Google Arts & Culture 「Made in Japan : 日本の匠」 における京都女子大学と立命館大学の取り組みについて

Abstract

Established in 2011 by Google, the Google Cultural Institute (URL: g.co/artsandculture) is an epochmaking platform designed to more effectively diffuse the intellectual knowledge hitherto accumulated by these institutions with art and cultural collections around the world to the general public (the platform was renamed Google Arts & Culture in 2015). Made in Japan: Nihon no Takumi (URL: g.co/madeinjapan) was launched in January 2016 with the purpose of introducing traditional crafts from around Japan. Kyoto Women’s University and Ritsumeikan University played major roles in this project with other partners of the project such as NHK Educational, Tottori Prefecture, Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts and a few others. The initial purpose of “showing the other side of Japan’s traditions”. Besides showing the works created, we have also been showing behind the scenes in the making of crafts which would normally be unseen by the public. Many of the results from searches in the categories of pottery, lacquer, wood, bamboo, and paper on A&C are works by the Made in Japan project, making this project one of the largest on A&C showcasing crafts. This short paper introduce the way in which the two university institutions worked together and the problems faced to create the project.