Events category: Annual Seminar Series

At Ease in the City: Urban Lifestyles and the Pursuit of Leisure

In both Japan and the UK, work and leisure spaces are becoming increasingly integrated and urban life is adapting to accommodate the priorities of different generations as well as international influences.

Getting Around the City: The Role of Transport and Infrastructural Issues

Probably every British person who has been to Japan, at some point finds him or herself crying out, ‘if only we had their rail and bus systems over here (but not their traffic jams)!’

The 21st Century Home: Quality of Life in the Urban Environment

What can Japan and the UK learn from each other about home-building – and what type of homes do people want in the 21st century? Can these homes be constructed in ways which minimise the impacts on the environment?

Environmental Quality in the 21st Century City

The Commission held a seminar at the end of March 2004 to determine the exact focus of the study. Japan’s experience in transforming itself from an urban society with serious pollution problems to one which, with some exceptions, manages to combine high population densities with high standards of physical environmental quality, could well be relevant to the Commission’s interests.

The Urban Environment: Redeveloping City Centres

Roger Madelin discussed the King’s Cross project in London, and Peter Carl and David Height discussed the planned redevelopment of the northern Osaka Station area.

UK-Japan Cities of the Future: Regeneration and Urban Life

Still Moving: A Sculptor’s Response to Working in Japan - a lecture and discussion by Antony Gormley

Over the last 25 years, Antony Gormley has revitalised the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool and material. Since 1990, he has expanded his concern with the human condition to explore the collective body and the relationship between self and other in large-scale installations like ‘Allotment’, ‘Critical Mass’, ‘Another Place’, and most recently ‘Domain Field’ and ‘Inside Australia’.

International Dimensions in Funding for the Arts: the UK and Japan

In examining the experience of museums in both the Uk and Japan, this seminar considered the role of government and business in supporting the arts and looked particularly to the involvement of Japanese newspapers, like the Asahi Shimbun, in sponsoring international exhibitions, both at home and abroad.

Does Heritage Matter? Is the past serving the present in Japan and Europe?

In both Europe and Japan, though, while spending on heritage is at record levels, heritage practitioners are being forced to be innovative in making heritage of relevance to the contemporary world. The speakers considered the justification for public support for heritage projects, the efficacy of heritage policies, and the appropriateness of heritage in contemporary society.

The Performing Arts: Culture and Practice in the UK and Japan

The touring of international productions, the training of performers in different methods and techniques, and the lessons that are learned, both artistically and culturally, were explored by our speakers and chairperson who have each worked in an international performance context and are involved in ongoing initiatives to encourage and support collaboration in the performing arts.