When speaking of art in Japan, we could refer to other Asian countries, where situations are certainly different but reflect the same issues. When speaking of Japanese art, one must refer to the "modernity" or modernization of Japanese society. Speaking of modernization of Japan in art means speaking of tradition and contemporaneity, of the Westernization of traditional Japan, of materialism that overcomes the spiritual, and a capitalist economic society as opposed to a feudal artisan one. The process of assimilating modernity tells us something profound of each country. Non-Western countries were obliged to accept modernity under penalty of not enjoying today's standards of living. When Western painting was introduced to Japan, people thought it was a new technique for representing reality. The knowledge of Western painting went hand in hand with the knowledge of photographic technologies; it must be stressed that painting techniques were taught in technical institutes and scientific schools, rather than at art academies. This means that in Japanese culture art had nothing to do with philosophy or thinking; it concerned artisan and technical activities. The very word "art" had been difficult to translate into the Japanese language in the past, since the concept of art itself was non-existent. Today the word "yiutz" is used, which is a combination of the two words "yi", meaning "beauty", and "utz", meaning "technique". It can, in practice, be translated as the "technique of beauty". Confusion thus exists from this standpoint in the various fields of art, artisan activity, and design; in other words, a really distinctively different meaning of the various activities did not exist in these different fields. After academic painting was introduced to Japan about a century ago, students were sent to various different countries to study western art. These expatriate students imported new forms of expression into Japan, such as Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism and the like. On their return home, they became masters of that one particular style; the followers of these new masters created followers of various different styles. The peculiar thing is that these groups had no connection whatsoever with cultural and historical development and growth, unlike what took place in Europe. Together with the development of Western styles, a current was born that continued to follow traditional styles. This differentiation exists to this day; groups do not communicate with one another. The followers of the Impressionistic school continue working only and exclusively on Impressionism rather than on other styles; even less would they open up towards traditional artists. The attitude of today's artists is somewhat individualistic; though they do not form a real and proper group all by themselves, they are rather isolated. The style of the so-called Gutai Group became popular during the 50s. It was followed by the Monoha style of the 60s, which some compare with Arte Povera for the use of various materials assembled together in a sort of installation. Towards the end of the 70s, this minimalist type attitude wore itself out, leaving room for a figurative-based art expression. The emergence of many women artists is a phenomenon of the 80s. These groups soon identified with Germany's Neue Bilder, France's Figuration Libre and Italy's Transavantguardia. Were the word not totally meaningless, I would give art produced after 1985 the name of Postmodernism. Japanese art after the 80s was permeated by the feeling that all had already been done, that new invention was impossible, that the thinking of Modern art had reached the end of its road, and that some new direction had to be found or created. Research went on in three different directions. The first was to look back to the past and use its values; the second was to look for a different culture in different countries; and the third was to work with new technologies and operating methods. The first option is perhaps the closest to the idea of Postmodernism. The second is tied to the first, at least as far as Japan in concerned, because art of the past is remote for the newest generation of Japanese artists, and looking for new inspirations in different countries is tantamount to looking for stimuli in traditional art. Groundwork was laid by the Oxford MoMA in 1987, followed by the Centre Georges Pompidou with its "Japon de Avant-Garde", an imposing exhibition on modern Japanese art. The Centre Pompidou also hosted the "Les Magiciens de la Terre" event, which was criticized by many, but which I believe to be of great importance for non-Western countries. Contemporary Japanese artists are faced with remarkable obstacles compared to those that Western artists have to cope with. If a Japanese uses the vocabulary of Western art for instance, he or she is accused of being a mere imitator; if tradition is used too much, the accusation then becomes that of being too exotic. Japanese, and non-Western artists in general, therefore have to avoid both roads, which becomes a vital issue for an artist's identity. I believe that for some years now, we have been progressing in the direction where the identity of an artist no longer refers specifically to his or her nationality, and a future is upon us when an artist's personality and work will be difficult to define. I wonder how many of you have seen the "Transculture" exhibition at the Venice Biennale. This was an exhibition presenting artists from many parts of the world. One exhibitor was of Indian origin but lived in Singapore, being a Malay national (just to underline the complexity of trans-cultures); another exhibitor of Indian origin, born in Dublin, had lived part of her life in Trinidad and now resides in Canada. I say this just to emphasise that the issue of identity is a rather complex one. No one can tell which parts of the culture in which the artists have lived can be found in their production. This type of person is an invention of the 20th century, so I suggest we start reconsidering what an artist's identity actually means. Slides This artist, Toshikazu Endo, made himself known in the West at the1988 Biennial Aperto. He uses natural materials such as wood, mud, air, or fire, and believes in the mythical power of nature_a sort of attitude that might seem typically Japanese. This work consists of pieces of burnt wood, which is why they look black. The tops of the columns are filled with water, as is the ring of this open-air work, while the other is fire. In this case, too, we find a material such as burnt wood and a container with water in the centre. In this other work, wood is replaced by earth. While the previous artist operates in a natural world, Tazuo Mijajma moves in the direction of technology. This artist was also presented at Aperto in 1988. One of his works was entitled The Sea of Time. This detail represents one of the 300 pieces laying on the floor. All intermittent lights were chronometers which counted time; some were placed in a circle. We cannot say that these works use the most up-to-date technology, though this direction is certainly there. Since the work refers to counting time, we can consider it a minimalist, abstract piece, which is why many understood it as being close to a Japanese spiritual tradition: his ideas on space and time in fact derive from Buddhism. Another example of a Japanese artist is Yasumasa Morimura, who made his debut in the West at Aperto, and has since achieved fame. This is a photograph. The artist actually inserted his body into the bronze bust and had a picture taken of himself in this fashion. This bronze bust refers to sculptures by August Rodin; Morimura's first works were either remakes of Western art or performances. This is clearly a reference to Manet's Olympia. You can see the use of the Japanese Kimono in the bottom of the painting. In this instance, the image used is Gabriel Rossetti's at the Tate Gallery, and the painter's face appears in the picture. This is Rembrandt's famous painting; from here onwards, the artist started using computers. He succeeded to synthesise his image and mix it with Rembrandt's picture. When I asked him: "Why do you work on these paintings?", Morimura's reply was: "Because I like them." These works were the core of the teaching he had received at the Academy of Arts. In another sense, he somehow destroys the original image with his interference, and his rapport with Western painting becomes an ambivalent love-hate relationship. This is particularly cynical. We see Bruegel's Parable of the Blind, interpreted cynically and ironically. The blindness of the characters who seem to have just finished shopping at Tiffany's or other fashionable stores is caused by their materialism. His relationship with Western images is symptomatic of the general attitude non-Western artists have towards Western art. Rai Ninto is an emerging woman artist. She prefers using simple and natural materials such as iron or cotton. Her tastes lead her towards the inclinations of traditional artists such as Endo, of whom we have just spoken. She uses very fine cotton and the result is extremely delicate: her look has often been compared with a bird's eye view of a great metropolis or the moon. Details are extremely important, and are always taken care of on-site. Her installations may require up to fifteen days for completion. The Tecnocrats are a group of artists with a theatrical background as art directors. Their research often centres on social issues. In this particular instance, the work was made with blood from common people and AIDS carriers. The letters we see are projected onto the surface and blood is kept continually mixed with a blade motor. In this work, the group entered the issue of segregation between men and women, by underscoring it and applying it to all subjects, indicating "For Man Only" or "For Woman Only". The reason why they completed these works, according to their words, was merely to purposefully go against the reasons for feminism; they realized that men were getting into problems by following this direction. Other stickers say: "Off Limits to Women" and are therefore "not for women". This installation simulated a doctor's office, with photographs of young Japanese on the left. The project was entitled "Public Sperm"; as at a sperm bank, anyone wanting the sperm of one of the young persons shown in the pictures could apply for it freely. The container on the right was full of their sperm, kept deeply frozen in liquid nitrogen. Medical technology is so advanced that we can favour migration even through sperm; our descendants can grow in foreign countries by shipping out sperm. In another piece they tried to have mildew grow on some objects_in this case coins. Here they created pills completely similar to medical ones, but made of foodstuffs such as chicken or omelettes. The basic concept in this case is medical technology that takes us to unknown, untested places. Takashi Muramaki was also present at this year's "Transculture" exhibition. He used toy soldiers placed on the floor and combined the sense of play with a militarist air. Here are the military-style shoulder packs Japanese school children use. Nobody knew the origin of their design; the artist intended to underscore his discovery that they were used by the Dutch Army a century ago. What happened since the government opened up the country to the West was the attempt to create soldiers, starting from primary schools with the probable intention of having a nation of obedient and perfectly trained little soldiers. The skin used for these packs was from animal species close to extinction, clearly a critical provocation. This comics-style character created by the artist was on show at the exhibition. A fad of wearing plastic or vinyl dolls hooked to your sleeves and worn on the streets started in Japan twenty years ago. The shape of the doll you see in this painting is the same as the one of two decades ago, except the old one was black. The black figure is a combination of a typical character of Japanese comics and Donald Duck. This work contains references to racial issues and the comic strip sub-culture. When talking of Endo, I said that works with burnt wood refer to Japan's spiritual tradition; in this case the artist uses images of Japanese culture, a device which is becoming increasingly important in the country's art scenario. Another unique artist is Nohoru Tzubaki. His works in fact look rather like monsters, but you might find in them the traditional Ikebana art of flower arrangement, united with a surrealist vision. This work was presented at the San Francisco Museum in 1989. The last artist I present in this series is Miran Fukuda. Like Morimura, this artist also uses "historical pictures" revisited in a very personal fashion. While Morimura penetrates into the painting, Fukuda tries to deconstruct it. The flower you see is real while the whole picture has all the qualities of kitsch sugariness. The image moves inside the picture, behind which a small motor slowly activates a roller which allows images to change into other, different ones. I now wish to briefly show you some pictures by artists who took part in the "Out of Bounds" exhibition held last year in Japan at a small art gallery owned by Endo. Cinro Otake uses the material of the boats he found on beaches. He made a hole in the boat's hulls through which to view the landscape. All this refers to the strictly Japanese art of gardening, which not only cares for plants themselves but also the surrounding landscape at the same time. I feel I cannot define the presence of artists according to given directions, nor can I say what direction the development of a particular artist is taking versus another, but there certainly are points of contact. They all use their own traditional and international culture, and succeed in blending the two. After all, this is contemporary society's real material for art and artists. We might therefore say that the real heart of art is not found exclusively in a few great cities of the West, even if that's the policy the art world follows. Organizing exhibitions is a power strategy, but there's something new in this field too, such as this September's Kwangju Biennale, attended by some one hundred artists, mostly exhibiting large-scale works. Two thirds came from non-Western countries, and the majority were mostly little-known young artists. The catalogue claimed that art must not be mere expression, but also information. Three other exhibitions were organized together with the Biennale: two with markedly political connotations, and one on art and technology. After organising the "Transculture" exhibition, and having seen the Kwangju Biennale, I feel the most important thing is to listen to the context and cultural background of the different cultures making up the bases of art and aesthetics. Today we must reconsider what is universal; but what isn't may be just as important. I believe we must continue looking for new visions of our times.

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