A digital archive of artist interviews as a new methodology in the history of postwar Japanese art

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23652021
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aesthetics/Art history
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: OSAWA Kei 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 特任研究員 (80571231)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: インタビュー / デジタル・アーカイブ / 戦後日本美術

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present research is a factual investigation in the history of postwar Japanese art, an attempt to renew the methodology of oral history in the history of contemporary art, and an attempt to publish its results on a multimedia support.
In analyzing the work and the historical significance of artists representing postwar Japan, the conduction of interview was introduced as the main method. As it becomes increasingly urgent to record the testimonies of the principal protoganists of the era, new factual evidence was obtained, which will be of use for the history of postwar Japanese art. Furthermore, concerning the methodology of the history of contemporary art, new ways of implementing the methods of oral history were investigated. An attempt at video recording the testimonies and publishing them on a multimedia support was also made.

Free Research Field

美術史