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Super Clone Cultural Properties
Important cultural artifacts have been reproduced/and put on display in a series of exhibits/called “Super Clone Cultural Properties.”//
The exhibits feature clones of important cultural artifacts,/created by Professor Miyasako Masaaki/in a project he directs at Tokyo University of the Arts.//
What does it mean to “clone” a work of art?//
What is the purpose?//
Professor Miyasako talks with Rie Davidson,/host of the popular podcast,/“Rie’s Gallery.”//
- Rie (R) :
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Welcome to “Rie’s Gallery,”/Professor Miyasako.//
- Miyasako (M) :
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I’m delighted to be here,/Ms. Davidson.//
May I call you “Rie-san”?//
- R :
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Please do!//
Most of my guests just call me Rie.//
- M :
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I know.//
I’m a regular listener.//
- R :
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Your “Super Clone Cultural Properties” exhibits/have been a great success.//
Congratulations!//
Now,/my first question for you is:/What made you decide to create cloned cultural assets?//
- M :
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The short answer is:/To keep great art safe/and, at the same time,/to make it accessible to as many people as possible.//
- R :
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And the long answer?//
- M :
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Museums face a dilemma.//
We need to preserve cultural properties.//
At the same time,/we want to make them available to the public.//
Unfortunately,/for reasons of security and preservation,/people have only limited access to them.//
- R :
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An impossible dilemma!//
But you have a solution?//
- M :
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We are challenging the impossible.//
With our clone technology,/we can exhibit the clone and keep the original safe,/all at the same time.//
- R :
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That’s ingenious.//
But I have a question.//
Why do you call these reproductions “clones”?//
Are they any different from ordinary replicas?//
- M :
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Good question!//
The term “clone” is usually used to refer to living things,/as in the case of Dolly the sheep.//
So we are not using “clone” in the original sense.//
But I couldn’t think of anything more accurate/to describe our creations.//
They really are “clones.”//