海外美術品展示 国家補償制度は検討に値する

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Apr. 20, 2010)

State backup needed to open art doors
海外美術品展示　国家補償制度は検討に値する（4月19日付・読売社説）

Museums, regardless of their size or location, are often crowded with visitors on the weekend. Many people will go on museum tours during the holiday-studded Golden Week starting late this month.
　週末ともなれば、各地の美術館は、その規模の大小を問わず入場者でにぎわいを見せる。大型連休には、美術館巡りを楽しみにしている人も多いことだろう。

Exhibitions of foreign masterpieces, which are rarely available to the general public here, are magnets for huge crowds. An incredible 1.47 million visitors took in the Louvre Museum exhibitions held last year at the National Museum of Western Art and elsewhere.
　日頃接することの出来ない海外の名作を集めた企画展にも人気が集まる。昨年、国立西洋美術館などで開かれたルーヴル美術館展の入場者は１４７万人を数えた。

Introducing outstanding foreign artwork to a wide spectrum of the population helps foster a rich cultural environment. But it requires painstaking negotiations with foreign museums before they will consent to loaning the precious exhibits under their care.
　優れた海外の作品が広く国民に紹介されることで、豊かな文化環境も育まれるに違いない。
　しかし、作品を所蔵する外国の美術館に対してねばり強く交渉を重ね、貸し出しの同意をとりつけるのは大変な作業だ。

Japanese museums have fewer works that are worthy of being loaned in exchange for foreign art pieces. Furthermore, their location far from Europe and the United States also counts against them.
　日本の美術館には、交換条件として貸し出せるような、相手国にとって魅力のある作品は少ない。欧米から地理的に遠いことも弱点となっている。

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Joint sponsorships

Many Japanese museums lack the financial muscle and staff numbers of many of their U.S. and European counterparts. This makes it very difficult to singlehandedly organize and hold an art exhibition of a collection of foreign works in one place. Because of this, museums often turn to newspapers or TV networks--with their extremely public nature and established negotiation channels--to jointly sponsor such exhibitions.
　運営資金や職員数で欧米に劣る日本の美術館が、単独で海外の作品を一堂に集めて紹介する美術展を開くのは、簡単ではない。公共性があり、交渉ルートも持っている新聞社やテレビ局との共催事業として行われる例が多い。

These partnerships have forged a strong track record of bringing quality artwork to Japan and add credibility to the exhibitions.
　こうした共催事業は、実績と信用を積み重ねてきた。

But the government could be doing more to help grease the wheels of negotiation on the loaning of national-treasure class works. One such step would be guaranteeing state compensation if any loaned work is stolen or accidentally damaged.
　しかし、事故や盗難にあった場合の国家補償を約束するのであれば、国宝級の作品などを借りる交渉の上でも大きな支えとなる。

This would also resolve the problem of the huge insurance premiums that museums must pay to borrow foreign masterpieces, an expense that can often derail planned exhibitions.
　高額な保険金が作品を借りる上での障害にもなっていたが、その問題も解消される。

In its recommendation adopted in 1978 concerning the protection of movable cultural property, UNESCO showed its awareness of this point when it referred to the importance of ensuring state compensation for works of art.
　国連教育・科学・文化機関（ユネスコ）が１９７８年に採択した文化財保護のための勧告の中で、美術品の国家補償制度の重要性に言及したのも、こうした意義を踏まえてのことだろう。

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Lagging behind

The Cultural Affairs Agency is indeed contemplating introducing a state compensation system.
　文化庁も、この国家補償制度の導入を検討している。

Among the Group of Eight major powers, only Japan and Russia have yet to adopt such a system. The United States introduced a compensation system in 1975. Since then, it has approved about 40 exhibitions annually to be protected with state compensation. As of just recently, compensation totalling the equivalent of about 10 million yen had reportedly been paid in two cases.
　主要８か国（Ｇ８）の中で、国家補償制度を導入していないのは日本とロシアだけだ。
　例えば米国では、７５年に制度を導入して以来、年間約４０件の展覧会を国家補償の対象として認定してきた。最近までに補償された事例は２件で、合わせて約１０００万円相当が支払われたという。

Of course, exhibition organizers themselves must primarily bear the responsibility of paying for any damage that might occur to borrowed works. The scope of exhibitions subject to state compensation must be screened strictly. A ceiling must be set on the amount of compensation, too.
　無論、作品を借り入れるに当たって、美術展の主催者が一義的にリスクを負担するのは、当然だろう。国家補償の対象となる事業は厳選されなければならない。補償限度額も設けるべきだ。

The introduction of a state compensation system, which would reassure overseas museums that loaning their treasures will not cost them anything, would likely increase opportunities for the Japanese public to see highly artistic works from overseas with their own eyes. It could even become a new cultural promotion measure.
　貸出先に安心を与える国家補償制度の導入は、国民が海外の質の高い美術作品に触れる機会を増やすことになるだろう。それは新しい文化振興策にもなる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 19, 2010)
（2010年4月19日01時11分 読売新聞）