I want to deliver the beauty student's thoughts Online graduation exhibition March 24 19:39

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, art and engineering schools have been discontinuing graduation exhibitions one after another. Voices saying "I'm sorry" or "I wanted to do it" on SNS one after another. Actually, I was studying contemporary art at an art university. The difficulties, tensions and joys of presenting a work that has been made over a year are extraordinary, and it is easy to understand the remorse of students who cannot show. Under these circumstances, there is a movement to explore various possibilities on the Internet and SNS to help students exhibit. "I want to do a graduation exhibition!" (Osaka Broadcasting Photographer Daikan Saito)

One after another ...

"Graduation work" that is undertaken by students from art and engineering high schools, universities, and vocational schools. This is an important culmination for students who have spent years working on painting, sculpture, design and architecture. The graduation work exhibition collects and displays the graduation work. It is called "graduation exhibition" among students. This graduation exhibition is also affected by the spread of the new coronavirus infection.

On February 28, Tama Art University in Tokyo announced that the graduation exhibition had been discontinued. Measures to prevent infection of students and visitors. The university's graduation exhibition was divided into departments and majors such as painting and design, and was scheduled to be held at 10 venues in Harajuku, Ebisu, Kawasaki City, etc., but all were canceled. Among them, the graduation exhibition of the media art course in the department of information design was to be started in Yokohama two days later, but it was a sudden decision. These graduation exhibitions are being discontinued in various places.

Graduation exhibition online

Suddenly, on March 8, an effort to “exhibit” graduation projects online began in response to the desires of students who had lost their graduation exhibitions. This is "Super Joint Online Graduation Exhibition" organized by Tokyo group "HASARD".

This organization offers a service that allows people to see paintings on the web free of charge with the support of companies and individuals in order to make the art feel closer. Anyone can freely participate in "Super Joint Online Graduation Exhibition". Students take photographs of their work and “exhibit” them with their favorite comments. If you swipe the screen with your smartphone or tablet, works will appear one after another. This is a joint graduation exhibition that transcends the boundaries of the school to which it belongs, such as high school and university.

When I actually looked at it, I was able to easily see the work in high quality on a smartphone. It is a nice feature for art lovers to be able to zoom in and see the details in detail. The founder Shinnosuke Konno (26) runs HASARD as a side job while working for an IT company in Tokyo. He is a lover of art and has written his own works, including writing novels. The subtitle of this exhibition is "Not wasted", which is useless. "I want to cherish the works and their thoughts that the students have worked so hard".

Konno: "I think that a graduation exhibition is an important place that I have been preparing for my students. There is a part where I can understand how hard it is to be able to publish my desperately created work because I wrote a novel. I started thinking that I could become a kid. ''

One of the students who exhibited Fuka Hutsui of Tama Art University Graphic Design Department.

Tsuboi: "Some parts of the graduation exhibition cannot be canceled, but I was sorry that there was no graduation exhibition. It is a different form than usual, but I am very happy that there is a place where I can show off this way."

Production exhibition that I could not graduate

There is also a unique graduation exhibition that can be expanded by connecting via SNS. Yu Amemiya (28), who runs a cafe and event space in Yokohama, has launched a project called “Production Exhibition That Couldn't Graduate” to support students. We are planning to rent out the space inside the store to students free of charge, and collectively display the work of students whose graduation production exhibition has been canceled. However, the scale of Amemiya's store alone is limited, so we asked for collaborators on SNS. To date, five stores, such as a coffee shop in Kyoto and a udon restaurant in Asakusa, have agreed with Amamiya-san, and have raised their hands on renting space in the store. More than 40 students are already interested in participating.

Amamiya: "Because I am a music producer, I understand the feelings of the students as the same creator. I came to offer a place considering what I could do. I hope the same movement spreads nationwide. ''

#Tokyo Crafts 2020

Tokyo Metropolitan Polytechnic High School Design Course has been canceled three days before the graduation exhibition (February 26). In this department, all the students gathered and discussed on the day of the cancellation. And decided was a graduation production exhibition on SNS. The day after the discussion, I immediately put my work in a photograph and made it available on SNS. An Instagram account has been opened in the department, and it has been released with the hashtag "#Tokyo Crafts 2020".

Tanaka: "I thought about what we can do now and we've come up with the work on SNS. I'm surprised to see more people than expected, but I'm happy."

I hope the students can reach me

Sudden cancellation of graduation is a disappointing event. But there were a number of new initiatives that took shape using the internet and SNS. A graduation production exhibition in an unusual form. I hope that as many people as possible touch the world of art and reach the students and supporters. It was this interview that felt like that.

Osaka Broadcasting Photographer Daikan Saito

Joined Mobile Video Project at News Center Image Center, joined in 2018