Kamagasaki University of the Arts
Profile
The program has been held in Kamagasaki, Nishinari-ku, Osaka since 2012, and is run by the NPO Kokoroom (Room for Voice, Language, and Heart). The town of Kamagasaki is likened to a university with a philosophy of “if there are people who want to learn together, that is where the university is.” About 100 lectures are held annually at various local facilities including astronomy, aesthetics, and choral music. In recent years, due to the aging of the people living in Kamagasaki, the university has been active as a “place for meeting and expression” while focusing on memory and documentation.
The group also holds lectures at nearby high schools and junior high schools and collaborates with Osaka University. 2019, with the help of Mr. Hasuoka, who has been digging wells with the Peshawar Association in Afganistan, dug a well with a shovel with 700 people, including children, travelers, and refugees, while being taught by former day laborers in Kamagasaki.
They are fantasizing about the Kamagasaki Arts Center at this location, following the reconstruction of the welfare center. Exhibitions, performances, etc.: Yokohama Triennale 2014, Arts Maebashi “Forest of Expression” (2016), BIRD Theatre Festival (2016), Ooka Makoto Museum of Kotoba “Kamagei is coming! (2017), Rumbini Art Museum “It’s a good city here. – The Days of Kamagasaki University of the Arts” (2018), Saitama International Arts Festival (2019), Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival (2022), etc.