"What are the barriers of today ?"

This year, the Sendai Mediatheque celebrates its 10th anniversary. Since its opening in January 2001, the Sendai Mediatheque has been visited by over 3,000 people daily, completely changing the flow of people along Jozenjidori Avenue. In the beginning, plans called for a multifunctional facility comprised of a library, gallery, and visual media center that also offered services to aid the sight and hearing-impaired. This has enabled the facility to operate as a unified "mediatheque" with common goals that have been created in response to the continuously changing information environment and the diverse needs of our users. We have engaged in various activities in the past 10 years and throughout this period, the advancement of technology has affected the way our society works and the relationships between people. To ensure that the Sendai Mediatheque continues to be a facility that is beneficial to all users, both now, and in 20 to 30 years time, it is essential that we have a concrete vision for the Mediatheque. We believe this year, our 10th anniversary of the Mediatheque, is the best time to look back on the past decade. The overreliance on digital communication tools has resulted in increasingly poor interpersonal communication. We would like to start thinking about what each citizen, the community, and media related institutions like Mediatheque, can do to improve person-to-person communication over the next 10 years. Sendai Mediatheque top page Sendai Mediatheque 10th Anniversary Events "What are the barriers of today ?" Due to the advancement of Information technology, we are able to communicate with almost anyone in the world. On the other hand, we must constantly adapt to the changes in technology. "Rationalistic communication" does not allow people to experience the "silence" that is usually present in a dialogue, and consequently the quality of communication is lowered. Furthermore, "emotionless" information, in addition to globalization and consumption, threaten to erase the individuality of people and culture. Regardless of the advancement of information technology, physical differences in human beings will always exist. However, barriers no longer exist in view of the technological world. This year, Sendai Mediatheque marks its 10th anniversary at a time when society is dependant on information and technology. We believe it is our mission to express "reality" as art to help open the minds of the next generation.

* The text provided by Sendai Mediatheque.

Opened dates: September 18 - December 26. 2010
Official website: http://www.smt.jp/anniversary/10th/en/
VEnue: Sendai Mediatheque (2-1, Kasuga-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, phone:+81-(0)22-713-4483)