Performance Art in Asia

Performance art is a form of art presented to an audience on site that often involves theperformer’s body itself. “Performance Art in Asia” project documents the experimental and avant- garde activities of Asian artists. Many artists have expressed their ideas and opinions about the complex society through the performance art since the 1960s. Therefore, the history ofperformance art in Asia reflects major social issues of the modern history of Asia that went through the colonial period, the cold-war period, and the industrialization.

The first collection of this project is the recordson the avant-garde performance arts in Korea and Japan during the 1960s and the 1970s. Various materials about the artists who took the firststep of performance art in Korea despite the poor domestic environment, illustrate the early stage of the performance art in Korea. Also, materials exhibited are about the ‘Hi-Red Center’ and the ‘Zero Jigen’ in Japan, the representative avant- garde performance groups in Japan who hada significant influence on performance arts in various Asian regions. These materials showthe bold statements by Japanese artists toward the Japanese society in which people neglected self-reflection and self-examination in the rapid economic growth. This project will gradually cover other areas in Asia to record and present the experimental spirit of Asian Art.