Impact case study database

Research-based curation to widen the reach and appeal, and to challenge perceptions of East Asian visual culture.

Taylor-Jones, Pendleton and Coates have long-standing relationships with the Korean Cultural Centre, (KCCUK), the British Film Institute (BFI), the Korean Film Archive and the Japan Foundation. They have worked with these organisations on a number of festivals and initiatives aimed at bringing Japanese and Korean film and visual culture to UK audiences. Bringing research expertise to film, art and other visual cultures has meant a growth in understanding of the varied visual cultures of East Asia. The KCCUK, BFI, Korean Film Archive and Japan Foundation have been able to draw this into their programming and to their audiences. Taylor-Jones, Pendleton and Coates have been able to challenge the popular perception of what drives these cultures, as well as widen the audience for what was previously a niche area of interest. The recent popular success of Korean cinema means that they have been able to harness the perfect moment to place a critical spotlight on East Asian film and culture.

Expanding public understanding of Korean film, history, and culture

As a result of previous work with them on the Korean Touring Programme and knowing that she had expertise in early and classical Korean film, the KCCUK invited Taylor-Jones to propose a programme of 17 films for the BFI Early Korean Cinema series. The series ran in February 2019 in London and then toured the UK including Sheffield, Glasgow, and Belfast. This era of Korean cinema had never been presented, beyond one-off exceptions, to UK audiences before. As well as brokering the international exchange between the BFI and the Korean Film Archive that made the films available in the UK, Taylor-Jones’s research and knowledge enabled the KCCUK to make visible and accessible crucial aspects of the history of East Asian cinema, highlight the impacts of Japanese colonialism on early Korean cinema as well as look at its relationship with wider cinematic traditions of the time. As the KCCUK programmer Hyunjin Cho notes, “By working with Kate, we were able to use her research in this area to programme films that are little known in the UK. As well as co-directing the film programming, Kate’s expertise, particularly regarding the impacts of Japanese colonialism on early Korean cinema and its relationship with wider cinematic traditions at the time, was instrumental in programming accompanying talks, presentations, and Q&A sessions.” (S1). For the BFI, the film festival and association with Taylor-Jones enabled BFI staff to have a better understanding of the films that were shown and so improved visitor services (S2). The collaboration also enhanced their screening scope by enabling accompanying talks, presentations, and Q&A opportunities to facilitate public engagement with the visual records of Japanese Imperialism, early Korean culture and history and enhance their offer. As a result, the festival drew higher than expected audiences and “was drawn from a wider demographic than some of our other programmes.” (S2). The series received wide coverage in highly influential film publications such as Sight and Sound, All the Anime and Film London (S3, S4). The KCCUK notes that “The success of this series in terms of audience engagement with the subject matter, and the active support we have received from Kate and the University of Sheffield, are encouraging as we look to the future at new collaborations and public engagement opportunities” (S1).

Establishing a credible, educational, and inspirational Japan Now North Festival

The Japan Now festival, celebrating art, culture, literature, and film, has been established in London since 2016. It aims to use art and culture to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Japan and the UK. Until 2017 it was London-based but as a result of Taylor-Jones’ previous work with the Japan Foundation, the organisers approached Taylor-Jones, and together they developed a parallel festival which would take place in the north of England. Its key themes were shaped by Taylor-Jones and Pendleton’s research (2017-19), joined by Coates’s in 2020. The Programme Director of Japan Now notes that the Sheffield team “greatly expanded the scope and curatorial ambition of Japan Now...driven by the expertise of the team, and guided by their individual specialisms” (S5).

Their research highlights that UK audiences often receive only limited and stereotypical examples of Japanese visual and cultural products. By creating a programme based on these findings, they were able to use theories of collaborative working in the arts industry (Pendleton) to programme female artists and documentary filmmakers and writers who had engaged with minority experiences outside of Japan, drawing upon both Pendleton’s and Taylor-Jones’s work on space, gender, and the challenging of normative ideals (R1-5). The Senior Arts Programme Officer at the Japan Foundation notes that working with the Sheffield research team “ afforded the festival an intellectual credibility and underpinning ethos that was important to establish in the new iteration of the Festival in Sheffield” (S6). The Festival’s three iterations have brought world-renowned artists to Sheffield for the first time, for example filmmaker and photographer Mika Ninagawa, filmmaker Megumi Sasaki, whose film ‘A Whale of a Tale’ was premiered at the Festival in 2018 and writer Sayaka Murata (‘Convenience Store Woman’).

In 2020, Coates’s research (R7) was used as the basis for a theme on futures, to highlight that although Japan is seen as a leader in technology, it faces challenges common to other nations, including an ageing population and overcrowding. In doing this, it helped audiences to see the UK commonalities with Japan and provide ideas on how we might also tackle social problems.

Brendan Griggs, Chief Executive of the Great British Sasakawa Foundation, who part-fund Japan Now, notes that the researchers’ “ knowledge of Japanese art and popular culture and in particular their nuanced approach to contemporary issues such as gender and sexuality, enabled them to curate a programme which has proved both educational and inspiring for audiences from a variety of backgrounds” (S7).

Through close collaboration with cultural partners, the public understanding of Japan and Japanese culture outside of the mainstream discourses have been significantly extended and the relationship between the audience and Japanese culture has been changed. Almost all (94%, 2018, 99%, 2019, 90% 2020) attendees learnt something new, over half said they would seek out more Japanese media and 49% wanted to read more about Japan. Thirteen percent wanted to learn Japanese language as a result. Comments such as “ [I] really love this exposure for women artists, showing...a more authentic insight on Japanese culture” demonstrate that the aims of the festival were met and audiences appreciated the unique nature of the events they saw (S8). Sasakawa Foundation’s Chief Executive also noted that “ We were delighted with the outcome: a significant improvement in the knowledge and appreciation of contemporary Japan amongst new audiences in the South Yorkshire region” (S7).

In addition, the attempt to widen the audience for Japanese cultural events by bringing Japan Now to the North was a success. The positive reception of events for the Festival in the North, driven by their quality, instilled confidence in organisers to expand their geographical reach. As the Programme Director notes, all three researchers’ “ knowledge, enthusiasm and desire to educate about Japan is inspiring and Japan Now North has gone on to become a festival model which has been adopted in other regions in the UK, particularly in Norwich, where ‘Japan Now East’ took place in February 2020” (S5).