During crises such as economic depressions, wars, natural disasters and pandemics, societies tend to pull together to get through hard times. Adversity focuses minds and enables people to find new energy to tackle extraordinary situations. The COVID-19 pandemic has been another catalyst for paradigm shifts.

In Japan, art for all was initiated to broaden the understanding of diverse cultural and artistic activities and to discuss how contemporary art contributes to our society through enlightening and investigating, creating dialogue and supporting social reforms. This new organisation has been a much-needed presence as a network for artists to share their points of view, consult, or simply communicate their concerns to their professional peers. In other regions of the world these networks have existed for many years, or perhaps in some cases no such network has been needed to remind governments of the importance of artists.

This first talk, in a series of three, explores some case studies in Japan. Tomoko Wakabayashi will give an overview of Japan’s support for the arts and culture, its history, and the issues around it, and how it fared during the three “difficult periods” (recession, earthquake, COVID-19). She will talk about her experiences with the contemporary art emergency grant programme launched during the pandemic by the Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation in response to questionnaire results, and will consider the overall ecosystem for art and culture in Japan. Dr Justin Jesty will introduce some examples of how modern and avant-garde artists have organised support for their creative work and their social missions in the post-War period. He will consider some of the enduring challenges artists have faced and suggest how the present moment may provide some opportunities to address them. Yoi Kawakubo and Towa Takaya will then explain how art for all  began, why it was needed, what its current activities are, and its plans for the future.

This talk series is hosted by Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in partnership with art for all, and organised by Yoi Kawakubo, Keiko Koshihara, Towa Takaya and Haruna Takeda.