Last October, to commemorate the news that the Sainsbury Institute had received the Japan Foundation Award 2024, Professor Simon Kaner was invited to deliver a lecture at the Japan Foundation titled How Japanese arts and cultures make us happier. We are pleased to announce that a recording of this lecture is now available to watch via YouTube.
A version of this lecture was delivered again in January 2025 as part of our Third Thursday Lecture series.
About the talk
Artistic and cultural activity is intrinsic to being human. Engaging with such activity, whether visiting a museum, gallery or heritage site, attending or taking part in a performance, or creating one’s own works, improves our well-being. Taking examples from a range of recent projects undertaken by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures at venues including Stonehenge, the British Museum and an old shoe factory in Norwich, this talk will explore how engaging with Japanese arts and cultures makes us happier. It will also consider how we can best exploit the Digital Revolution to bring what the Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley, describes as the ‘Arts Dividend’ to new global audiences.
We would like to thank the Japan Foundation for their support and for making the recording of the lecture available to the public.