The Role of Civil Society Sector in the Development of Art-Driven Regional Social Innovation: The Case of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi

Abstract

Recently art is increasing its presence as an “creative industry” to sustain local communities, by generating socio-economic values. Still, whether art can be a tool for social innovation to regenerate communities, especially in rural areas in aging societies, is an unanswered question. In this paper, we take the example of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi in the island area of Western Japan, viewing how it transformed from a corporate-established museum to a regional initiative involving various stakeholders, including local residents and thus creating the process of dialogues and collaboration. By reconstructing the existing evidence with supplementary fieldwork and interviews and applying a tri-sectoral analysis of the processes, we present how the art sites developed to become a social innovation. We then illustrate the role of two key individuals, Soichiro Fukutake and Fram Kitagawa, and shed light on the different values and methodologies they brought into these art sites. We argue that such contributions from the civil society and philanthropy sector made a critical contribution to characterize BASN and Art Setouchi, in addition to the well-documented and recognized efforts from local government and business sectors. Finally, we propose that such values, methodologies, and persons who can embody and implement such values are crucial if other countries and areas are to replicate the model.

Research on the development strategy of art industry based on RNN model

“…China has also started to pay attention to the development trend of this industry and has actively set up professional teams for the research and development of digital media technologies, investing a lot of money as well as manpower in this field [1][2]. Some developed cities in China, such as Beijing or Shanghai, have already started to set up relevant industrial bases internally, which can give digital media a broader space for development [3][4].…”