Since the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Fine Arts Global Art Practice (GAP) debuted in 2016, students with various backgrounds from abroad have traveled to our campus to explore trans-disciplinary art practices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had dire implications for thirteen GAP students for three years, but they have supported each other while pursuing their respective quests for excellence. They solidified their footholds through group work, collaborations with overseas colleges of fine arts, and other distinctive GAP program characteristics. They also explored primal questions such as how human beings can sustain harmony with people with different values and backgrounds and other forms of life. The results are evident in their installations, paintings, 3D creations, photography and digital media as they sought to master specific techniques that conveyed their artistic messages.
Against the backdrop of an era marked by frequent global-scale disasters lies a critical demand for the power to transform local, specific inquiries into interlocal probes as well as the prowess to advance mutual interpretations. I look forward to seeing our GAP students excel as artists in regions and serve as creative mediators, adept at bridging communication gaps with others representing different geographical bases and pursuits.