Announcement of the symposium "Shall we curate?", focusing on the cross-disciplinary potential of "curation"
In April of this year, Kyoto University Graduate School introduced a new course called the "Endowed Course in Curation Theory, Practice and Management." As a kickoff event, a symposium will be held in Kyoto and Tokyo to consider the essence of curation and its role in society.
Curation goes beyond simply connecting people to activities that create empathy and new value
This symposium will be a forum for asking new questions: "How does curation connect with society, and how does it move society?" In an era in which all disciplines intersect and are restructured, the act of curation is evolving from a silent act of editing to an action that transforms the networks of individual objects. Practitioners and researchers from diverse fields, including philosophy, art, architecture, science, information, management, and design, will gather to explore the "relational value" and social significance that curation brings.
At its core is the perspective of Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which sees society as a "network" made up of various "actors," including not only people but also things, concepts, the environment, etc. Using this theory as a starting point, we explore how knowledge and practice from different fields can come together and create new relational value through the act of curation, the curator as an agent.
Kyoto, Friday, September 19th: The Social Role of Curation - Shall we curate? -
We will invite philosopher Emanuele Coccia to explore new possibilities for curating between plants' perception, the ethics of air, and the fluidity of beauty—bridging environment and senses. Additionally, we will host a panel discussion featuring five distinguished guests, including KAMITANI Yukiyasu (neuroscientist at Kyoto University), who reexamines the relationship between perception and representation from both scientific and artistic perspectives following his groundbreaking collaboration with Pierre Huyghe.
To conclude the symposium, HARA Marihiko (musician), who boldly reimagined the image of Japanese culture through his music in the film “National Treasure, Kokuho”, will present a resonant piano performance that transforms the space. Furthermore, the project THEY ARE HERE, which creates music from environmental sounds in Gaza, Palestine, will host a performance utilizing sound sources from Gaza.
Finally, YOSHIROTTEN (visual artist) will expand the "flow" of thought and sensibility through an installation video that generates a visual flow.
What will happen?
A "multi-sensory perceptual experience" that simultaneously stimulates the senses and intellect, encompassing lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions, and performances. The venue will not merely be a space to receive knowledge—it will be a place where your own thoughts are curated, and you are actively engaged as a participant.
What emerges here is not just the future of curation. It will also become a space to contemplate the aesthetics of connection, the sensibility of ecology, and the ethics of relationships—how we edit the world and how we live within it. Curation is your philosophical attitude for living in the present.
From this kickoff symposium of Kyoto University's Endowed Chair, "Theories and Practices of Art and Curation," a new network will begin to unfold.
Event Overview: Kyoto Edition
Title: The Social Role of Curation - Shall we curate?-
Date and Time: Friday, September 19, 18:15–21:00 (Doors open at 17:30)
Venue: Kyoto University, Centennial Memorial Hall
Admission: Free
Capacity: 500 attendees
Target Audience: Students and the general public
Organizer: Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, Endowed Chair for Curation Theory and Practice Management
In Collaboration With: Kyoto Institute of Technology, KYOTO Design Lab
How to Register: Advance registration required via Peatix (Kyoto). https://kyotocuration.peatix.com
Program: Kyoto Edition
Opening Remarks
SAWABE Norio (Dean, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University)
MAKI Hiroyuki (President, Buffalo Inc., Donor of the Endowed Chair)
Keynote Lecture
Emanuele Coccia | Philosopher
"The Ecology of Curation" (Tentative)
Associate Professor, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS)
Lecture
HASEGAWA Yuko | Curator
"The Possibilities of Curating" (Tentative)
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Former Director, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Panel Discussion
Panelists:
KAMITANI Yasuyuki | Neuroscientist
Professor, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University (Brain Science Lab)
TOSA Naoko | Artist
Designated Professor, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University
HIRATA Akihisa | Architect
Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University (Architecture and Design)
YAMAUCHI Hiroshi | Management Scholar / Humanities & Aesthetics
Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
KURAYA Mika | Curator
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Director, Yokohama Museum of Art
OBATA Shinya | Design Management
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Vice President, Japan Industrial Designers Association (JIDA)
Moderator:
HASEGAWA Yuko | Curator
Commentator:
Emanuele Coccia | Philosopher
Piano Performance
HARA Marihiko | Musician
Art Exhibition
YOSHIROTTEN | Artist
Note: A limited-edition booklet, Introduction to Curation, will be distributed exclusively to attendees.
Speakers/Participating Artists Kyoto
From top left: Emanuele Coccia, KAMITANI Yukiyasu, TOSA Naoko, HIRATA Akihisa , YAMAUCHI Yutaka, HARA Marihiko, YOSHIROTTEN, HASEGAWA Yuko, KURAYA Mika, OBATA Shinya
Emanuele Coccia | Philosopher
Associate Professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), France, since 2011. His publications include La trasparenza delle immagini. Averroè e l’averroismo (Mondadori, Milan, 2005), La Vie sensible (tr. by M. Rueff, Payot et Rivages, Paris, 2010), Le Bien dans les choses (tr. by M. Rueff, Payot et Rivages, Paris, 2013), and Hiérarchie. La société des anges (tr. by Joël Gayraud, Paris, Rivages, 2023). His works translated into Japanese include Philosophy of Plant Life: A Metaphysics of Mixture (Keiso Shobo, 2019) and Philosophy of Metamorphosis (Keiso Shobo, 2022).
TOSA Naoko | Artist
Specializes in reinterpreting Japanese aesthetics through contemporary digital technology, creating art and technology works that can only be expressed in the modern age. Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. Her notable works include Neuro-Baby, ZENetic Computer, Sound of Ikebana, Zero Gravity Art (2025 EXPO), and Disaster-Resistant Fashion. After completing fellowships at ATR Media Integration & Communications Research Laboratories and MIT's Center for Visual Studies, she joined Kyoto University. Cultural Exchange Envoy for the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2016, she is set to debut her collection at NY Fashion Week between 2024 and 2026. Her works are included in the permanent collections of institutions such as MoMA.
KAMITANI Yukiyasu | Neuroscientist
Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics. He graduated from the University of Tokyo and obtained his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. After positions at Harvard University and Princeton University, he joined ATR Brain Information Research Institute and has been a professor at Kyoto University since 2015. Kamitani developed the "brain decoding" method using machine learning to interpret brain signals and successfully visualized mental imagery and dreams from human brain activity. He collaborates with artists, including providing visuals for Pierre Huyghe's exhibition UUmwelt (2018) at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
HIRATA Akihisa | Architect
Professor at Kyoto University and founder of Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office. Born in Osaka in 1971, Hirata graduated from Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering. His notable works include Ota City Museum and Library, Harakado, Ojiyashi Collaboration Center (Hon-toka), and Expo National Day Hall (Ray Garden). Awards include the Golden Lion at the 13th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2012, as part of the Japanese Pavilion), the Murano Togo Prize (2018), and the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (2022). His books include Architecture as Intertwining Spaces and Architecture Resonates.
YAMAUCHI Yutaka | Management Scholar / Humanities & Aesthetics
Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, with concurrent appointments at the Faculty of Economics, Graduate School of Economics, and Design School. He also runs programs that foster talents to shape new worldviews at the Kyoto Creative Assemblage. Yamauchi graduated from Kyoto University (B.Eng., M.Inf.) and earned his Ph.D. in Management from UCLA Anderson School. Before his current position, he was a researcher at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
HARA Marihiko | Comopser / Sound Artist
A graduate of Kyoto University's Faculty of Education, Hara creates acoustic works centered on piano, chamber music, field recordings, and electronic sounds, focusing on the concept of strength within stillness. His albums include PASSION (2020) and ALL PEOPLE IS NICE (2021). He is also a member of the artist group Dumb Type and has composed music for various stage productions by Hideki Noda, Damien Jalet, Kohei Nawa, Mirai Moriyama, and Min Tanaka. His works appear in projects such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony, films like National Treasure and The Wandering Moon, and NHK dramas, among others.
YOSHIROTTEN | Visual Artist
Born in 1983, YOSHIROTTEN is a visual artist whose work is driven by an insatiable curiosity for the "unknown." His creations seamlessly blend concepts like nature and technology, light and materiality, spirituality and evidence, as well as ancient and futuristic ideas. Recently, he has been exploring SF-inspired visual languages based on research into fundamental elements like color, the Earth, and the Sun.
HASEGAWA Yuko | Curator
Visiting Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School. A graduate of Kyoto University's Faculty of Law and Tokyo University of the Arts (Master of Fine Arts). From 2006 to 2023, she served as a professor at Tama Art University and held roles at institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. She is currently Artistic Director of the Inujima "Art House Project" and serves in various academic and curatorial capacities.
KURAYA Mika | Curator
Visiting Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School and
Director of the Yokohama Museum of Art and General Director of the Yokohama Triennale since 2020. Kuraya graduated from Chiba University Graduate School and began her career at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, in 1993. She curated Nude: Art from the 1880s to 1945 in Japan (2011–2012), which won the 24th Rinsho Art Encouragement Prize in 2012. In 2013, she curated the Japanese Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition (featuring artist Koki Tanaka), which received a special mention.
OBATA Shinya | Design Management
Associate Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Management. Obata joined Buffalo Inc. in 1996 and has worked across a wide range of fields, including industrial design and product development, as well as sales promotion, quality assurance, and customer support. He also serves as Art & Design Director at Buffalo Inc./Melco Group and Vice President of the Japan Industrial Designers Association (JIDA). In 2022, he served as the General Director of JIDA's 70th anniversary events.
Tokyo, Tuesday, September 30th: Transboundary Curation - Shall we curate? -
Participants will be artists, art historians who collaborate with artists, cultural policy researchers, and interactive media researchers from the University of Tokyo's Collaborative Research Organization for Art Creation.
Event Overview: Tokyo Edition
Title: Transboundary Curation - Shall we curate?
Date and Time: Tuesday, September 30, 18:30–21:00 (Doors open at 18:00)
Venue: The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus, Building 18 Hall
Admission: Free
Capacity: 190 attendees
Target Audience: Students and the general public
Organizers:
The University of Tokyo, Organization for Arts and Design
Kyoto University, Graduate School of Management, Endowed Chair for Curation Theory and Practice Management
How to apply: Tokyo - Advance application required via Peatix https://tokyocuration.peatix.com
Program: Tokyo Edition
Opening Remarks and Activity Introduction
KAJIYA Kenji | Art Historian
Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Director, Organization for Arts and Design, The University of Tokyo
Keynote Lecture
HASEGAWA Yuko | Curator
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Former Director, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Panel Discussion
Panelists:
KAKEHI Yasuaki | Interactive Media Researcher / Artist
Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo
KOBAYASHI Mari| Cultural Policy Researcher
Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
HOSHINO Futoshi | Aesthetician
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
KURAYA Mika | Curator
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Director, Yokohama Museum of Art
OBATA Shinya | Design Management
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Vice President, Japan Industrial Designers Association (JIDA)
Yuko Hasegawa | Curator
Moderator:
KAJIYA Kenji | Art Historian
Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Facilitator:
Manabu | Artist
Associate Professor (Special Appointment), Organization for Arts and Design, The University of Tokyo
Note: A limited-edition booklet, Introduction to Curation, will be distributed exclusively to attendees.
Speakers/Participating Artists Tokyo
From left: KAJIYA Kenji, KAKEHI Yasuaki, KOBAYASHI Mari, HOSHINO Futoshi, KANAI Manabu
KAJIYA Kenji | Art Historian
Professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies) and Director of the Organization for Arts and Design, The University of Tokyo. Kajiya specializes in art history, with notable works including The Liberation of Painting: Color Field Painting and 20th-Century American Culture (University of Tokyo Press, 2023) and Keiji Usami: The Resurrected Painter (University of Tokyo Press, 2021). He also co-edited From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945–1989: Primary Documents (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2012).
KAKEHI Yasuaki | Interactive Media Researcher / Artist
Professor at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies and Special Advisor to the President of the University of Tokyo. Kakehi develops interactive media that expand the physical properties of materials, advancing new forms of expression. His accolades include an Honorable Mention at the STARTS PRIZE 2022, an Excellence Award in the Art Division of the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival, the ACM CHI 2017 Best Paper Award, and the Young Scientists’ Prize from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in 2014.
KOBAYASHI Mari | Cultural Policy Researcher
Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo (Department of Cultural Resources Studies). Kobayashi's research focuses on cultural policy and administrative systems. Her works include Toward the Establishment of Cultural Rights: An International Comparison of Cultural Promotion Laws and Japan’s Reality (Keiso Shobo, 2004) and edited volumes such as Cultural Policy Today: Volumes 1–3 (University of Tokyo Press, 2018), Administrative Reform and Cultural Creation Initiatives: Seeking New Public Models (Bigaku Publishing, 2013), and The Designated Administrator System: Who Supports Cultural Publicness? (Jiji Press, 2006).
HOSHINO Futoshi | Aesthetician
Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies). His research explores aesthetics, with publications such as The Sublime and Capitalism: On Jean-François Lyotard (Seidosha, 2024), The Guest at the Table (Kodansha, 2023), The Liminality of the Sublime (Film Art Inc., 2022), Practices of Aesthetics (Suiseisha, 2021), and The Rhetoric of the Sublime (Getsuyosha, 2017). He also co-edited The Sublime and the Uncanny (Tokyo: UTCP, 2016).
KANAI Manabu | Artist
Associate Professor (Special Appointment) at the Organization for Arts and Design, The University of Tokyo. Kanai researches and creates works exploring the generative conditions of artistic practice, presenting his projects both in Japan and internationally. Notable exhibitions include Turning Midnight Inside Out and Stitching It onto Day’s Back (Gallery 9.5, Kyoto, 2024), The World to Come (Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, 2025), Outline (Makii Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2019), and Compilation of Actions (Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo, Tokyo, 2018).
The Organization for Arts and Design, The University of Tokyo
(Host of the Tokyo event)
The Organization for Arts and Design at The University of Tokyo operates under the motto, "Expanding intelligence through art to open the future of society." It brings together researchers from diverse fields related to artistic creation, fostering interdisciplinary research while collaborating with artists. The organization actively promotes integrated research on artistic creation and nurtures individuals with diverse values and creative thinking skills through the development of artistic sensibilities.
Established in May 2019, the organization is composed of 12 entities: the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Engineering, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Institute of Industrial Science, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University Museum, and the University of Tokyo Library System.
Website: https://www.art.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, Department of Management Studies
(Organizer)
The program aims to clarify the methodologies and values of curation and curators, advancing research toward their theorization and generalization. By doing so, it seeks to establish curation as an integrative theory that bridges art and corporate practices, as well as to develop its practical application and management.
This endowed chair is composed of professionals with extensive experience, including long-time curators in the arts, practitioners with management expertise in corporate design departments, and researchers specializing in cultural management theory. Through these networks, the program engages in practical activities and research, such as collaborations with artists and curators, investigations into exhibitions, and the production of exhibitions and seminars both domestically and internationally.Website:https://www.gsm.kyoto-u.ac.jp/collaborative-research/curation/