New Museology: Drawing synergies between cultural heritage and contemporary cultures
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In autumn 2009, the British Museum took the unprecedented step of introducing Jomon prehistoric dogû together with contemporary manga graphics by the renowned manga artist Hoshino Yukinobu. Breaking with conventional display methods and employing Hoshino’s history and folklore adventure seeking Professor Munakata to explore the Museum, great success was achieved in promoting cultural heritage to a wider, especially the hard to attract younger anime-inspired, audience.

This project, injecting contemporary culture to better access cultural heritage, was the brainchild of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, who will share some of their ‘behind the scenes’ experiences.

Examples of successful regional regeneration projects utilizing cultural heritage here in Japan by the Aomori Museum of Art will also be introduced to stimulate discussion of innovative ways of display and to draw synergies between cultural heritage and contemporary culture in museum settings. What roles do museums play within our society? What trajectory will the future of museology follow? Specialists from Japan and Europe will join us in this debate.