The focus of this speech is to offer a perspective and understanding on the way that the public relates to and enjoys contemporary art in Japan, and an insight in to the role that galleries and museums play in fostering public interest.

There is an island in Japan called Shikoku. It is the smallest of the four main islands and is the most unexplored and remote; it is the sort of place that young people leave as soon as they can

Shikoku is isolated mountainous country, famous for its rivers, gorges, papermaking and ship building industry, haiku and the 88 Buddhist temples that are still popular as places of pilgrimage.

Yet, despite its seemingly fallow nature, it provides an example of one of the intriguing and persistent themes of Japan: contradiction.

For on this small unsophisticated and isolated island - and within a single prefecture - it is possible to view examples of the best contemporary art in the world, located in dramatic, inspiring and unique spaces, the likes of which you will find nowhere else.

If we set off on a tour of the prefecture, we might stop first at Mure to visit the studio and the sculptures of Isamu Noguchi. The site includes two imposing Kura - or storage houses - a sculpture garden and an 18th century samurai house, which was Noguchi’s home. Now, everything but the house is open, and visitors can stroll amongst pieces outside, or admire major works such as the immense circular "Energy Void", which stand inside the old sake kura.

We would then travel to the port of Marugame, a small city that is decidedly provincial and has seen better days. It has a shrinking population of 75,000, many of whom, are middle-aged or senior citizens. Here, we would visit three art museums.

The first would be the startling Marugame Hirai Museum, designed by the Spanish architect Alfedo Arribas as, in his own words, "alternating conceptions of architecture as a setting for artworks and as an expressive symbol in its own right”.

This magnificent building towers over a surrounding area of immense urban plainness, making a proud bold statement that can be seen from all over the city.

Inside there is an extensive collection of late 1980s and early 1990s contemporary Spanish art: works by Irazu, Villalta, Gomez, Barcelo, Sevilla, Urzay and many, many more. Outside of Spain, I can’t think there is a better collection in the world for quality and breadth.

A short bus ride away is the Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, a municipal institution, with award winning architecture (the architect, Yoshio Taniguchi won the prestigious Murano Prize) and the distinction of among many, of hosting the first Mark Rothko retrospective.

The Museum sits alongside a drab railway station in the middle of a run-down shopping area. When I was there last, it was raining heavily but the first Jan Fabre retrospective in Japan was being shown. Did that not uplift my spirits? Yes it did. Here was a superb space, sympathetically designed, a building that has immense wit and charm in its own right and a policy of holding demanding and adventurous shows.

Finally, not contemporary I know, but we would quickly visit a significant collection of paintings from the Barbizon School, housed within a magnificent 17^th century Japanese garden on the outskirts of the city and overlooking the sea.

Finished in Marugame, we would have to take a short ferry ride to the Benesse Art Museum on the small island of Naoshima. To my mind, this is one of the world’s great contemporary art museums not because of stunning architecture or a vast collection of work but because of the concept. The main museum building was designed by Tadao Ando and is dramatically placed on a headland overlooking the sea. Works by Judd, Stella, Pollock, Long and Kusama among many are on show, exquisitely laid out to their most advantageous.

Set on the grounds and beaches outside - often quite some distance away - are sculptures, many of them taking dramatic advantage of their setting. It is truly a unique combination of architecture, space and nature, full of surprising encounters. There is nowhere quite like it in the world and it brings a stimulating dimension to the experience of art.

But for me, the most interesting aspect of all, isn’t that you can stay at a small hotel (or camp in Mongolian tents within the grounds of the museum - but you can) but the old houses in a nearby fishing village, that have been restored and are now used as unique settings for the works of, among others, Tatsuo Miyajima. It is a vivid experience entering these houses and having the enviable opportunity to be confronted with work that is in total harmony with its environment.

Shikoku is clearly not a cultural desert. Not only are there excellent collections but art is presented in a way that is radically different, bold and intrusive. You don’t happen upon these museums. They aren’t hidden away. They are places of great confidence. It might be argued, that one can find here a collection of art that is only rivalled by that found in the great cities of the world.

Yet, a young 14-year-old, who goes to the best junior high school in Marugame, who has won national art competitions has never set foot in any of these places. Neither her parents nor the school have ever thought to take her to any of them. She is an unfortunate example of the apathy that exists towards art both by people but also by the education system. The study of art is part of the school curriculum but takes a lowly position.

And this highlights one of the basic issues of contemporary art galleries and museums in Japan. Whilst the public and education system seem to be indifferent neither do the art organisations reach out and touch the local community. It isn’t that they are remote or aloof but they do little that is innovative to involve the local community or create enduring partnerships with organisations or schools. When I went to these museums in Shikoku, during Japan’s major holiday period, it was possible to count the number of visitors on two hands. Are these places making a sustained impact on the community? I think not.

In marked contrast, I have to admit, four weeks ago I went to the Yokohama Trienalle, the first of its kind, on such a scale in Japan. By then it had received over 300,000 visitors, far exceeding the organiser’s expectations, as at one time, noting the disinterest of the public in contemporary art, they were worried whether they might get 100,000. That’s on average over 5,000 people a day, which compares very well with daily attendance at some major and significant shows that have taken place or toured in the US and Europe. These daily attendance figures from 1999 act as a comparison:

•Yokohama (2001): 5,000

•Van Gough: 7,000

•Monet: 8,500

•Edward B-Jones: 5,900

•Guggenheim: 3,000

•Sensations (US): 2,400

There is no doubt that Yokohama touched a nerve with the public. In part, it must be because it’s the first of its kind in the region and in recent years, there has been a dearth of major exhibitions in Japan. In part, it is within easy reach of over 25m people who live in Tokyo and Yokohama. In part, it’s because it is just a bloody good show. But is it unique in attracting an audience? In 2000, there was a Trienalle held in the Enchigo-Tsumari district close to Niigata. One hundred and forty two artists were invited from 32 countries and 160,000 visitors came. So, it seems that there can be an enormous popular response to modern art. So why is it, that major shows of contemporary work attracts large numbers of visitors and yet generally, there is a profound sense among professionals that the public aren’t that interested in contemporary art and that the museums and galleries remain largely empty? Is it that these large shows are popular because of people’s curiosity in the event rather than interest in the work? To try and shed some light on this issue let’s start with some statistics for the claimed popularity of hobbies and pastimes in Japan.

Male

1.Driving 35%

2.Reading 30%

3.Movies 27%

4.Fishing 24%

5.Karaoke 24%

6.Golf 23%

7.Music 22%

8.Domestic travel 21%

9.Walking 19%

10.Pachinko 19%

Female

1.Shopping 47%

2.Reading 40%

3.Walking 33%

4.Music 32%

5.Movies 31%

6.Eating out 30%

7.Domestic travel 27%

8.Karaoke 25%

9.Gardening 24%

10. Art Appreciation 19%

Art comes way down on the list - and then only among women at #10. By and large, both from the data and from my own experience, most men show no interest in art at all.

Interest of art among women by age

Age 10-19: not ranked

Age 20-29: not ranked

Age 30-39: not ranked

Age 40-49: #7

Age 50-59: #7

Age 60-69: #10

But also, among women, it should be noted that there is an important age bias: only women aged 40 and above say they are interested in art.

Now are these statistics and dammed statistics? Not really. Visit Japan, and you will find that the pre-dominant audience at art shows, theatre, and kabuki, anything with a high cultural aspect are middle-aged women. They don’t go with their husbands. (And it’s not just the middle-aged; neither do you see young couples enjoying an outing or an evening out unless it is 24^th December, an evening where traditionally couples spend the night together).

In Japan, it is an accepted fact that middle-aged women prefer to go out with their girlfriends. Even younger girls prefer a girl’s night out – which isn’t surprising if men think driving is a pleasing hobby. In fact in one survey of married workers, 41% spent 15 minutes or less per day talking to their spouse, including 10% who did not speak to their spouse at all.

Where can these women see art? There are 823 registered art museums nationwide. There are innumerable private art galleries in Tokyo although no official number is recorded. Many of the major department stores have their own galleries (which means that many of the top 10 pastimes can all be enjoyed in one place: shopping, book buying, eating and art). Recently some of these have closed down and, in any case, they made hardly an impact on the contemporary market, as most were highly conservative in their selection policy.

Museums and galleries have hit a crisis. Gallery and museum attendances are low and falling. Figures show that total museum attendance has dropped by 50% over the last ten years. Businessmen are being brought in to head up museums and contemporary art museums are finding that they have to change their exhibition style to appeal to the public. They started out bold and radical but found it didn’t attract the young and repelled the middle-aged. Unfortunately, some of the better private galleries have gone out of business recently, no longer able to sustain themselves with the bottom dropping out of the corporate market and with little being bought by anyone else. Critically, too many of the private galleries aren’t competitive or interested in promoting exciting work. Galleries are run as hobbies or make their money from rent paid by the artists, with no attempt to discriminate by talent, leading to a dulling of quality - hardly likely to perk up interest among the public.

In fact, I would contend that there is very little interest in modern art on a day-to-day basis among the public at large. Big events yes, the public will go to these but visit a show or a museum? No.

In another piece of recent research, housewives were asked what were the exhibitions they would like to see:

Monet, Renoir, Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Chagall, Picasso, Michelangelo and Cézanne were the first choices. Some would argue this would be the same world over. However, I perceive this as being an illustration of a deep-rooted conservative ethic I see nowhere else in the developed world. My own recent experience was that when I went to see the Carvaggio exhibition at the Tokyo Tien Museum, it was full of people, more than I had seen at a museum art event for a long time.

Yet, another example of the huge divide in the culture that is consumed. It is high culture for the old and pop culture for the young. It is driving, drinking, karaoke and pachinko for men and shopping, books, music, art and gardening for women.

There is also another divide here. Pop culture, the culture for the young is inherently Japanese in terms of reference and often distinguished by being banal, vulgar, derivative and hugely commercialised. It is J-Pop, manga, Hello Kitty and a voracious appetite for brand shopping unlike anywhere else I have seen. Pop culture has little or no intellectual depth. It is cute, undemanding and transitory. I argue that it reflects both the lack of inherent creativity among people and a desire to escape easily from the systemised and formal environment of home, school or office.

High culture (if that’s what you want to call it) comes from either traditional Japanese arts or imported from the west. To this end, it satisfies the desire for the aesthetic, the fundamental way that Japanese look at objects. Japan is not an experimental or creative country at heart. When you work in Japan, you are struck - even in so-called creative industries - how rigid people’s mind’s are. This drives a rejection towards the new and the unexpected. Japan as a nation strives to exist in a huge comfort zone.

Are there underlying reasons for this apathy towards contemporary art? I have identified five:

1. The Japanese aesthetic
2. Bureaucracy
3. The dead weight of conformity and lack of debate
4. Entrance fees
5. Exodus of the talented young.

1.The Japanese aesthetic. Within the topic of the Japanese aesthetic, there are three observations that I want to touch on. The first is that the Japanese aesthetic is driven by beauty and not interpretation. Clearly, as we all know, there is great and delicate beauty in Japan and what is often and wrongly considered mundane here in the UK, is often in Japan appreciated as something of great artistic value and merit. (For example, craftsmanship is art in Japan and can have a significant influence in the way that artists approach their work). However, the very importance of beauty means that there is a suffocation of conceptual art. Art is viewed by the audience as an object of decoration that can be framed and hung. It is something that is tangible and not rooted in the expression of a concept where the idea - not the medium - is of the greatest importance.

Secondly, the young in Japan maybe cool and hip but they don’t get irony or ambiguity. Such traits don’t commonly exist in Japan. Hence, whereas in the UK, we are used to art and many other forms of communication being multilayered, in Japan, you will find communication that is very direct and innocent, what we would think as rather prosaic in its approach. In an article in the Japan Times, on the use of photography in magazines an American photojournalist, Everett Kennedy was quoted as saying “…most of the photographs [in Japanese weekly magazines] are simply snapshots, showing evidence of the event but having very little substance or texture or meaning. Some Japanese editors complain that the average reader doesn’t have an eye for sophisticated photojournalism, where the photos are comprised of variuous layers of meaning that convey a story the photographer wishes to portray.”

Thirdly, honest communication and expressions of feeling are very difficult. This is a society where couples find it hard to say, “I love you”. Sometimes I am left with the sense that young people in Japan have greater affection for cuddly toys than real people. This may go some way to illuminating why any number of artists use youth sub-cultural icons such as cute dolls or cartoon characters as a central motive:: Murakami’s Mr DOB, Koji Sekimoto’s doll installations, Mika Kato’s Paintings of dolls, Nara’s comic book creations, Makoto Aida’s Mimi-chan.

To me much (although not all) of this approach is a little silly and trite; I sometimes suspect it is more done with an eye to selling books and t-shirts, which do have appeal among the young. Conversely, it might be argued that there is a bigger potential audience that could be communicated with, through this approach, than the small sophisticated group interested in contemporary art. Indeed, the museums that deal with this youth sub-culture seem to be thriving. A good example being the recently opened Miatake-no-mori- Ghibli museum, a museum devoted to animation. It is so crowded you need to book in advance.

Maybe these cute characters are the only way of making contemporary art broadly accessible to the young. To be wholly irreverent and obscure is more likely to lead to rejection than intrigue. Aesthetic appreciation is still dominated by the form of work, the way it is, not the why it is there. The notion of conceptual art is very hard for most people not only to understand but also to even laugh at or to be involved with. In part it maybe because people don’t want to confront themselves with awkward questions. (I share the singular belief that art is about taking ourselves somewhere where we have never been before or showing aspects of ourselves that we have never appreciated or knew about and which on confronting them we might find uncomfortable and unsettling). Japan doesn’t like to be uncomfortable with itself. Indeed, it works hard to be neutral, invisible and uncontroversial. I don’t believe that the Japanese are that interested in adding unexpected challenging variety or interest to their lives. The social psychology is not broad-minded. They seek safety and the known, not the unknown. This is reinforced by the education and work system, which is there to make people conform to a social system and hierarchy, to be unified and not to be individualistic, inventive or inquisitive. And it is said that the economic problems of Japan, the rising unemployment make people look to simple, uncontroversial and familiar aspects of their life.

2. Bureaucracy. There is too much stodgy bureaucracy leading to events and exhibitions being organised and influenced by national or local government committees with too many middle-aged civil servants involved. But paradoxically art isn’t high on the list of political priorities. Government tries to avoid getting heavily drawn into the dirty day-to-day demands of encouraging a thriving art culture. They are only interested in the big prestigious events with little interest in supporting contemporary art, no doubt because they see it as being potentially too radical and destabilising, upsetting the happy status quo.

Often it has been left to individuals or companies to attempt to fill the void. But because the economy is still contracting these company-sponsored projects are being closed down or significantly reduced in size. Public art is rare (although to be fair, not unknown) and even though ordinances are in place that encourages construction companies to incorporate art in to their buildings, these are rarely enforced. Few of these companies are truly interested in providing space, let alone creating something that is innovative. If they do it all it is the hope of obtaining kudos because they are seen to be doing good things.

3 The dead weight of conformity and lack of debate. There is the dead weight of conformity; the adherence to rules making it is nigh on impossible to get innovation done. When we wanted to initiate a project on Tokyo Tower - to celebrate the Football World Cup next year - it was rejected by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government despite the fact that there is no other iconic symbol being introduced in Tokyo at the time of the tournament. It breaks the rules they said. Quite.

When we organised a street show using symbolic crucifixes of yen carried by children we had the police standing by just in case our young children aged 5-10 caused a riot.

Not surprisingly, this pervasive sense of conformity leads to a stupefying weight of political correctness. Artists are unwilling to make contentious statements not only because the art might be removed but also because few of the public would relate to it.

Vigorous and informed public debate doesn’t take place. Art critics are few and tend to write conservative pieces with a limited outlook. Censorship is not infrequent as illustrated by these two examples.

Monty DiPietro, a respected art critic in Tokyo wrote this of a review he penned commenting on a show by Ishihara, the current Governor of Tokyo: “In my review, I took a shot at Ishihara's wish that the show would provide inspiration for the Japanese youth of today. I questioned whether, in light of his numerous racist comments, Ishihara was the sort of person Japan wanted inspiring a new generation. The newspaper killed my piece, the first time that had happened in the five years I had been writing for them.”

Satoru Nagoya, another art critic. “In the autumn of last year, I was urged to modify some undesirable descriptions in my review of an exhibition held at the ICC gallery in Shinjuku - a space dedicated to high-tech art. The review was for a magazine issued by a publishing house affiliated to the gallery’s sponsor and the mammoth telecommunications company NTT. The censorship was apparently ordered by some of the gallery curators who pressed the magazine’s editorship not to publish anything adverse to the gallery’s projects or the sponsor company’s reputation.”

4. Entrance fees. These should not be overlooked as a factor for putting off attendance. It costs to visit a museum and gallery whether it is public (and often) private. In the UK the great tradition of having free entrance encourages people to visit. Of course, special shows may charge a fee but the ability to walk around a gallery whenever the urge takes you is a significant factor (to my mind) of establishing or stimulating an innate appreciatiuon of art. It may be sub-concious but I certainly would conclude that my own abilty to visit the Oxford Museum of Contempoary Art, at a young age, was instrumental in building my interest in art. That I can’t now remember what artists I saw (at the age of twelve upwards) is immaterial. The very fact that I went is enough.

5. Exodus of young talent. Yes, artists go overseas from any country but here it is very much a one-way traffic. The number of Japanese going abroad has risen in 10 years by 23% to nearly 1m.

“Japan has no pride in us,” said one artist.

“Young talented Japanese are going abroad and discovering the world of individuality,” said Ryu Marakami the novelist.

“We cannot stop talented people in the arts leaving Japan if we don’t provide them with sufficient help”

But then Japanese artists themselves tend to be very insular in their own country reflecting the rigidity of society. Observes English artist Sarah Waite who has lived and worked in Japan: “Painters in Japan tend to form societies that are closed to other Japanese artists let alone a foreigner. I don’t feel resentful; I just think it’s rather sad. We have much to share and learn from one another.” She continues:

“It is very difficult for young artists to survive in Japan. In the UK, you can struggle but you will have studio space. In Japan, most young artists will work from their parent’s home.”

Perhaps after all that I have said we shouldn’t be surprised that there is apathy among many of the young aspiring artists. The stifling system and the lack of support overwhelms them. They allow themselves to become despondent and often isolated. There is too little vibrancy in the art community. And if the art community isn’t vibrant why on earth should the public be interested. Apathy breeds apathy.

But it’s tough in Japan for any artist. Finding affordable exhibition space is almost impossible which does little encourage young artists. That’s why we set up the Gallery. It’s a non-profit space. We don’t charge rental and we don’t charge commission. Our primary mission has been to support young or emerging artists based in Japan although as we don’t want to be bound by our own rules we have shown flexibility. However, what we are not is to be conservative or dictated by convention.

In our own small way, (and believe me this isn’t a plug for what we are doing, there are other innovative galleries as well) we have tried to break down some of the barriers for artists and the public. For a start, we give our artists greater exhibition time. The norm in Tokyo is 2-3 weeks. We’re happy for shows to run for up to 8 weeks. This means that the artist feels that it is worth investing in creating unique work.

This is important because we generally ask the artists to produce work specifically for the space. We are not four walls for an existing portfolio to be hung. In both these examples on the screen, the artists created unique work for the Gallery. Endo-san was able to try out new techniques and Masuyama did an installation entitled Media Dominated World that attempted to comment on sexual exploitation by the press.

In one of our early shows, the artist used the Gallery as his studio, painting on the spot over a period of two months.

We have a Muse on hand to welcome people to the Gallery. Her task is to break down formality and to add a sense of fun to the environment. She was a MTV VJ but now she is able to cast her spell over the Gallery and the people who visit.

We hold seminars where people can come and talk to the artists. This first picture is one with the artist Terada Mayumi who held a seminar with a photographer, curator and filmmaker on the panel.

Another lecture we held recently was with the Swedish artist Karl Duner – who also had a concurrent exhibit at the Yokohama Trienalle - where he talked about his kinetic sculptures. Not only did Karl attend but also his music composer who played all evening and we also had special Swedish catering to create the finishing touch to a Swedish night.

We invite young people and students in to the Gallery so that they can be more participative and look at art in as relaxed and unstuffy way as possible. We don’t push them to be interpretative. We don’t set questions we just want them to be in the space for longer than a couple of minutes.

We organise other events that might be attractive to the young like music and dance or this show that was a design and interactive video installation and where the chairs were like whoopee cushions. (This incidentally won an award from Frame magazine).

We’ve been trying to break down the formality of museums and galleries and open ourselves up to not just the art-educated person but to everyone. We don’t want to be seen as worthy or corporate or to be just another gallery space. And we aren’t the only space doing this let me please reiterate.

We’ve even promoted other museums such as the new Museum Quarter in Vienna when we held a launch party for guests in Japan. Our aim is to be as vibrant as possible in our own limited but unexpected way.

So, what is the future?

We shouldn’t get too despondent. Of course, what I have said doesn’t apply to everyone. But neither is it an unfair generalisation. Groups of artists are forming and trying to make a public impact. Command M, the Candy Factory and ‘eyesaw’ bring together artists in varying ways. But it needs far more imagination than now, and much of the excitement that existed in modern art in Japan during the 50s and 60s has disappeared. Of course, it also needs money. So perhaps the government, rather than spending trillions of yen on redundant construction projects - bridges and roads that no one needs - could put some money in to the arts. All those under-utilised spaces could become temporary studios, and performance centres, which would encourage young people to come in and participate.

But contemporary art has a long way to go before it penetrates society in a way that I think it does here in the UK. I was amazed by the diversity of the crowd at Tate Modern - babies to grandparents - when I visited. This you would never find in Japan. And that can only start with an overhaul of the education system and the willingness to encourage controversy.

(C)graham thomas 2001. No part of this text can be reproduced in any form without permission

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