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Zohar
One of the foremost tasks of art has always been the creation of a demand which could be
fully satisfied only later.
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 14
"The work of art," says Andre Breton, "is valuable only in so far as it is vibrated by the
reflexes of the future".
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Note 17
This article is referring to the process of curating PostGender: Gender, Sexuality and
performativity in Contemporary Japanese Art exhibition a curatorial project I have
recently led for the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, part of the larger body of Haifa
Museums. The exhibition was shown on Sep. 2005 Jan. 2006 and attracted a large
volume of visitors nearly 8000 visits, and significant media coverage on TV as well
as the printed media.
In the preliminary thinking before embarking on the actual curatorial process, an initial
decision was taken to avoid references to unique Japanese features, and to concentrate
on a social subject-matter like gender identity, which presumes references to these
aspects and questions in various cultures. The decision to avoid understanding Japan as a
"unique" culture, moved forward to a second decision: to avoid "original" works of art
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but refer only to forms of art which are reproducible i.e. prints, photography, video art, and
documentation of performance art. This thread of thinking - drawing a parallel line between
the Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction, and the refusal to relate to Japan as a
unique culture - became the main platform for the overall critical quality of this exhibition .
In this text I would like to tackle two major aspects, referring to the process of curating this
exhibition of Japanese Art for a museum in Israel, understanding the problems of a
"foreign" Gaze into a distant culture, and secondly, understanding the dilemmas of a
curatorial project for a museum in Israel, while residing in London. On the last stage I shall
intertwine the two aspects to show the relevance of digital media for the curatorial process.
The first point in this context, is referring to the process of working in a cultural context
which is different to that of the curator herself as well as the museum and the expected
audience. The implication of such distance entails a need to look at the other culture in a
complex and multi-focal way that will reflect on the specific problems indicated in the works
of art presented. At the same time, it is crucial to recruit the tools that will enable the
bridging needed between the material presented and the viewing audience.
The second aspect refers to the 'long distance' curatorial process itself, in the age of
information technology which includes the internet, e-mailing systems, DVD projections
and digital printing process. This aspect refers to the fact that PostGender was on its final
stage (before installation) a small case of discs, that contained all the information that was
needed to install the exhibition in the museum.
This process, I shall argue, differs dramatically from the traditional work of the curator who
is bind up with dealing with originals that need to be transferred, wrapped, packed,
shipped, insured, protected, hanged and displayed, with especially gentle care and
professional handling that cost a fortune. The exhibition of traditional original works of art
involves a process which dramatically differs from the work of the curator who deals with
photography and video-art in the age of digital reproduction. Therefore, in this twofold
process, the curatorial work in the context of other culture in the Age of Digital Information
and Reproduction can be as critical and conceptual as the work of a conceptual artist. The
reproduction enables the cultural researcher or the art critic to have the freedom to create
selections that closely reflect the critical point of view at focus, detached from the
complexities of dealing with originals. Moreover, the concentration on contemporary media,
and the refrain from traditional tools, enables a departure from the pitfalls of searching for
uniqueness in the context of the Other culture, and opens the discussion within the
exhibition to the specificity of each photograph, each projection or installation for its own
merit, refraining from cultural common denominators, namely, the immediate signifiers
identified with a specific culture.[1]
The Curator as a Cultural Critic: On curating in Other Cultures
The technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of
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In recent years it seems that the Western world has taken great interest in the artistic work
created in cultures other then the immediate West[2] . Numerous exhibitions curated in the
past two decades were re-considering contemporary art from Japan, China, Africa, Latin
America and even East Europe.[3] As I had the chance to view some of these
exhibitions, my attention was drawn to several aspects that became significant: one of the
evident pitfalls that some exhibitions seemed to be trapped into, was the idea that an
exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art should foreground the uniqueness and
"difference" of Japanese Art to Western Contemporary Art. This attitude resulted in
attempts to show what is imagined to be exclusive and differing qualities from
contemporary art in the West .
In a previous research[4] I have shown that the desire to establish uniqueness of another
culture can be problematic. The problem lies in the establishing of essentialist modes of
reading "Japanese-ness"[5] , and therefore, one should be alert to the (Western) desire to
constitute Japanese-ness as a unique cultural space. The result of this desire brings many
exhibitions of Japanese art (or other foreign cultures) to stick to signifiers and objects that
embody in Western imagination the "difference" and uniqueness of the culture in focus.
The search for these elements results in many cases in the externalization of what is
perceived as "different" from a Western point of view i.e. the use of local dress, costumes,
architecture, local politics and so forth. I refer in this context to exhibitions that show
tendency to classify Contemporary Japanese Art as "delicate", "cute" or "manga-like"[6] ,
and in the case of Chinese art, there seems to be an over emphasis on political images
and issues referring to the time of the Imperial or Communist regimes[7] , with neglect of
more mundane and common issues on the focus of many Japanese or Chinese artists.
In other words, the desire to specifically indicate the exclusiveness of specific culture,
results in blindness to not so obvious possibilities that are included in subject matter which
is open to wider discussion of specific human problems.
In my view, the tendency to amplify or indicate inimitable qualities, often results in the
externalizes of familiar signifiers and images of otherness, and in many cases it misses
the more interesting works that do not necessarily engage with local symbols and icons,
but convey remarkable artistic interpretations of wider cultural dilemmas like gender or
cultural identity.
Japanese art suffered from this attitude in the past, but in recent years, several Japanese
curators were invited to curate Japanese exhibitions in the West[8] , and were given the
opportunity to broaden the discussion and modes this art world is perceived in the major
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matter. Among other possibilities that I have considered, the question of gender identity
and sexuality in relation to the concept of performativity (as this subject was introduced
and discussed by Judith Butler in the 90's) seemed the most interesting one, as Japanese
culture has a significant tradition of female impersonations by male actors in the Noh and
Kabuki theatres, as well as long tradition of homosexual tradition, and some tough
questions around the role of women in contemporary Japanese society. I was particularly
interested in this subject vis- -vis the extensive interest and research in recent years of
these questions around the world. Moreover, Morimura Yasumasa, the pivotal artist of my
research, takes a fascinating stand on this issue, and I thought that going along this line
may produce some thought provoking works and ideas. I hope that I was not mistaken in
my preliminary judgment.
My initial idea then, was to look into and understand the issues of gender, sexuality and
performativity within the context of Japanese discourse, and to bring it forward as part of
the global discussion of the past three decades on these issues, as a contribution that
comes from a fresh direction. In my selection to show photography and video-art, I was
definitely not aiming at photography as a "documentary" tool, but rather, photography as a
critical tool that its ubiquity and flexibility in producing images was adopted by many
contemporary artists. On the other hand, some of the works opened the discussion into
unexpected directions, reflecting on local culture and specific issues: criticism of
censorship rules, prostitution and war, female body and Buddhist notions of "giving",
customs of matchmaking and marriage, relentless masquerades, male pregnancy and so
forth. In my view, these are not specific or uniquely "Japanese" ideas or representations,
but an accumulated collection of contributions from artists who focus on specific issues
which can add an interesting angle to the continuous debate on gender matters around the
world.
My article in the exhibition catalogue[16] was aiming at expanding the discussion on
gender by arguing for multiplicity of genders. Based on the engagement with the art works
participating in the show and the artists, a new terminology has mounted up in relation to
the subject I realized that there was a strong suggestion of multiplicity of genders
rather then the tradition of rigid definitions of two genders and multiple deviations,
prevailing in Western Modernist thought. By coining the title as The Seven Genders of
Japan I was aiming at opening a wider debate that will include various methods, disciplines
and fantasies as possible embodiments of gender[17] . Some of these genders are specific
to Japan (nonetheless not unique) like the Onnagata the Kabuki male actors who
specialize in female-impersonations[18] . Others, like The Male Pregnancy Project by
Okada Hiroko are hilarious and funny, and seriously contemplate on male-female roles in
the nuclear families of middle class contemporary society, Japanese or otherwise[19]
In this respect, PostGender aimed at indicating that the possibility of multiplicity of genders
exists, and can be opened to social, political and anthropological discussions. I specifically
made a point of the fact that this was not a unique or specific structure to Japan, but rather,
that the Japanese artists participating in PostGender can illuminate and expand some of
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the station points along the trajectory of definitions and characterization of gender as we
struggle with this term today. Morimura Yasumasa, Takano Ryudai and Akira the
Hustler contributed to the discussion of genders by the representations of multitude
cross-gender and transvestite styles, through their attractive images of blurred identities
each one of them enlightening a specific aspect of gender identity: for Morimura
gender-crossings are strongly linked to cultural-crossings; for Takano it is about ambiguity
and the impossibility to tell the sexuality or even the gender of the Other; and for Akira the
Hustler, it is about bringing forward homosexual culture in its diversity and many shades.
In my article I expanded on the genders presented in the exhibition itself, and brought in
some other concepts of gender collected from various fields, to create the multitude of
genders I was aiming at. The final result was a basket of options and multitude, and a
whole variety of possibilities to choose from, celebrating human diversity, instead of locking
one's sexual desire and personal preference in life and intimacy under rigid and binary
dichotomies.
Conceptual curatorship
Mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art. The
progressive reaction is characterized by the direct, intimate fusion of visual and emotional
enjoyment with the orientation of the expert.
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 12
When I was invited to curate PostGender on summer 2002, it was on the eve of my
departure from Israel for my PhD studies in London. Mr. Nissim Tal, the general manager
of Haifa museums, gave me a "carte blanche" for the process. The idea was that when the
concept and the collection will be ready, we shall be able to install the exhibition at the
Tikotin museum.
So there we were: I am in London, the artists in Japan, the museum in Israel. The
curatorial process therefore meant internet, e-mail, telephones, DVD's, digital media,
and virtual architectural design.
I started my initial work through simple Google search: since I have not been in Japan for
the past 15 years, and my knowledge of the Contemporary Art scene was based on
exhibition catalogues, professional journals, articles, exhibition websites, personal
contacts, meetings and exhibitions in the West I was heavily dependant on internet
connection for my work. Through the internet I have managed to contact the galleries and
museums holding the works in collections; I have contacted some of the artists whom I
was interested in, either through their galleries, or through their personal websites. This all
went into long and rolling correspondences, images sent back and forth as JPG's, DVD's
sent by mail, confirmations and agreements forwarded by e-mails. Slowly but surely, in a
long process that took nearly three years, I have managed to create the initial collection of
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traditional Japanese items from swords to Netsuke, from Kimonos to Prints. The
second space is the original space of the museum, which was built in 1960[22] . The space
has marble flooring, a water-canal around it, and traditional Shoji (paper) windows. The
third space was originally designed as a library, and had a long glass-tiles external wall.
Namely, Tikotin museum is just the opposite of a "white cube" space, containing endless
mixture of materials and showcases.
Moreover, living in London, I did not have a direct contact with the space, and needed
some tools to overcome this problem while planning the concrete installation of the
exhibition. Therefore, I have asked an architect friend, Arie Kutz, specializing in Japanese
architecture and familiar with the museum as a building, to design the museum space on
architectural software so that I will be able to get the proportions and the right feeling of the
space. Arie Kutz sent me the design on simple architectural software and some
photographs taken in the museum, and this has become my basic platform for work. My
initial design of the exhibition in the museum was running on this software, and the result is
presented here with the actual installation photographs to compare.
The challenge of installing a contemporary art exhibition into this space required me to
think in an unconventional way. As an installation artist, "playing" with space is part of my
joy. A long process of thinking, finally led me to a set of solutions: I decided to interfere with
the space, and design it under the theme of the show.
The first and initial decision was to get the museum as dark as possible. This decision had
double meaning: firstly, I thought that the theme of the exhibition matched a night time
feeling, and I hoped that a dark space with spot lights will create the seductive atmosphere
I was aspiring for[23]. Secondly, there was large amount of video works that needed dark
space for effective projection. Thirdly, I was hoping to attract audiences that would not be
the expected museum goer to turn the museum into a night-out sort of venue. I
requested the museum manager to change the opening hours. After long discussions and
hesitations, my request was at last granted, and I could secure complete darkness in the
space. Then, all lights were reduces, and only direct spots were used, directed to the
works and the texts in space. Following this initial step, came a decision to design the
three spaces under three themes: Red Window district, Back Stage, and Masculine
Masquerade. In-between there were three minor spaces: The Courtyard with
images of Takano Ryudai printed directly on the windows, The Clinic a space
dedicated to Okada Hiroko's work and designed as a waiting room in a medical clinic, and
the Performance Stage where Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, and Shigeko Kubota's Sexual
Healing were placed.
Red Window District
The main problem was with the central space, which is occupied with the large glasscases. I came up with the idea to transform it into a Red Window District a location
where the viewer is strolling and viewing, partly peeping to the images fully presented.
As a consequence of this initial view, I have decided that all portraits naked or dressed
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- will be located in this space. I went on another round of requests from the artists,
securing that each artist will be presented in this space properly. From some of them, I
have requested specific work in new size, to match the size of the glass-cases, while with
others it was just a question of initial decision on the location. The accumulation of the
personal portraits in the main exhibition hall served also as an index for reading the
mapping of the exhibition, and served as a possible trajectory for visiting:: each project or
artist had one single image in this hall, which was linked to a larger project or a set of
images in another part of the museum. The result was a stunning collection of eight
standing portraits in large glass cases of most of the artists, a huge reclining nude (Kikuo
by Takano Ryudai) in the first horizontal glass-case, and four portraits of Morimura as
Madonna (from his Psychoborg series) in the further glass-case. All cases were painted
red, the light reduced only spot lights directed into the glass case to illuminate the
image and glitter in the space.
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Figure 5 - Yoko Ono Cut piece 1965 and 2003, two video
projections - Passage hall
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Figure 6 - Yoko Ono Cut piece 1965 and 2003, two video
projections - Passage hall
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Warhol. The Masculine Masquerade space was completed with some magnificent still
images (fan magazine covers) of Takarazuka actresses presonifying masculine generic
images.
All in all, this space was in my view, a reflection on the Israeli condition, and the
relationship between heroism, national ideas and militaristic practices in relation to the
problem of gender identity. Japan has been through the process and the debate of
nationalism and militarism for a period stretching over a century, and the images could
create an exemplary space to reflect on these aspects. In my view (not necessarily shared
by the viewers) this has been one of the strongest arguments of this sort of exhibition,
when one can enlighten a specific aspect or a problem in Israeli culture, through the
engagement with a Japanese culture.
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One of the major problems of PostGender exhibition was its limited budget. Unfortunately,
the controversial subject was not supported by any of the official bodies that normally
contribute to the exhibition of Japanese Art in Israel. Therefore, with a highly limited
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budget, the possibility of shipping actual work in large size with glass and frames seemed
imaginary. I had to come up with some alternative ways to acquire the works. Here came in
my experience with digital media. As most photographs are produced today as digital
prints (Lambda or C-type) I knew that I could get these images printed in highest quality,
for a fraction of the price I was asked by the shipping companies. On top of that, as I had
the special plan for the main gallery with the standing portraits, I have requested several
artists to prepare images with size specifications that will match the glass-cases. As it was
needed to reprint those images, I came up with the suggestion to print those images in
Israel. I promised the best quality of prints, and to ship the rolled images back to Japan.
That sounded like a fair deal, and the CD's with the digital files, started to flow into the
registrar's office. Some of the artists even sent us the negatives for scanning, while others
preferred to send the final digital file needed for printing.
What is already unquestionable norm in video-art had to be introduced into the
photographic world as well. The Aura of the paper print is questioned here again, as the
museum became the producer of the images. One can argue that this is the situation with
video-art as all works arrive today in DVD format, ready for projection. The question of
copy and original completely loses its relevance with video-art. The embodiment of the
image and the quality of it, depends on modes of projection/ viewing/ screening
employed by the museum. The decision made by the curator in relation to the projection of
a specific work on monitor, or projection on the wall, size of projection, quality of
projector, darkness in space etc. these elements determine the actual experience
suggested. These are crucial factors in the "materialization" of the video-art image.
Working in the same logic, the printing of a photographic digital image becomes the
embodiment of the "original" file that was sent in. The selection of size, quality of paper,
type of projection, will determine the quality of the print shown in the exhibition hall. The
strong point to emphasize in this context, is the equation between the processing of the
video image and its projection on the wall, and that of the photographic picture as a
digitally printed image, that can be produced in various ways, liberating the print from the
special Aura of the printed paper[25]
When I arrived in Israel to install (or possibly in this context to materialize) the
exhibition, I had a packet of CD's/DVD's waiting to be printed and projected. All I had to do
is spend several days at the printing house, checking and confirming each file, making
sure the final result will be of the best quality. Several days later, a large roll of printed
images arrived at the museum. The exhibition was ready to be hanged.
As I have spread the information of this development among other museum people, I
realized that some people are possibly shocked by this course - especially more traditional
museum staff who treat the work of art as a holy and wholesome artefact. The process
presented above has a more updated attitude which presumes that photographic prints are
done on the very same machines in Japan or in Israel. The digital reproduction of these
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images, has taken one step further the distance between the artist and the manufactured
image. The artist creates an image, which is a virtual/digital file, and the actual
"embodiment" (printing) of this image, is now completely in the hands of the machine. The
artist takes the position of confirmation she confirms that the colours are right, that the
print is the quality he may seek in terms of density hue, paper, etc. These elements
were all agreed with the artists who confirmed the quality of the prints. PostGender
therefore became the embodiment of the digital, an exhibition of the virtual and a revelation
of the power of the conceptual over the actual material.
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Photography and Video Art from China where many of the works presented were
revolving around political issues from the monuments for the workers and red army by
Wang Qinsong to the images of Mao Zedong quoted in the works of Gao brothers and Liu
Zheng The representation of simplicity and delicateness in Japanese Art was the main
theme in art exhibitions untill the 1980s. Recently there has been a significant change
in the way Japanese Art is perceived and understood. This change can be seen in the shift
between past exhibitions and the new wave of exhibitions that was pointing at the
tremendous change in Japanese society and cultural landscape.
[8]Among these are Murakami Takashi (and Noi Sawaragi - an art critic that works
closely with Murakami) who created the two most important Japanese exhibitions of the
2000s SuperFlat, a touring exhibition in various venues around the USA, 2000-1
and Little Boy Japan Society, New York, NY, 2005.
[9]It is important to note here that Murakami Takashi, who was educated as a
Nihon-ga painter, managed to bring forward the language of traditional Japanese painting
(Nihonga) in relation to the worlds of Pop Art and Japanese Comics (Manga) as a highly
successful theme in his shows.
[10]I would like to mention here that in my view, this is not the case with exhibiting
Chinese art, and so far, the major exhibitions of Contemporary Chinese Art still suffer from
the political-Orientalism imposed by the Western spectatorship. I am particularly referring
here to the grand exhibition Between past and Present: New Photography and Video Art
from China, which was shown in IPC, New York and V&A in London, 2005.
[11]I am aware of the fact that the Queens Museum in New York is currently preparing
an exhibition titled Global Feminism, continuing in the tradition of Global Conceptualism
exhibited in 1999 referring to the various discussions around the world of feminist
issues. The curator of the Japanese section will be Kasahara Michiko, who was also
involved in the PostGender conference, and wrote an article for the exhibition catalogue.
[12]Clearly, the final function of these pictures as a tool for selection differs from their
function in the Western wedding photographs that serve as a memory.
[13]There was an exception I used Japanese prints from the collection of the
museum, but these certainly correspond to the notion of "mechanical reproduction" in the
18th and 19th c. Japan.
[14]These include: Akira the Hustler, Bubu de la Madeleine, Ishihara Tomoaki,
Miyashita Maki, Okada Hiroko, Sawada Tomoko, Takano Ryudai. Morimura Yasumasa was
the only artist we have fully shipped his work from Japan, and parts of Sawada, Akira and
Takano's work arrived as printed photographs in rolls. The rest Yoko Ono and Shigeko
Kubota and Takarazuka Theatre, were only presenting video work.
[15]My initial idea was to look at a subject in a cross-cultural context, but this initiation
was declined by Mr. Nissim Tal, the general manger of Haifa Museums, as the Tikotin is a
Japanese Art museum by definition, and cannot host exhibitions which are not defined as
such.
[16]Ayelet Zohar The Seven Genders of Japan in: PostGender: Gender, Sexuality
and Performativity in Contemporary Japanese Art, Exhibition catalogue, Tikotin Museum of
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[26]Both Western technologies which have long been assimilated into Japanese culture.
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