Targets
Grant Targets
Aiming to develop a more caring and humane world by supporting artistic, cultural, and educational initiatives
In recent years, the Ishibashi Foundation has placed a special emphasis on supporting activities working to spread Japanese culture overseas, and it also provides support for disaster recovery and support from humanitarian perspectives as necessary.
Support for Research Activities
With the aim of contributing to the international development of Japanese art research, the Ishibashi Foundation supports overseas universities and research institutes researching Japanese art. Key accomplishments include: "Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professorship in Japanese Art History" at the Institute of East Asian Art History, Heidelberg University, Germany, "The Ishibashi Foundation Lecture Series" and "Ishibashi Foundation Summer Fellowship in Japanese Arts and Cultures" at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures based at the University of East Anglia, UK, "International symposiums" at the Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Milan, Italy.
- Grantee
- University of East Anglia
- Project supported
- Ishibashi Foundation Summer Fellowship in Japanese Arts and Cultures
The summer course aiming to establish a master's degree in Japanese culture and art. Students studied Japanese art history, Japanese archeology, cultural heritage studies, etc. intensively for three weeks during the summer vacation period from 2018 to 2021 (2020 and 2021: Only online due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In September 2020, the "Master’s Program in Interdisciplinary Japanology," which was the original purpose, was established.
Photo: 2019 Ishibashi Foundation Summer Fellowship in Japanese Arts and Cultures; Group visit to Cambridge, including Fitzwilliam Museum, and Japanese Collections of the Cambridge University Library. Courtesy of Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture
Support for Professional Development
The Ishibashi Foundation aims to develop professionals who can spread Japanese culture overseas. Examples of initiatives include: "JEES/Ishibashi Foundation Scholarship,"; which has been offered since 2011 for graduate students majoring in art history who wish to study abroad.
"Ishibashi Foundation Assistant Curator for Japanese Art Program". at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, which started in 2018 for Master's degree holders and PhD holders in Japanese art.
Support for International Exchange
The Ishibashi Foundation supports curators and researchers with the goal of deepening international exchange as an opportunity to introduce Japanese art to a wide range of countries around the world. Typical examples include: "The Ishibashi Foundation/The Japan Foundation Art Curator Exchange Program"; run by the Japan Foundation for the purpose of fostering an international network of curators interested in Japanese contemporary art, "Ishibashi Foundation/The Japan Foundation Fellowship for Research on Japanese Art" which provides opportunities to research and study in Japan to researchers and curators studying Japanese art overseas. Grantees are working to introduce Japanese art in their respective countries after returning home.
- Grantee
- The Japan Foundation
- Project supported
- The Ishibashi Foundation / The Japan Foundation Art Curator Exchange Program
The program inviting a group of curators interested in Japanese contemporary art from around the world for about 10 days and letting them travel around Japan to exchange and collaborate with Japanese curators.
Photo: visit to Naoshima (February 2023). Courtesy of The Japan Foundation
- Grantee
- The Japan Foundation
- Project supported
- Ishibashi Foundation / The Japan Foundation Fellowship for Research on Japanese Art
- Research subject
- Traditional Sashiko and Contemporary Purposes
The program providing overseas researchers and curators with opportunities to conduct research and other activities in Japan for up to two months.
Photo: Dr. Maneet Kaur (center), fellow from India in 2022. Photo from international session and presentation about research on Hand stitch Department of Kansei Design, Hachinohe Institute of Technology (August 2022). Courtesy of The Japan Foundation
Support for Museum Activities
The Ishibashi Foundation also actively supports overseas museums that hold Japanese art. The main targets are projects that produce tangible results, such as producing exhibition catalogs and the construction of databases.
Exhibition catalogue Love, Fight, Feast, Museum Rietberg Zurich, 2021.
- Grantee
- Rietberg Museum (Switzerland)
- Project supported
- Holding the Love, Fight, Feast exhibition
- Grant made
- 2021
Exhibition catalogue Lines from East Asia - Japanese and Chinese Art on Paper, Graphische Sammlung ETH Zurich, 2022.
- Grantee
- Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Project Supported
- Production of Lines from East Asia — Japanese and Chinese Art on Paper exhibition catalogue
- Grant made
- 2022
Special Grant
The Ishibashi Foundation supports the Kurume City Art Museum (Fukuoka Prefecture), which has inherited the will of its founder, Ishibashi Shojiro, by holding exhibitions and improving its facility. The Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (designed by Yoshizaka Takamasa; Venice, Italy), which was completed in 1956 with the construction funding support of the founder, had been damaged and modified over the years. To ensure that the building can be maintained and used for future generations, the Ishibashi Foundation asked Mr. Ito Toyo to restore the Pavilion to its original design and donated it.
- Grantee
- The Japan Foundation
- Project Supported
- Renovation of the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
- Grant made
- 2014
Photo: Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Courtesy of The Japan Foundation. Photo by Peppe Maisto
Disaster Recovery Support and Humanitarian Assistance
The Ishibashi Foundation also provides disaster relief support and humanitarian aid as necessary. With regard to the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011), until 2016, the Ishibashi Foundation provided a total of 44 support projects, mainly from artistic, cultural and educational organizations, with the aim of contributing to victims and to regional reconstruction. In 2022, the Ishibashi Foundation supported the development of introductory Japanese language instructional materials so that refugees from Ukraine coming to Japan could learn Japanese.
Japanese language instructional material AOZORA
- Grantee
- Association for Japanese-Language Teaching
- Project supported
- Developing Introductory Japanese Language Instructional Materials for Refugees from Ukraine
- Grant made
- 2022
Courtesy of Association for Japanese-Language Teaching