In one of the harassment cases that has been reported in the art world, a woman was forced to pose nude for a painting in a cold room that had no heater.

In another example, people started pressuring a female artist to create artworks to express motherhood once she had given birth. 

These were cited in new guidelines to prevent harassment in the art world published by an organization called EGSA (Education of Gender and Sexuality for Arts) Japan at the end of last year.

The group, which consists of artists and academics, aims to promote education and enlightenment about gender and sexuality in the art world, with the aim of improving the environment where artworks are created.

The harassment examples it cited in the guidelines include ones that can occur in any workplace, as well as cases that are unique to the artistic community. 

Keiko Takeda, head of EGSA and an associate professor of gender studies at Tokyo Woman's Christian University, said that she realized the need for guidelines when she heard people in the art world say, “I don’t know what constitutes harassment.”

Also, someone working at a university told her, “My harasser might find out if I consult with the university’s support services.”

Those voices led her and other EGSA members to compile the guidelines by including examples of harassment as well as information on where victims can seek support.

Takeda once researched the gender ratio among permanent staff members at 55 art museums. She found that while 74 percent of curators were females, 84 percent of heads of the museums were males.

Takeda points out that differences in power between males and females in the art community lead to structural problems that make it easier for discrimination to occur.

She also points out, for example, that evaluation of works of modern art tends to be particularly subjective, but it could also be unfair if the artworks deal with gender issues, particularly because most of the people evaluating them are males. 

Takeda believes that in the art scene, it is crucial to promote diversity across not only gender, but also races and other factors, among people in higher positions, such as those who evaluate artworks.

There is a sign of change though. The faculty of fine arts at Kyoto City University of Arts started a women-only recruitment drive for its teaching positions with a target to increase the percentage of women among its instructors to more than 40 percent.

Takeda hopes that the guidelines will become a catalyst to bring about gradual change in the art world where, at the moment, a structure that allows discrimination is inherent. 

Tomoko Kira, researcher of history of Japanese modern art at Japan Women’s University, contributed to the guidelines. 

She said that art history shows that the artworks that are evaluated highly generation after generation were initially appreciated in accordance with those in power at the time they were created.

Also, there were times when women were not even allowed to train to become artists. These factors have resulted in the current state of museum collections being predominantly the works of male artists.

That leads to the misconception that only males have been good enough to be called "masters" in the art world, since women artists have been subjected to discrimination. 

Some say that having to consider gender viewpoints “constrains” the art world.

To these people, Kira said in the guidelines, “Please know that you are just one step short of committing harassment if you feel that having to consider these things (gender viewpoints) means ‘constraint,’ ‘restraint,’ or ‘lack of freedom.’”

Kira said that while creating the guidelines, a female student told her, “I thought that art means freedom, but I’ve realized that this only applies for men.”

Kira refuses to accept some people’s view that art has nothing to do with what is occurring in society. She argues that art cannot avoid being influenced by society, as that is where the artworks are produced.

“I believe that if we can create a society that is open to everyone, people will be able to have freer ideas and produce diverse artworks,” Kira said. 

EGSA published 500 copies of the guidelines. They are also available on EGSA’s website.