodoka Sakamoto Photo by Aya Hatakenaka
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