Events

Time and Location

November 7-8
New York University – 19 University Place, Room 222 (New York, NY)

About

It is well known that the environmental, social, and political-economic challenges that Japan has been facing for some time are, in fact, global conditions: not only the environmental disasters associated with Fukushima but the empty houses associated with changing ideas of family and the broader population collapse; immigration politics and post-neoliberal economics; and the effects of increasingly powerful digital infrastructures on everyday life—these are visible everywhere.

This symposium starts with the work of theater director and social critic Takayama Akira; Takayama’s practices include tour performances, urban action, and published criticism. After the Fukushima disasters, he created a series of works titled “Evacuation Manuals,” which take that particular moment as a springboard to think more broadly about the process of leaving a given structure of life (literally and conceptually). Our symposium addresses this central question: what would it mean to evacuate an institution of everyday life? What would that look like in practice?

To this, we are also adding the question, what does it mean to return? Or, return to what? These are at once historical, social, and cultural questions, and while we are starting in a sense with an artist’s work, we intend to provide careful discussion at each of these levels; Takayama’s performance as social practice offers some possibilities, as starting points for multiple futures. And while the focus is very much on Japan itself, especially insofar as Takayama’s work itself locates Japan within a broader contemporary world of conditions, we will also consider Japan’s place within the world today.

The two-day symposium will bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines, artists (Tomorrow Girls Troop), and Takayama himself.

Space is limited, but we welcome those interested in attending parts of the symposium. Please RSVP by Wednesday, November 6, to register for specific sessions.

Organizers: Tom Looser (NYU), Sharon Hayashi (York University), Peter Eckersall (The Graduate Center CUNY). The symposium is open to the public, with no registration fee.   

To view the full symposium schedule: Takayama Akira: Schedule

To RSVP: Takayama Akira: Evacuation-Performance, Social Change and the Japanese Future RSVP – Fall 2024

This event is co-presented by the Japan Foundation, New York, NYU, York University, and the Graduate Center CUNY.