A new documentary explores Japan’s radical post-war photography and arts scene
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Murai Tokuji, courtesy of Murai Eri
Avant-Garde Pioneers — Focusing on the likes of Daidō Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Eikoh Hosoe and many more, the film highlights the swell of creativity in the ’60s, at a time of huge economic change coupled with cultural tensions.
A new documentary, Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers, revisits the explosion of creativity in ’60s post-war Japan, and the leaders of its radical arts scene.
Set to be released in cinemas in April, the film explores the work from the likes of Daidō Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Eikoh Hosoe, Miyako Ishiuchi, Keiichi Tanaami and many more.
Various scenes from the time are put under the microscope, from the groundbreaking Provoke magazine photographers and their pioneering use of Are, Bure, Boke (“rough, blurry, out of focus”), to the Japanese pop art of Keiichi, Shūji Terayama’s surrealist stage productions, Araki’s erotic and BDSM picture-making, and the experimental Butoh dance scene.
Their work is contextualised against the backdrop of post-war Japan, which was in the midst of dramatic economic shift as it opened up to global trade, investment and rapid technological change. Yet while the time has been dubbed as the “Japanese Economic Miracle”, just below the surface lay cultural tensions as centuries-old ways of living were quickly being altered, and artists such as Moriyama challenged globalisation’s shiny exterior.
Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers is directed by Amélie Ravalec and produced by Circle Time Studio. Watch the trailer below and see a list of upcoming screenings here.
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