February 15–16, 2025
An international symposium co-organised by AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
To mark the opening of the Machine Love. Video Game, AI and Contemporary Art exhibition at the Mori Art Museum Tokyo, this symposium will feature the contributions of women and non-binary artists to new media art across different regions and cultures, from the 1960s onward. The participating researchers, artists, and curators will discuss how women artists responded to technological developments through experimentation with and appropriation of new media, thereby shaping innovative artistic forms and bringing new perspectives. They will also examine the effects of these technologies on the perception of gender, women’s bodies, and their role in society based on the artists’ works and ideas. Drawing on cyberfeminist thought, the symposium will consider both the opportunities and risks that new media represent for women and artists whose voices have received little attention in dominant narratives of art history.
Panel I: Expanding Boundaries—Women and New Media in the 1960s and 1970s
The first panel will explore how women artists engaged with the rapid technological developments of the 1960s and 1970s, including computer systems, telecommunication, and video recording. While some collaborated with research institutions to access cutting-edge technology, others embraced more affordable tools such as video cameras. Their experimentation not only challenged traditional artistic forms but also questioned authorship, identity, and gender roles. By pushing the limits of interactivity and mass media, these artists defied art historical conventions and broadened the scope of media art.
Panel II: Cyberfeminism and Digital Realms in the 1990s
The emergence of the World Wide Web in the 1990s revolutionised communication and offered an open platform for artistic, social and political movements. Cyberfeminism arose as a collective response to the growing digital landscape, reclaiming space for women in the virtual world. While some artists envisioned the internet as a site of empowerment and more fluid identities, others highlighted the persistence of structural inequalities in digital environments. Through innovative artistic practices, women and non-binary artists leveraged digital media to explore interactivity, global connectivity, and new aesthetic possibilities while acknowledging the limitations and biases embedded in technology.
Panel III: Media Art as Expression that Transcends Boundaries
On the second day of the symposium, artists participating in the exhibition Machine Love. Video Game, AI and Contemporary Art will discuss how they have used technology in their creative practices, following historical reflections from the 1960s onwards.
Participats: Gabriela Aceves Sepúlveda, Fujikura Asako, Karen Cheung, Diemut, Martin Germann, Oulimata Gueye, Mami Kataoka, Daria Mille, Camille Morineau, Yukiko Shikata, Sputniko!, Nina Volz, Manabu Yahagi, Soojung Yi.
This event is part of the research programme Living with Two Brains: Women in New Media Art, 1960s–1990s, led by AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions. This programme examines the appropriation or incorporation of technological developments by women artists, as suggested by the title, which refers to Shigeko Kubota’s statement: “Videotape acts as an extension of the brain’s memory cells. Therefore, life with video is like living with two brains, one plastic brain and one organic brain.”[1]
It is also the opportunity to present AWARE’s new website section in Japanese. This development reflects the breadth of the association’s activities and its international reach, enabling it to showcase its academic and educational content to a broader audience.
The website’s new Japanese-language section is a dedicated entry point for discovering Japanese artists. It is born from work carried out in the region over the last five years in collaboration with Japanese experts and institutions, thanks to the programmes Women Artists in Japan: 19th–21st Century and TEAM: Teaching, E-learning, Agency, Mentoring.
[1] Kubota, “Video Sculpture: Two Phases,” in Zdenek Felix (ed.), Shigeko Kubota: Video Sculptures, exh. cat. (Berlin: Daadgalerie; Essen: Museum Folkwang; Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1981).
