Paper short abstract:

Taking Dokuyama Bontaro and Kaihatsu Yoshiaki's works as case study, this paper explores post-3.11 art that dissolves boundaries between art and activism, and establishes alternative and trans-local spaces of exchange that give voice to disaster victims and foster unexpected collaborations.

Paper long abstract:

In Japan government controlled media outlets have fostered the impression of a weak protest culture, while activist artistic practices are often made invisible due to an environment of censorship. However, since the nuclear disaster of March 2011 innovative, critical and socially engaged art dissolving boundaries between art and activism has been gaining ground and visibility. This case study aims to contribute to the exploration, as well as cultural and historical contextualization, of such emerging, but still understudied artistic practices.

In September 2011, Japanese anti-nuclear activists established an occupy tent site, known as tento hiroba, in front of Tokyo's Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI). In June 2016, inside the camp's "Anti-Nuclear Tent Museum", artist Dokuyama Bontaro presented his work "The 4th branch, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry". Based on Dokuyama's dialogue with long-term activist and tent representative Fuchigami Tarô and his collaborators, the work envisioned a utopian future for the campsite.

On March 15, 2012, artist and activist Kaihatsu Yoshiaki opened "House for a Politician." For the work, he constructed a small shed located in Haramachi, just about 20 km from the Fukushima Daiichi. Kaihatsu send hundreds of letters inviting politicians to come visit the hut urging them to see the stricken area and hear the voices of the disaster victims. While his initial appeal remained unanswered, "House for a Politician" has since been host to a multitude of events establishing collaborations between artistic practitioners and local activists and residents.

Aided by Bruno Latour's Actor-Network-Theory, this paper traces the newly emerging collaborative and trans-local networks, which Dokuyama and Kaihatsu's works foster within the nuclear ecologies of crisis. How do these works serve to connect disparate localities and create new avenues of exchange? How can they be contextualized historically within post-war Japanese activist artistic practices? Furthermore, following Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony, the paper explores how such alternative artistic spaces may challenge the cultural hegemony of the Japanese government and media and can serve to envision utopian futures, where power is redistributed, so that the voices of the otherwise repressed and invisible can be heard.