2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Rural Art Revitalization - A Comparative Study Between Japan and China
| Project/Area Number |
22K13251
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
渠 蒙 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(総), 助教 (40910295)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | Creative revitalisation / Socially engaged art / Neo-endogenous / Micro-entrepreneurship / Community resilience / Peripheral islands / Art Islands |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The power of socially engaged art, artistic social practice, festival tourism, and creative place-making activities as an instrument for the revitalization of rural and peripheral regions is receiving more international attention in both Japan and China. Starting from 2017, China started to invite rural art place-makers from both China and Japan to collaborate on art’s rural revitalization projects and share best practices. These emerging cross-national/regional ‘art grafting’ projects give rise to several multidisciplinary research questions that encompass humanities (art studies) and social sciences (geography, tourism, and rural studies).
This study aims to evaluate the performance and operation mechanism of the most representative art revitalization projects in rural Japan and China, as well as the emerging collaboration outcomes between the two countries. This comparative sets out to gain further understanding of the differences and similarities of art’s rural revitalization projects that rely on art place-making for long-term community revitalization. The significance of this research is not limited only to the possibilities to revitalize these two countries’ rural societies; in line with the new transnational art revitalization phenomenon that connects rural Japan and China, the findings will also serve as a vehicle for rural sustainable development and revitalization for other Asian and global rural societies.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
This year, I completed preliminary research on the Japanese side of the art island. According to the research plan, I conducted 10 semi-structured interview with the managers from Fukutake Foundation and BASN (Benesse Art Site Naoshima). Additionally, I also conducted 10 extra un-structured interview with local resident and business owners. Fukutake Foundation provided their art visitor data from 2018-2021, I got permission to use it for this research (n = 22773).
I also co-chaired the International Conference on Island Studies - ISIC 2022, June (Shetland Islands, Scotland). This allow this project to gain more theoretical support from the Island Studies side. I also went to Italy this past summer for a certificate training related to rural entrepreneurship education. This was very helpful for the artistic rural studies component in addition to the island studies.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
While anaysising the data from Japan side, in the forthcoming academic year of 2023, I plan to carry out similar mixed-methods research into China. If conditions and budget permit, I will continue to Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima in the Seto Inland Sea for follow-up research.
Since rural art festivals and art tourism in China are still in their infancy, the main focus will be on qualitative research. I plan to interview 3-5 different art event planners and managers. In the final year of 2024, I plan conducted an in-depth comparative study and discussion on the construction of art islands in China and Japan.
In the summer of 2023, I will host a international island conference in Miyajima with the title of "Island Innovation, Resilience, and Revitalization" (https://www.sicri.net/isic-2023) This will be the most influential part of this funding output.
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