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JA PAN frei_raum Q21 exhibition space MuseumsQuartier Wien Makoto Aida Chim↑Pom* Gianmaria Gava Edgar Honetschläger Sachiko Kazama Jake Knight BuBu de la Madeleine & Yoshiko Shimada Midori Mitamura* Yoshinori Niwa* Ryts Monet Tomoko Sawada Sputniko! UN Ryudai Takano Shinpei Takeda* Momoyo Torimitsu Hana Usui Tomoko Yoneda T M L Naoko Yoshimoto I I *Artist-in-Residence of/des Q21/MQ curated by kuratiert von ED Marcello Farabegoli 8 9 10 11 14 15 JAPAN UNLIMITED Thoughts on artistic freedom between provocation and diplomacy in Japan1 This year we are celebrating the 150th I have long been aware of prominent anniversary of diplomatic relations between contemporary Japanese artists who offer Austria and Japan, which has been named political and/or social critique in their work, “150 Years of Austria-Japan friendship” by and I was pleased to secure some of them the two participating governments. To be for this exhibition. And then I came across honest I’m not a fan of anniversaries, and the following fact: in 1986 the Museum this rebranding unfortunately doesn’t pre- for Modern Art in Toyama purchased and clude also thinking about dark “friendship” exhibited the series “Holding Perspective” pacts of the past.2 That aside, there are (1982–85) by Nobuyuki Oura, in which pho- three good reasons why I chose to take this tographs of the Showa Emperor Hirohito ceremonial opportunity to curate an exhi- (1901–1989) were combined with illustrations bition of mostly Japanese artists. For many of skeletons, internal organs, naked women years I have been married to a Japanese and other elements. The political debates artist, and I also ran a gallery of Japanese and protests that followed the exhibition art in Berlin from 2005 to 2010. Added prompted the museum to sell the works and to this is my fascination for the world of burn the catalogues in which they appeared. diplomacy; in Berlin I involved the Japanese In 2008 the same works were shown in the Embassy in some of my own projects; and touring exhibition “Into the Atomic Sun- from 2014 to 2017 I curated and produced shine” at The Puffin Room in New York, and a series of exhibitions at the Palais Metter- the Daikanyama Hillside Forum in Tokyo. At nich, the seat of the Italian Embassy. My the exhibition’s last stop, the director of the exhibitions there allowed me to truly sound Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum out the limits of artistic freedom in a diplo- refused to show Oura’s works.4 This is a per- matic context par excellence ... fect example of Japan’s taboo on “profane” But is art even allowed to be diplomatic? discourse concerning the Japanese imperial Or does art in fact have to be diplomatic house, a taboo that can still be felt today – to survive? Artists have traditionally owed even in private discussions among friends much of their livelihoods to powerful insti- and family. tutions and prosperous collectors. This has So I began by considering artworks led to long-standing questions that have that have met with aversion or even cen- lost none of their vehemence over time: How sorship in Japanese society, institutions, do politically and socially critical artists deal authorities, or at least have the potential with the tension between their ideals on the to do so, and which thus transgress certain one hand, and their strategies for career and “diplomatic limits”. Some of these works sheer survival on the other? And is there not are shown in “Japan Unlimited”, for which I a high probability that artists and curators had originally conceived the title of “Japan will exploit inequities and scandals merely ohne Grenzen” ( Japan without Borders ). to attract attention? And no less important But because the word Grenze (border) is – how effective is the art world in raising inflationary, and found little favour with awareness in the political sphere and soci- the artistic management of frei_raum Q21, I ety, and changing them? When applied to finally devised the more diplomatic variant Japan, these overarching questions brought “Japan Unlimited”.5 me to a more localised curiosity about how While I was writing this article, I learned politically and socially critical art functions from the Japan Times and various European in the “land of the rising sun”. It is worth media outlets that Daisuke Tsuda, the bearing in mind that we are talking about a director of the current Aichi Triennale, had country that since 1955 (with few exceptions: had a similar idea. For the small show “After 1993–94 and 2009–12) has been ruled by ‘Freedom of Expression?’” he assembled the nationalist, conservative, business- artworks that could not be shown in Japan friendly Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).3 due to censorship or self-censorhip. Works 17 Marcello Farabegoli: JAPAN UNLIMITED – Thoughts on artistic freedom between provocation and diplomacy in Japan that addressed Emperor Hirohito, for with the geography and climate of Japan – for non-verbal communication through a certain repoliticization of art after the example, or the so-called “peace article” an archipelago largely comprising mountain the actual feelings of both partners in the catastrophe of Fukushima, the Japanese of the Japanese Constitution (Art. 9),6 which landscapes which are often inaccessible, conversation. artists of today tend to look for indirect the Japanese government has repeatedly forcing the population to live in dense These basic characteristics of Japanese ways to express their critical positions. Just attempted to overturn, or sexual enslave- conurbations. The climate is particularly society are often ascribed to Shinto, but are as the truth of the famous Zen koans11 was ment of Korean women in Japanese field suited to rice cultivation, which tradition- just as closely linked to Buddhism, which hidden between the lines, social critique in brothels during the Second World War. ally involved highly specialised irrigation was imported from China in the sixth cen- Japanese art reveals its meaning in the ma, In particular, works by two artists from techniques that required large numbers tury. The late twelfth century saw the estab- or “intermediate space” of meanings. This “Japan Unlimited” were also shown: of individuals to come together in close, lishment of the Zen sect of Buddhism, a key indirect approach to critique is particularly “KI-AI 100” by Chim↑Pom, which can also disciplined collaboration. This could be one influence on the Japanese social character apparent in the more abstract exhibits, by be seen in Vienna, and a Hirohito related reason why the Japanese developed such a as well as traditional Japanese arts and Midori Mitamura, Shinpei Takeda and Hana work by Yoshiko Shimada. While the strong group mentality, one which extended cultural practices such as the tea ceremony Usui, in which political and social messages Japanese Constitution protects freedom to every domain of life (family, friends, (sado), flower arranging (kado or ikebana), are more or less encrypted at the concealed of opinion (Art. 21),7 the Japanese state can school, work, etc.) in accordance with the poetry (haiku) and calligraphy (shodo). The conceptual and emotional level of honne. reputedly intervene quite easily if citizens principle of “inside-outside” (uchi-soto). primacy of non-verbal communication is a On the other hand, works by the artists feel that human dignity has been violated In fact the traditional Japanese house can characteristic that differentiates Zen from BuBu de la Madeleine & Yoshiko Shimada, by artworks. Following numerous protests maybe be viewed as an embodiment of this other schools of Buddhist thought. Sachiko Kazama, Tomoko Sawada, Sput- and even death threats, the director of characteristic, with its high perimeter fence Japanese culture long ago developed niko!, Ryudai Takano, Momoyo Torimitsu, the Aichi Triennale was forced to close the ensuring seclusion from the outside world strict hierarchies (old-young, parent-child, Tomoko Yoneda and Naoko Yoshimoto offer show after two days, which then led to and paper internal doors allowing only a husband-wife, master-pupil, superior-sub- more concrete images that indicate, more or counter-protests ... Last but not least, on minimum of privacy between inhabitants. ordinate, etc.) that also helps groups to less directly, political or social constraints 26 September 2019 the Japanese Agency The group mentality that arose from these function. This severe vertical structure (tatemae), criticising them openly or at least for Cultural Affairs cancelled an already conditions demanded the utmost efficiency reached a zenith in the Edo era (1603-1868), subjecting them to critical scrutiny. At the approved grant of approx. 660,000 Euros of one’s own group and in collaboration when the Tokugawa Shogun dynasty ruled same time, these works are suffused with for the Aichi Triennale. with other groups. On the basis of tatemae, Japan. Shogun TOKUGAWA Ieyasu suc- subtle allusions, ambiguity, poetry, at times This makes it all the more pleasing that things can be negotiated or even forbidden ceeded in uniting the entire country and humour or even irony. And irony strikes me “Japan Unlimited” is taking place as an without anyone having to explicitly insist ruling it with an iron fist. “To do this, he as a particularly vital tool of the more overt official event of the Japanese Embassy on their own interests (honne). This occurs contrived a system under which his subjects politically and socially critical positions of in Vienna to mark this friendship year. in the interests of overarching harmony controlled each other by encouraging the exhibition by Makoto Aida, Chim↑Pom However the Japan Foundation – as feared (wa), violation of which would mean “losing well-balanced competition not just between and Yoshinori Niwa to offer statements – refused its support. And because I then face”. “In this sense, tatemae becomes a local lords, but also between religious of political and social relevance.

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