TOKYO METROPOLITAN ART MUSEUMS & Tokyo University of the Arts Tobira Project

Team

Kazumi KUMAGAI

Kazumi KUMAGAI

Curator, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Chief of Learning and Public Projects / Manager, Tobira Project and Museum Start i-Ueno

Kumagai received an MA from the Graduate School for Language and Society at Hitotsubashi University. After ten years of work in the private sector, she became a curator at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2013. She curated the interactive exhibition: BENTO—Design for Eating, Gathering and Communicating in 2018, and became the chief of Learning and Public Projects in 2022.

Yuuka MINEGISHI

Yuuka MINEGISHI

Curator,
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tobira Project

Minegishi completed MA Arts Studies and Curatorial Practices, Graduate School of Global Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts. She worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, and engaged in the launch and administration of art communicators (Nagarers) project to coincide with the reopening of the museum. In 2022, she became a curator at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Yumi KONO

Yumi KONO

Curator,
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Museum Start i-Ueno

Kono received an MA from Graduate School of Art and Design at Musashino Art University. She became a curator at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2008. After working in the section of Creative Connections to organize Public-Entry exhibitions, she joined the section of Learning and Public Projects in 2013.

Kazusa HISAMITSU

Mao HISAMITSU

Program Officer, Museum Start i-Ueno

Hisamitsu completed an MA in Art, from the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Science at the University of Tsukuba. She participated in the Tobira Project in 2016 as a fifth “Tobira” member and then interned in Art Communication Program at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in fiscal 2020. She also worked at the NPO BEPPU PROJECT and engaged in the UBAer Project at the Ube City Foundation For Culture and Art Creation. In 2023, she became the Program Officer of Museum Start i-Ueno.

Hayato FUJIOKA

Hayato FUJIOKA

Curator,
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Creative Ageing Zuttobi

Fujioka completed MA Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins in 2016. He worked as a Project Assistant Professor at MFA Global Art Practice at Tokyo University of the Arts from 2018 to 2020 while undertaking a wide range of cultural projects as a researcher, curator and filmmaker. His curated projects include On the Verge of Fiction (Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts Taipei, 2019). In 2021, he became a curator at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Yusuke KOMUTA

Yusuke KOMUTA

Assistant Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts / Manager, Tobira Project and Museum Start i-Ueno

Komuta received an MA from the Department of Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2009. His art practice mainly explores the medium of painting. He worked as a Research Associate at Tokyo University of the Arts, and subsequently as a program officer at Implementation Committee for New Concept "Ueno, a Global Capital of Culture” from 2018 to 2020. He became an Assistant Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2021, working as the manager of Tobira Project and Museum Start i-Ueno.

Sakura KOSHIKAWA

Sakura KOSHIKAWA

Coordinator, Tobira Project, Project Research Assistant,
Tokyo University of the Arts

Koshikawa graduated from the Musashino Art University, Department of Oil Painting. She participated in the Tobira Project from 2012 as the first “Tobira”. After working as a school comprehensive supporter at the Setagaya Ward Board of Education and coordinator of the NPO Art Resource Development Organization (ARDA), she joined the Tobira Project Coordinator. She is also the director of the Appreciate Approach.

Yumi KONO

Aki KUDO

Coordinator, Tobira Project, Project Research Assistant,
Tokyo University of the Arts

Kudo widely worked in the field of social work such as special needs education and employment support. She also served as the coordinator of ‘TURN’ project as well as the assistant of ‘Creative Ageing Zuttobi’ of Art Communication project. She is also a chair of committee ‘Museum Visit with Babies’

Yumi KONO

Ikuno ISHIMARU

Program Officer, Museum Start i-Ueno
Project Research Assistant, Tokyo University of the Arts

Ishimaru graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Art Studies. She worked at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and The Hiratsuka Museum of Art. She became the program officer of Museum Start i-Ueno in 2021.

Risa TESHIROGI

Risa TESHIROGI

Program Officer, Museum Start i-Ueno
Project Research Assistant, Tokyo University of the Arts

Teshirogi completed a BA in the School of Education at the Waseda University and an MA in Art History and Curating at the University of Birmingham. After working at the Fukutake Foundation from 2019 to 2021, she engaged in ‘Creative Ageing Zuttobi’ at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2022. In 2023, she became the Program Officer of Museum Start i-Ueno.

Yoko KANAHAMA

Yoko KANAHAMA

Program Officer, Creative Ageing Zuttobi
Project Research Assistant, Tokyo University of the Arts

Kanahama studied oil painting at Tama Art University while working in the private sector, followed by M.F.A. from Tokyo University of the Arts. She completed M.A. equivalent from Academy of Fine Arts in Florence as an Italian Government scholarship student. Her painting relates plants and letters. In Italy, she was involved in Japan-Italy cultural exchange programs and Japanese language education, while working at a private enterprise. Back in Japan, she worked for ODA projects, an Artist-in-residence program, Tokyo University of the Arts for the TURN project overseas programs, and The Japan Foundation; before assuming her present position.