Visit to the Hajimari Art Center in Fukushima Prefecture‘Raw Art’ Art Brut Exhibition
“The fact that people tend to view them as something ‘they don’t understand’ is something that art and disabled people have in common. People tend to view art as something that is refined and out of reach, and have prejudices concerning disabled people, so they tend to think that neither has anything to do with them personally. I feel that it is a waste for both art and disabled people to be cut off from ordinary people’s daily lives. I want them both to blend in naturally with the lives of many people. I hope the Hajimari Art Center will help to achieve this.”
“One of the users of the social welfare facility was always taking people’s eyeglasses. He snatched off the glasses of everyone he met. I used to wear glasses but they were always getting dirty, so for a while I switched to contacts. As one of the facility’s staff, I always stopped him when he tried to take someone’s glasses. I had no idea why he did this.”
“Then one time I saw him wearing glasses and looking intently at himself in a mirror, and I realized that the reason he took people’s glasses was that he wanted to see what he looked like wearing glasses. He couldn’t express his intention in words so he tried to snatch away people’s glasses. When people tried to stop him he panicked. People around him didn’t understand what was happening and were afraid of him. I realized that this is the kind of chain of events that leads to prejudice.”
“Actions are carried out for a reason. Instead of avoiding people with various traits because we think they are strange, we would have a more tolerant society if more people could imagine the reason for those actions. I believe a society in which people who are socially vulnerable can live with ease is a world in which anyone can find it easy to live.”
The Hajimari Art Center is supported by The Nippon Foundation’s New Day Charity Fund. The New Day Charity Fund was established with a 340 million yen donation to The Nippon Foundation from the proceeds of the New Day – Artists for Japan charity art auction. The auction was held by the art production company Kaikai Kiki in November 2011 to raise funds to support reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Works were donated by famous artists from around the world who wanted to help support the reconstruction of the region affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The New Day Charity Fund aims to use cultural engagement to create a new Tohoku, and even a new Japan. The next scheduled exhibition is “Neither Despair nor Hope,” from April 2.“Every person has thoughts and emotions that they cannot express in words. Even people who have no trouble speaking or writing cannot express in words everything that is in their mind. At the Hajimari Art Center, people are exposed to works that represent impulses that cannot be expressed as words, so they are expressed as impulses. I hope to provide more opportunities for people to think about the artists and what lies behind their works.”
Related links
- Hajimari Art Center website (Japanese only)
- Art Brut Support (The Nippon Foundation website)
- New Day website