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
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama 7008570, Japan
Academic Editor: Adela García-Aracil
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 14061; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414061
Received: 6 October 2021
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Revised: 26 November 2021
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Accepted: 17 December 2021
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Published: 20 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Addressing Sustainability at a Community Scale)
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.
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Keywords:
social innovation; contemporary art; aging society; rural regeneration; civil society; philanthropy
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MDPI and ACS Style
Aoo, K. 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. Sustainability 2021, 13, 14061. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414061
AMA Style
Aoo K. 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. Sustainability. 2021; 13(24):14061. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414061
Chicago/Turabian StyleAoo, Ken. 2021. "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" Sustainability 13, no. 24: 14061. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414061
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