Book launch event and symposium

The translation initiative of Art Platform Japan (APJ) has commissioned the translation of two books that will shed new light on the narrative of contemporary Japanese art, hoping that these publications will elevate the understanding of and give better exposure to artists from Japan and artists working in Japan. History of Japanese Art after 1945: Institutions, Discourse, Practice surveys the development of art in Japan since World War II, and Anarchy of the Body: Undercurrents of Performance Art in 1960s Japan in which art historian KuroDalaiJee explores vital pieces of postwar Japanese avant-garde history by contextualizing the social, cultural, and political trajectories of artists across Japan in the 1960s.

Alongside the launch of the overseas publication of the two books, Art Platform Japan (APJ) will hold a book release event featuring talks between the authors, Mitsuda Yuri and KuroDalaiJee, moderated by Kajiya Kenji, Nakajima Izumi, Odate Natsuko, and Yamamoto Hiroki. The event will also be streamed on YouTube, and will be archived and viewable on the APJ website.

Prior to the book launch event, the symposium “Progress of the Art Platform Japan Project over Five Years and Art Dissemination Initiatives Needed for the Future” will review the numerous projects undertaken by Art Platform Japan (APJ) to lay the foundation for the promotion of art in Japan. Kataoka Mami, Uematsu Yuka, Odate Natsuko, Kawaguchi Masako, and Nariai Hajime will serve as panelists for a discussion that will include APJ’s activities beginning in 2023, planned initiatives for promotion of art, and museum policies.

We warmly invite you to attend the Symposium online.

History of Japanese Art after 1945: Institutions, Discourse, Practice 
Published and distributed by Leuven University Press, 2023
Translated from the original Japanese edition published with Tokyo Bijutsu, 2014

History of Japanese Art after 1945 surveys the development of art in Japan since World War II. The original Japanese work spans a period of 150 years, from the 1850s to the 2010s. The English edition first discusses the formation and evolution of Japanese contemporary art from 1945 to the late 1970s, subsequently deals with the rise of the fine-art museum from the late 1970s to the 1990s, and concludes with an overview of contemporary Japanese art dating from the 1990s to the 2010s.

These three parts are preceded by a new introduction that contextualizes both the original Japanese and the English editions and introduces the reader to the emergence of the concept of art (bijutsu) in modern Japan. This English-language edition provides valuable reading material that offers a deeper insight into contemporary Japanese art.

With an introduction by Kajiya Kenji.
Contributors: Kitazawa Noriaki (editor), Mori Hitoshi (editor), Sato Doushin (editor), Tom Kain (translation editor), Alice Kiwako Ashiwa (translator), Kenneth Masaki Shima (translator), Ariel Acosta (translator), and Sara Sumpter (translator)

Anarchy of the Body: Undercurrents of Performance Art in 1960s Japan
Published and distributed by Leuven University Press, 2023
Translated from the original Japanese edition published with Tokyo: grambooks, 2010.

A culmination of years of research, Anarchy of the Body draws on an extensive breadth of source material to reveal how the practice of performance by individual artists and art groups during this period formed a legacy of resistance against institutionalization, both within the art world and more broadly in Japanese society. This book contains 256 high-quality reproductions, including rare performance photographs not readily accessible elsewhere, as well as a comprehensive chronology. KuroDalaiJee was awarded the 2010 Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (criticism category) by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Contributors: Kurokawa Noriyuki (editor), Jason M. Beckman (translation editor), Andrew Maerkle (translator), Shima Yumiko (translator), Alice Kiwako Ashiwa (editorial assistant), Daniel González (translator), Claire Tanaka (translator), Giles Murray (translator), Jenny Preston (translator)

Contact: Bureau of Art Platform Japan

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