Crowdfunding (see below) is a fundraising method that involves seeking supporters for a new business idea and raising funds online. This method has been frequently used in business, film production and other areas, and is now widely used in the art world in Japan.
Funding restoration, purchases
The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art, which manages six national art museums across Japan, opened its website in March and began crowdfunding. Its first crowdfunding project is a digital re-creation of Claude Monet's "Water Lilies: Reflections of Weeping Willows" owned by the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo's Ueno district. The project aims to raise 3 million yen (27,300 dollars) by June 7.
The painting was purchased by businessman Kojiro Matsukata before World War II. The whereabouts of the painting were unknown after the war. In 2016, it was discovered in 2016 at the Louvre Museum in Paris, with its upper half missing. The project aims to re-create the painting's original state before being damaged, based on black-and-white photos and other materials, and restore it in the form of a digital image. The image will be exhibited along with the original painting at the Matsukata Collection Exhibition, to be held from June 11 through Sept. 23 at the museum in Ueno. The institution also plans to use crowdfunding for purchasing artwork, among other purposes.
Other museums have also begun using crowdfunding. Last year, private museum Okawa Museum of Art in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, collected funds for reproducing the atelier of Shunsuke Matsumoto, a painter who died at a young age after the war, raising 7.485 million yen from 409 people. The museum completed the reproduction of the atelier and is now exhibiting it. The Mie Prefectural Art Museum in Tsu also raised funds last year to purchase works of young artists connected to the region.
Tokyo University of the Arts in the Ueno district has been making full use of crowdfunding since 2017. The university has implemented 14 crowdfunding projects, including the reproduction of the national treasure Illustrated Scrolls of the Legends of Shigisan in its present condition, and the restoration of the design sketches for the ceiling textiles of the Imperial Palace's Chigusa-no-ma by Shibata Zeshin, a lacquer master in the Meiji era (1868-1912). With one exception, the university raised the target amounts for all projects.
In addition, many individual artists are raising funds through crowdfunding to hold exhibitions, create collections of works and establish bases for their activities.
Tight financial situation
Museums and other such institutions rely on external bodies for operating costs, as budgets for planning projects and buying artwork have been low because of municipalities' tight financial situation and changes in economic conditions. However, the advantages of crowdfunding seem to go beyond fundraising.
Masami Sakai, an official in charge of fundraising at the National Museum of Art, said: "Through crowdfunding, we call on people to join us and enjoy a project together. Another main objective is to make people feel more familiar with museums and encourage them to use them."
Miyoko Okonogi, an Okawa Museum of Art official, emphasized crowdfunding's significance, saying: "We received more support from local people than we expected, which made us realize that the museum is loved by local people. Crowdfunding also allowed us to identify fans and people who are interested [in the museum's projects], which greatly motivated our staff."
Tokyo University of the Arts President Kazuki Sawa also pointed out crowdfunding's effects on public relations and advertising, saying, "Placing information on special websites and social media sites to raise funds provides an opportunity to make projects, artists and artworks known to a wider range of people."
Eye on post-Olympics
However, there are many cases in which projects fail to draw sufficient general attention and their crowdfunding efforts end up with very small amounts. There is also a concern that culture and tourism-related budgets of the central and local governments, which tend to increase ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics, will be cut after the Tokyo Games. So people involved in the art industry are still increasingly interested in crowdfunding.
Readyfor, a company operating a crowdfunding website, established a new team specializing in art in July last year. At present, the five-member team provides support for fundraisers through crowdfunding. Lead curator Yukimi Hiroyasu said: "In anticipation of the reduction or abolishment of subsidies, an increasing number of museums and art organizations are interested in crowdfunding. There will be more local governments using 'government crowdfunding' that raises funds through furusato nozei tax deductions to people who donate money to local governments for the management of museums."
--Crowdfunding
In Japan, crowdfunding began attracting attention after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake as a means of raising funds for volunteers as well as other purposes. There are several types of crowdfunding, such as those in which fundraisers give goods in return, and others in which there are no such returns. Among overseas museums that use crowdfunding is the Louvre Museum in France.
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