nichido contemporary art is delighted to announce its eighth group exhibition entitled “identity VIII.”
This exhibition is curated by independent curator, Shihoko Iida, under the theme of “Identity” from her point of view. Several international artists are featured in the exhibition.
Embracing heterogeneity, affirming differences―Identity and Performance
Japan has long been described as a monoracial country and monocultural society. This suggests that the implications presented by the forgetting of history, a sense of political agency that seeks to vindicate a stable national identity, and a respect for individuals and the disparities that can be found within a single social unit have not been fully discussed in the public sphere. Up until now, Japan has been a society where it is possible to live without paying too much attention to the necessity for an educational system that would sharpen one’s sensitivity to the subtle differences between people that we encounter on a daily basis, a social tolerance that would accept these disparities, and practice discussing issues with people whose opinions diverge from one’s own without becoming critical of the other person. And yet it is obvious that this country now finds itself in the midst of a daily reality pressed up against a debate from which there seems to be no escape, faced with a question that has no single, correct answer.
This exhibition, which focuses on the theme of identity in the context of this contemporary Japan, seeks to embrace heterogeneity and affirm differences rather than questioning the uniformity of the self at an individual level.
Meiro Koizumi’s “Inder Kommen Sie / It’s a Comedy”, which is being shown for the first time in Japan, takes the representation of omnipotent gods and goodness such as Senju-kannon and Durga, as point of departure. Here, the multiple-arms of a man hinder him from reading out loud the book, Dissentient Judgement of Justice Pal, Radhabinod Pal’s judgment of Japanese war crimes during WWâ…ˇ. The man’s integration of language and the body are obstructed by the arms, suggesting, humorously at times, the multiple interpretations and self-contradiction within issues of nationalism and history in Japan and India.
Yoshinori Niwa presents a performance based video work in which he walks in the opposite direction to a demonstration march that opposes nuclear power plants. The video critically articulates an act of resistance against an invisible influence that encourages a homogeneous response, and the absence of identity when faced with a situation in which everyone’s sympathies are in agreement with each other. Both of these works refer to a sense of self-contradiction and difference within collectivist notions of country, society, history and language that may seem to be utterly uniform at first glance. A contrastive reading of these pieces alongside the historical events and mass crowds that are given new interpretations in the paintings of McCallum & Tarry also promises to shed new insight into these issues.
On the other hand, Gabriella Mangano and Silvana Mangano explore the way in which homogeneity and difference are merely two inseparable sides of the same thing – in contrast with Koziumi, however, they express this notion through the uniquely synchronized sensation of physicality. Tejal Shah addresses the sense of isolation and difference that accompanies feelings of intimacy (or alienation) in relation to others, the space of the city, and sexuality. Her collaborative works in this exhibition (with Varsha Nair in Encounter(s). and with Marco Paulo Rolla in Trans-) attempt to transcend the contours of these emotions by suggesting the possibility of exchange and connection.
Taken collectively, these works are a critical and performative presentation of the concept of identity. They are propositions that will allow us to take the first tentative steps towards creating a society that embraces heterogeneity.
by Shihoko Iida (curator)
