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Kim Eun-sung (second from the right), the sculptor who created the “Statue of a Girl of Peace,” attends a debate called “Censorship at the 2019 Aichi Triennale: Art under Threat and Democracy in Crisis.” The debate took place at the Franciscan Education Center in the Jeong neighborhood of downtown Seoul on the afternoon of Aug. 22.
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Koki Tanaka asks for his work to be removed from the Aichi Triennale 2019
Koki Tanaka asks for his work to be removed from the Aichi Triennale 2019, along with artists from around the world protesting the shuttering of an exhibition at the Aichi Triennale 2019 that featured a comfort woman statue The first Japanese artist has joined his voice to the chorus of international artists calling for their works to be removed from the 2019 Aichi Triennale, Japan’s largest international art festival. These artists are protesting the decision by festival organizers to close an exhibition featuring the “Statue of a Girl of Peace.” The statue symbolizes the so-called comfort women, women forced into sexual servitude for the Japanese imperial army. “At 2 pm on Aug. 21, Japanese artist Koki Tanaka told us that he’ll be closing his exhibit at the exhibition on Aug. 24 and joining Tania’s group. This is a big deal, since he’s the first Japanese artist to join the protest,” said Lim Min-ouk, who closed down his own exhibit space at the Triennale on Aug. 6. Lim made the remarks during a debate called “Censorship at the 2019 Aichi Triennale: Art under Threat and Democracy in Crisis,” which was organized by a group called Cultural Action and held at the Franciscan Education Center in downtown Seoul on Aug. 22. Tania’s group refers to artists, including Tania Bruguera, who have either closed their exhibit space or covered it with black trash bags to protest the decision to block the public from viewing the comfort woman statue. “Because Tanaka [as an installation artist] has a large exhibit space with a table, he wasn’t sure how to participate in the protest. Then he decided to get creative by ending the exhibit and discussing the issue with visitors instead. Since Tanaka is one of Japan’s most talked-about artists, his decision must have taken a lot of guts,” Lim said. The controversy arose when Aichi Prefecture Government Hideaki Omura shut down a Triennale exhibition with the comfort woman statue called “After ‘Freedom of Expression?’” just three days after it opened, ostensibly because of calls that threatened terrorist acts. On Aug. 15, Japanese broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media outlets reported that 12 out of the 90 teams of artists participating in the Triennale, including South Koreans Park Chan-kyong and Lim Min-ouk, had asked for their pieces to be taken down. Another participant in the debate was Yuka Okamoto, curator of the exhibition and one of the members of the Triennale’s executive committee for exhibitions. “During the three days the comfort women statue was up, some of the visitors behaved in a manner that was combative and degrading, but it was touching to see other visitors ask them to be quiet and take a good look at history,” said Okamoto, who said he’d visited Korea to attend the debate. “What we need to fight censorship is solidarity. Without solidarity, Japanese society is in for some serious trouble,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of interests from artists and the general public, and more protests are being held and statements released. If we all come together, I think we’ll be able to do it [reopen the exhibition].” Daisuke Tsuda, artistic director of the Triennale, was also present at the debate. “The decision to shut down ‘After “Freedom of Expression?”’ was made by the governor and me. All the responsibility is on our shoulders,” Tsuda said, while bowing his head to the artists in a gesture of regret. “I really wrestled with this decision because of my commitment to ensure the safety of the staff and artists. I want to reopen the exhibition, but we’re still not ready to do so,” he said. By Kwon, Ji-dam, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
