Relight Committee is a citizens' university I conceived and launched in 2015 to cultivate "social sculptors"—people who use the creativity and imagination of art to continuously generate new value in their own lives and work, and who take action. At the time, Japan's prevailing volunteer models centered on following instructions. I believed a different kind of learning space was needed: one that fosters individuals who think and act autonomously.

The program grew out of the Relight Project, which began in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Reinterpreting Joseph Beuys' concept of social sculpture for the contemporary context, Relight Committee created space for dialogue and hands-on projects that participants themselves conceived and implemented—cultivating the capacity to pioneer one's own field.