WORKS
What does it mean to achieve an inclusive society? To try to find some clues, we visited the “Sunflower Field”, a welfare facility for people with a disability. This is a place that respects and values individuality and that works with disabilities to build relationships based on mutual trust. Given that it provides its residents with a fulfilling environment with activities tailored to their needs, isn’t this an ideal inclusive community? We thought we should invite the head of the facility and the users to think about what type of inclusive community they have in mind.
The facility is set up much like a workshop, as a free and flexible place where users can release their stress. We also saw that the shop, which sells pottery and bread, serves as a gateway to the community. According to Director Kunitake, “By not defining our users as people with a disability, we help to create an inclusive community.” We really felt her desire to spread the efforts of “Sunflower Field” and the ideals it stands for into the community.
From the questions that the users asked us during the interviews about the Art University’s modes of expression and its productions, we realized that we all had things to learn from each other. A disabled person is just another individual who is living his or her life in the same way that we do. We realized that the first change towards building an inclusive society is to do away with “not knowing”.
In our previous researches, we thought that “knowing” was the most important thing. We made introducing the facility and capturing the “Sunflower Field”as a role model for society the main focus of the event. We hoped that by using the art as an entry point and telling people about those initiatives, we could cause the sorts of initiatives used in “Sunflower Field” to be adopted in society more broadly.
On the day, the Director of “Sunflower Field” together with facility staff and users, visited the university to introduce their pottery and take part in interviews, Following an explanation of how the facility is run, we also held a discussion in which everyone came up with keywords for the creation of inclusive communities. Sharing these with everyone generated new awareness and motivations.
Team COCRE
Ren Yingying (2nd year, Department of Industrial, Interior and Craft Design)
Yoshida Nanao (3rd year, Department of Design Informatics)
Lee Minsoo (3rd year, Department of Arts Policy and Management)
Maruyama Nodoka (3rd year, Department of Arts Policy and Management)
Koji Nishimoto (CASIO COMPUTER Co., Ltd.)
Nanao Yoshida
(3rd year, Department of Design Informatics)
At the event, I heard some really valuable opinions from the other participants. It was a pity that we didn’t have time to hear everyone’s views. Through this research, I realized that the first step towards inclusiveness and an inclusive society is knowing what those things are. I think that everybody needs an environment that respects people’s choices, that is, their individuality, and allows them to grow. I really hope that this event is that first step and that it leads to some increased awareness.
Art x Inclusiveness
― Inclusive Society as Seen from a Sunflower Field ―
