Museum

Purposes

Tama Art University Museum houses an extensive collection of works representing art and design from all periods, providing students and the general public with many opportunities for experiencing and appreciating art. Students are encouraged to use the museum resources to acquire technical knowledge, pursue research, and gain inspiration for their creative work.
Functioning as a research institute, TAU Museum responds to social needs and demands by supporting collaborative research activities and presenting the results to the public in the form of exhibitions. Such research involves not only art and design departments at TAU, but departments at other universities.
Furthermore, the museum has established an extensive network of curators who previously worked at the TAU Museum and continue to take an active role in the art scene. These contacts provide valuable nationwide opportunities to exchange information and to help support and encourage various experimental activities. Aiming to become an "open window" to all people in every field, the museum helps TAU to contribute to society.

Planning Exhibitions and Providing Services

Two main aims of the museum are to stage innovative exhibitions and to provide information relating to our contemporary media-driven society. The museum strives to realize exhibitions that focus on new interpretations of art by creators and researchers, departing from the practice of presenting popular shows of established masterpieces. By featuring "borderless" work that is often difficult to define, the museum hopes to develop an awareness of contemporary art among the general public.
The museum issues posters, catalogues and leaflets concerning its exhibitions and also provides detailed information about exhibitions and events conducted by other museums. Besides these services, one-on-one reference services are offered, based on the resources of the museum and TAU.

Workshops

Lectures and workshops held in conjunction with the TAU Lifelong Learning Program are another distinctive feature of the museum, the regular woodblock lithography workshops being one example. This innovative printing method has won popularity due to its expressive possibilities and ease of use, and the workshops typify the museum's desire to function as a place where people can discover and experience the results of TAU's creative and research activities.
We are planning to open the library to the public in the near future in order to relate closely to the local community. Now its inventory can be freely accessed by OPAC (online public access catalog) and partial contents of the Takiguchi and Kitazono collections is available on the Internet.

History

The museum first opened on the third floor of the Kaminoge campus library building as the "Art Reference Room". It was an integral part of the educational improvements associated with the inauguration of the Graduate School in 1964. After moving to the Hachioji campus, it was officially recognized as a university museum in 1982, and in 1994 was renamed the Tama Art University Museum. The present premises in Tama Center, to which the museum moved in 2000, feature a number of spacious exhibition rooms, multi-purpose spaces, and a multi-media theater.

Selected Past Exhibitions

  • OMAR RAYO Wandering Labyrinth (2013)
  • ON PAPER 2013 Paper and Nature (2013)
  • Everything is expressive —Vibratile object of Keijiro satoh— (2012)
  • Welcome the wonderland of "Kodomo no kuni" (2012)
  • The World of Kenji IMAI I–IV (2005, 2007, 2009, 2012)
  • THE TYPOGRAPHY OF ERIC GILL Legendary Letterforms (2011)
  • SOUL@AFRICA Linking Africulture (2011)
  • The Japan Contemporary Fiber Art Exhibition Resonating Threads (2011)
  • Toshodaiji Temple –Main hall Solownity— (2010)
  • Masao Omiya Breathing Magma of Northern Stranger (2010)
  • ISAMU WAKABAYASHI Dog Field DRAWING 1980-1992 (2010)
  • Fresco —Time Odyssey— I, II (2008, 2009)
  • Shin Miyazaki —Wandering— (2009)
  • REVOLUTION & FASHION Stream of Beauty in Russian Exile (2009)
  • Matazo Kayama —The Remembrance of the Atelier— I–III (2005, 2007, 2008)
  • Illustration Posters in Chaina, Korea, Japan (2007)
  • 20th Century Computer Art: Beginnings and Developments The work and thought of pioneers and contemporary practitioners of algorithmic art (2006)
  • EXHIBITION OF TOKYO INTERNATIONAL MINI-PRINT TRIENNIAL (1995, 1998, 2002, 2005)
  • BEN SHAHN For Human Nature, From the Twentieth Century (2000)
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