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About the Author :

Ayelet Zohar is an artist, cultural researcher and recently, a curator as well.
Zohar's works of art make use of various media including painting, video-art installations, and digital media. Zohar has shown her
work in various venues around Israel, China, US and UK.
In her cultural research, Zohar is completing her PhD dissertation at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, and her research is
titled: Camouflage and Schizoanalysis. Zohar has taught at Bezalel Academy, Department of Theoretical studies between
1988-1991 several courses regarding Chinese and Japanese visual cultures; and from 1992 -2002, Zohar was one of the
constituting team of the Digital Media Department of the late Camera Obscura Art School
@ Ayelet

Zohar

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Issue No. 2 - Contemporary curatorship: new approaches

The work of Curatorship in the Age of Digital Reproduction
Ayelet Zohar
The article refers to the process of curating PostGender : Gender, Sexuality and
Performativity in Contemporary Japanese Art exhibition a curatorial project which I
have recently led. The text tackles two major aspects, referring to the process of
curating an exhibition of Japanese Art for a museum in Israel, while residing in London.
The first point in the article refers to the role of new media in relation to a curatorial
project that is questioning "Foreign Gaze" into a distant culture, and the second point
will emphasize how new media (internet, e-mail, DVD projections, digital printing
process and virtual architectural design) have become the tools in the hand of the
curator to create a platform for a cultural critique, 21st c. style.

One of the foremost tasks of art has always been the creation of a demand which could be
fully satisfied only later.
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 14
"The work of art," says Andre Breton, "is valuable only in so far as it is vibrated by the
reflexes of the future".
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Note 17
This article is referring to the process of curating PostGender: Gender, Sexuality and
performativity in Contemporary Japanese Art exhibition a curatorial project I have
recently led for the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, part of the larger body of Haifa
Museums. The exhibition was shown on Sep. 2005 Jan. 2006 and attracted a large
volume of visitors nearly 8000 visits, and significant media coverage on TV as well
as the printed media.
In the preliminary thinking before embarking on the actual curatorial process, an initial
decision was taken to avoid references to unique Japanese features, and to concentrate
on a social subject-matter like gender identity, which presumes references to these
aspects and questions in various cultures. The decision to avoid understanding Japan as a
"unique" culture, moved forward to a second decision: to avoid "original" works of art

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but refer only to forms of art which are reproducible i.e. prints, photography, video art, and
documentation of performance art. This thread of thinking - drawing a parallel line between
the Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction, and the refusal to relate to Japan as a
unique culture - became the main platform for the overall critical quality of this exhibition .
In this text I would like to tackle two major aspects, referring to the process of curating this
exhibition of Japanese Art for a museum in Israel, understanding the problems of a
"foreign" Gaze into a distant culture, and secondly, understanding the dilemmas of a
curatorial project for a museum in Israel, while residing in London. On the last stage I shall
intertwine the two aspects to show the relevance of digital media for the curatorial process.

The first point in this context, is referring to the process of working in a cultural context
which is different to that of the curator herself as well as the museum and the expected
audience. The implication of such distance entails a need to look at the other culture in a
complex and multi-focal way that will reflect on the specific problems indicated in the works
of art presented. At the same time, it is crucial to recruit the tools that will enable the
bridging needed between the material presented and the viewing audience.
The second aspect refers to the 'long distance' curatorial process itself, in the age of
information technology which includes the internet, e-mailing systems, DVD projections
and digital printing process. This aspect refers to the fact that PostGender was on its final
stage (before installation) a small case of discs, that contained all the information that was
needed to install the exhibition in the museum.
This process, I shall argue, differs dramatically from the traditional work of the curator who
is bind up with dealing with originals that need to be transferred, wrapped, packed,
shipped, insured, protected, hanged and displayed, with especially gentle care and
professional handling that cost a fortune. The exhibition of traditional original works of art
involves a process which dramatically differs from the work of the curator who deals with
photography and video-art in the age of digital reproduction. Therefore, in this twofold
process, the curatorial work in the context of other culture in the Age of Digital Information
and Reproduction can be as critical and conceptual as the work of a conceptual artist. The
reproduction enables the cultural researcher or the art critic to have the freedom to create
selections that closely reflect the critical point of view at focus, detached from the
complexities of dealing with originals. Moreover, the concentration on contemporary media,
and the refrain from traditional tools, enables a departure from the pitfalls of searching for
uniqueness in the context of the Other culture, and opens the discussion within the
exhibition to the specificity of each photograph, each projection or installation for its own
merit, refraining from cultural common denominators, namely, the immediate signifiers
identified with a specific culture.[1]
The Curator as a Cultural Critic: On curating in Other Cultures
The technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of

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tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique

existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own
particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced.
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 2

In recent years it seems that the Western world has taken great interest in the artistic work
created in cultures other then the immediate West[2] . Numerous exhibitions curated in the
past two decades were re-considering contemporary art from Japan, China, Africa, Latin
America and even East Europe.[3] As I had the chance to view some of these
exhibitions, my attention was drawn to several aspects that became significant: one of the
evident pitfalls that some exhibitions seemed to be trapped into, was the idea that an
exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art should foreground the uniqueness and
"difference" of Japanese Art to Western Contemporary Art. This attitude resulted in
attempts to show what is imagined to be exclusive and differing qualities from
contemporary art in the West .
In a previous research[4] I have shown that the desire to establish uniqueness of another
culture can be problematic. The problem lies in the establishing of essentialist modes of
reading "Japanese-ness"[5] , and therefore, one should be alert to the (Western) desire to
constitute Japanese-ness as a unique cultural space. The result of this desire brings many
exhibitions of Japanese art (or other foreign cultures) to stick to signifiers and objects that
embody in Western imagination the "difference" and uniqueness of the culture in focus.
The search for these elements results in many cases in the externalization of what is
perceived as "different" from a Western point of view i.e. the use of local dress, costumes,
architecture, local politics and so forth. I refer in this context to exhibitions that show
tendency to classify Contemporary Japanese Art as "delicate", "cute" or "manga-like"[6] ,
and in the case of Chinese art, there seems to be an over emphasis on political images
and issues referring to the time of the Imperial or Communist regimes[7] , with neglect of
more mundane and common issues on the focus of many Japanese or Chinese artists.
In other words, the desire to specifically indicate the exclusiveness of specific culture,
results in blindness to not so obvious possibilities that are included in subject matter which
is open to wider discussion of specific human problems.
In my view, the tendency to amplify or indicate inimitable qualities, often results in the
externalizes of familiar signifiers and images of otherness, and in many cases it misses
the more interesting works that do not necessarily engage with local symbols and icons,
but convey remarkable artistic interpretations of wider cultural dilemmas like gender or
cultural identity.
Japanese art suffered from this attitude in the past, but in recent years, several Japanese
curators were invited to curate Japanese exhibitions in the West[8] , and were given the
opportunity to broaden the discussion and modes this art world is perceived in the major

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cultural centers[9] , and to offer an intriguing possibility to discuss contemporary Japanese

art in a mode that recognizes its contribution to the global discourse, rather then excluding
it as unique and different[10].
With these notions in mind, my attitude toward the selection process of artists and works in
PostGender was looking at the possibility to bring into the discussion some Japanese
artists who can help to expand from their experience, on this widely discussed issue[11]
In my selection of artists I was thinking on those who deal with local questions, as well as
more general issues around gender identity: I was specifically interested in artists who deal
with this question in a continuous manner i.e. they do not limit themselves to one aspect or
another. Sawada Tomoko is a good example with her two very different projects: in
OMIAI project, she looks at a Japanese specific phenomenon during the
matchmaking period, a photo-book of her own image is produced by a prospective bride to
represent herself to the family of the potential groom. This sort of imagery can easily be
identified with picture-books produced by couples before, during and after their marriage
day[12] . The way Sawada presents this project communicates itself directly to the Western
viewer without fail. On the other hand, in another series, ID400, she tackles a much more
"global" theme around self-designed feminine images - she created another personal
variation on the theme of feminine masquerade, when she took some 400 odd images of
herself in commercial photo-booths, representing a chameleon-esque identity, escaping
any pinning down of her own image or any generalization of the "Japanese" image/identity.
These notions were on my focus when I had embarked on the curatorial project leading to
PostGender.
Therefore a crucial parallel line was drawn between the refusal to regard Japan as a
"unique" and to avoid "original" work of art in its material sense. This parallel,
between the unique and the original, is a point of refusal in the process of understanding
how a curatorial process can reflect on itself. The conceptual context was embodied in the
actual medium of the exhibition works that can be produced digitally[13] , and could be
produced at the site of the show[14] . In this way, I could secure that the experience of the
viewer will reside on the specific images, the context of presentation, and the issues raised
rather then enthusiasm or fascination with the materiality of the works presented in
terms of substance, technique etc. The elimination of this barrier, created an atmosphere
where the discussion went into the conceptual questions raised rather then the excitement
about the "value" of the works, in terms of the art market. The benefit of these elements in
relation to the question of gender, enabled a liberation, even emancipation of the concept
of Gender as well, from the shackles of traditional binary forms and norms, to enable a
more open-ended, fluid, multiplied discussion of gender.
Selection of Artists and Works: Gender Identity vs. Japanese-ness
As I was clear about the pitfalls awaiting me as a Western curator looking at Japanese
Art[15] , I was determined to look at a theoretical or social aspect, and to avoid the traps
of stylizing Japanese art, or trying to define it through its forms, rather then its subject-

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matter. Among other possibilities that I have considered, the question of gender identity
and sexuality in relation to the concept of performativity (as this subject was introduced
and discussed by Judith Butler in the 90's) seemed the most interesting one, as Japanese
culture has a significant tradition of female impersonations by male actors in the Noh and
Kabuki theatres, as well as long tradition of homosexual tradition, and some tough
questions around the role of women in contemporary Japanese society. I was particularly
interested in this subject vis- -vis the extensive interest and research in recent years of
these questions around the world. Moreover, Morimura Yasumasa, the pivotal artist of my
research, takes a fascinating stand on this issue, and I thought that going along this line
may produce some thought provoking works and ideas. I hope that I was not mistaken in
my preliminary judgment.
My initial idea then, was to look into and understand the issues of gender, sexuality and
performativity within the context of Japanese discourse, and to bring it forward as part of
the global discussion of the past three decades on these issues, as a contribution that
comes from a fresh direction. In my selection to show photography and video-art, I was
definitely not aiming at photography as a "documentary" tool, but rather, photography as a
critical tool that its ubiquity and flexibility in producing images was adopted by many
contemporary artists. On the other hand, some of the works opened the discussion into
unexpected directions, reflecting on local culture and specific issues: criticism of
censorship rules, prostitution and war, female body and Buddhist notions of "giving",
customs of matchmaking and marriage, relentless masquerades, male pregnancy and so
forth. In my view, these are not specific or uniquely "Japanese" ideas or representations,
but an accumulated collection of contributions from artists who focus on specific issues
which can add an interesting angle to the continuous debate on gender matters around the
world.
My article in the exhibition catalogue[16] was aiming at expanding the discussion on
gender by arguing for multiplicity of genders. Based on the engagement with the art works
participating in the show and the artists, a new terminology has mounted up in relation to
the subject I realized that there was a strong suggestion of multiplicity of genders
rather then the tradition of rigid definitions of two genders and multiple deviations,
prevailing in Western Modernist thought. By coining the title as The Seven Genders of
Japan I was aiming at opening a wider debate that will include various methods, disciplines
and fantasies as possible embodiments of gender[17] . Some of these genders are specific
to Japan (nonetheless not unique) like the Onnagata the Kabuki male actors who
specialize in female-impersonations[18] . Others, like The Male Pregnancy Project by
Okada Hiroko are hilarious and funny, and seriously contemplate on male-female roles in
the nuclear families of middle class contemporary society, Japanese or otherwise[19]
In this respect, PostGender aimed at indicating that the possibility of multiplicity of genders
exists, and can be opened to social, political and anthropological discussions. I specifically
made a point of the fact that this was not a unique or specific structure to Japan, but rather,
that the Japanese artists participating in PostGender can illuminate and expand some of

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the station points along the trajectory of definitions and characterization of gender as we
struggle with this term today. Morimura Yasumasa, Takano Ryudai and Akira the
Hustler contributed to the discussion of genders by the representations of multitude
cross-gender and transvestite styles, through their attractive images of blurred identities
each one of them enlightening a specific aspect of gender identity: for Morimura
gender-crossings are strongly linked to cultural-crossings; for Takano it is about ambiguity
and the impossibility to tell the sexuality or even the gender of the Other; and for Akira the
Hustler, it is about bringing forward homosexual culture in its diversity and many shades.
In my article I expanded on the genders presented in the exhibition itself, and brought in
some other concepts of gender collected from various fields, to create the multitude of
genders I was aiming at. The final result was a basket of options and multitude, and a
whole variety of possibilities to choose from, celebrating human diversity, instead of locking
one's sexual desire and personal preference in life and intimacy under rigid and binary
dichotomies.

Conceptual curatorship
Mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art. The
progressive reaction is characterized by the direct, intimate fusion of visual and emotional
enjoyment with the orientation of the expert.
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 12

When I was invited to curate PostGender on summer 2002, it was on the eve of my
departure from Israel for my PhD studies in London. Mr. Nissim Tal, the general manager
of Haifa museums, gave me a "carte blanche" for the process. The idea was that when the
concept and the collection will be ready, we shall be able to install the exhibition at the
Tikotin museum.
So there we were: I am in London, the artists in Japan, the museum in Israel. The
curatorial process therefore meant internet, e-mail, telephones, DVD's, digital media,
and virtual architectural design.
I started my initial work through simple Google search: since I have not been in Japan for
the past 15 years, and my knowledge of the Contemporary Art scene was based on
exhibition catalogues, professional journals, articles, exhibition websites, personal
contacts, meetings and exhibitions in the West I was heavily dependant on internet
connection for my work. Through the internet I have managed to contact the galleries and
museums holding the works in collections; I have contacted some of the artists whom I
was interested in, either through their galleries, or through their personal websites. This all
went into long and rolling correspondences, images sent back and forth as JPG's, DVD's
sent by mail, confirmations and agreements forwarded by e-mails. Slowly but surely, in a
long process that took nearly three years, I have managed to create the initial collection of

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works that were to make the hard core of PostGender.

The next stage was around the actual delivery of the images from Japan to Haifa. In a
world of rocketing shipping prices and a very limited exhibition budget, I realized that the
exhibition budget will not allow me to ship the works from Japan to Israel. Nevertheless, I
was not discouraged by this fact. Being an artist myself, well aware of the possibilities of
digital media, I have often used printing facilities in Israel for the sake of exhibitions in
London. I decided then to try and convince the artists to submit their works as digital files
for printing in Israel. Some of them loved the idea and were happy to collaborate from
the first instance, while others were hesitant and reluctant. It took some time to get them
on board with this rather unusual plan. After a long negotiation, I have managed to have
seven out of the ten artists in the show agreeing to send their files for printing in Israel[20]
. As a result the whole exhibition was by this stage a small and compact packet of
about 20 CD's and 10 DVD's. The perfect digital density of this show became a strong
element in my understanding of the contemporary process of curatorship, differing
dramatically from the classic curatorial work. Instead of the involvement of the classic
curator with actual original work in terms of it fragility and expense - PostGender was an
exhibition I could put into my shoulder-bag and walk away to present it on a new venue.
Where traditional curatorship means engagement with the original work of art which
denotes stability, immobility, high expense and high risk of damage and theft,
PostGender became the emblem of the power of conceptual work and contemporary
curatorship in its being virtual, mobile, low maintenance, and low risk of damage and
incurability.
This sort of digital and virtual exhibition became a step forward a new sort of curatorship
not quite virtual art (such as the internet art) which is perfectly virtual and does not
hold any material form, but a virtual curatorship, that enables the curator to work with
means matching the medium of the work shown. PostGender differs dramatically from
conventional exhibitions, since the emphasis was put on the quality of the works in
conceptual terms, and the experience of the visitor in the museum, rather then the dealing
with original works of arts in the material sense of the word. In other words, in the process
of curating PostGender, I was (nearly) free to make the selection of work purely based on
my conceptual preferences rather then any other concerns of value, shipping availability,
that normally stand in the way of the curator of actual work.

The planning of PostGender: Conceptualization of Space, Virtual Design and the

actual installation
Despite the contemporary nature of the works selected for PostGender, Tikotin museum is
a heavily designed space, with the requirement to host traditional Japanese art exhibitions.
The museum comprises of three spaces, two minor ones and a courtyard. The central
space[21] contains eight vertical glass cases, suitable in size for large ink-painting
scrolls. Two more large glass cases (each 7 m. in width) normally filled with collections of

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traditional Japanese items from swords to Netsuke, from Kimonos to Prints. The
second space is the original space of the museum, which was built in 1960[22] . The space
has marble flooring, a water-canal around it, and traditional Shoji (paper) windows. The
third space was originally designed as a library, and had a long glass-tiles external wall.
Namely, Tikotin museum is just the opposite of a "white cube" space, containing endless
mixture of materials and showcases.
Moreover, living in London, I did not have a direct contact with the space, and needed
some tools to overcome this problem while planning the concrete installation of the
exhibition. Therefore, I have asked an architect friend, Arie Kutz, specializing in Japanese
architecture and familiar with the museum as a building, to design the museum space on
architectural software so that I will be able to get the proportions and the right feeling of the
space. Arie Kutz sent me the design on simple architectural software and some
photographs taken in the museum, and this has become my basic platform for work. My
initial design of the exhibition in the museum was running on this software, and the result is
presented here with the actual installation photographs to compare.
The challenge of installing a contemporary art exhibition into this space required me to
think in an unconventional way. As an installation artist, "playing" with space is part of my
joy. A long process of thinking, finally led me to a set of solutions: I decided to interfere with
the space, and design it under the theme of the show.
The first and initial decision was to get the museum as dark as possible. This decision had
double meaning: firstly, I thought that the theme of the exhibition matched a night time
feeling, and I hoped that a dark space with spot lights will create the seductive atmosphere
I was aspiring for[23]. Secondly, there was large amount of video works that needed dark
space for effective projection. Thirdly, I was hoping to attract audiences that would not be
the expected museum goer to turn the museum into a night-out sort of venue. I
requested the museum manager to change the opening hours. After long discussions and
hesitations, my request was at last granted, and I could secure complete darkness in the
space. Then, all lights were reduces, and only direct spots were used, directed to the
works and the texts in space. Following this initial step, came a decision to design the
three spaces under three themes: Red Window district, Back Stage, and Masculine
Masquerade. In-between there were three minor spaces: The Courtyard with
images of Takano Ryudai printed directly on the windows, The Clinic a space
dedicated to Okada Hiroko's work and designed as a waiting room in a medical clinic, and
the Performance Stage where Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, and Shigeko Kubota's Sexual
Healing were placed.
Red Window District
The main problem was with the central space, which is occupied with the large glasscases. I came up with the idea to transform it into a Red Window District a location
where the viewer is strolling and viewing, partly peeping to the images fully presented.
As a consequence of this initial view, I have decided that all portraits naked or dressed

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- will be located in this space. I went on another round of requests from the artists,
securing that each artist will be presented in this space properly. From some of them, I
have requested specific work in new size, to match the size of the glass-cases, while with
others it was just a question of initial decision on the location. The accumulation of the
personal portraits in the main exhibition hall served also as an index for reading the
mapping of the exhibition, and served as a possible trajectory for visiting:: each project or
artist had one single image in this hall, which was linked to a larger project or a set of
images in another part of the museum. The result was a stunning collection of eight
standing portraits in large glass cases of most of the artists, a huge reclining nude (Kikuo
by Takano Ryudai) in the first horizontal glass-case, and four portraits of Morimura as
Madonna (from his Psychoborg series) in the further glass-case. All cases were painted
red, the light reduced only spot lights directed into the glass case to illuminate the
image and glitter in the space.

Figure 1 - Design for the Red District section

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Figure 2 - Red Windows District - Images from the accrual installed

space

Figure 3 - Red Windows District - Images from

the accrual installed space

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Figure 4 - Red Windows District - Images from

the accrual installed space

Figure 5 - Yoko Ono Cut piece 1965 and 2003, two video
projections - Passage hall

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Figure 6 - Yoko Ono Cut piece 1965 and 2003, two video
projections - Passage hall

Figure 7 - Okada Hiroko Male Pregnancy project, 2004

Passage hall 2

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Figure 8 - Okada Hiroko Male Pregnancy project, 2004

Passage hall 2
Backstage area
As the second space revolved around ideas of performativity, theatricality, and
masquerade I decided to turn it into a Backstage area. The walls were painted in black,
and the division of the space was done by a heavy red velvet curtain that ran like a long
curve through the space, to create a small "theatre" like space for Bubu de la Madeleine's
Landing Mermaid . Behind the curtain, there were 20 portraits of mixed images of
Onnagata (male actors impersonating female roles) and Bijin (Japanese beauties) Ukiyo-E prints from the museum collection, conjunct with the two series of Sawada
Tomoko ID400 and OMIAI. In the bend of the installed curtain, a monitor was
playing the all-female-troupe Takarazuka famous show JFK presenting JFK, Marilyn
Monroe, and other iconic figures from the American 60's, all acted on stage by female
actresses. I was hoping that these mixtures of representation can catch the viewer into
reconsidering female roles, female masquerade, and the meaning of Womanliness as a
Masquerade[24], as suggest by the inter-textuality of these images. The overall effect of
this space was dark and effective, and contributed successfully to the experience of the
viewer and her engagement with the ideas and thoughts around femininity, masquerade,
and gender roles.

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Figure 9 - Back stage area general view

Figure 10 - Back stage area - Sawada Tomoko - OMIAI project

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Figure 11 - Back Stage area - Sawada Tomoko - OMIAI project

and Onnagata+ Bijin images in classic Japanese Ukiyo-E prints

Figure 12 - Back Stage area - Bubu de la Madeleine Landing

Mermaid, 2001

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Figure 13 - Back Stage area - Bubu de la Madeleine Landing

Mermaid, 2001

Figure 14 - Back Stage area - Bubu de la Madeleine Landing

Mermaid, 2001

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Figure 15 - Back Stage area - Bubu de la Madeleine Landing

Mermaid, 2001
Masculine Masquerade
The third space was dedicated to Masculine Masquerade, and the passage from traditional
images of the male body to modern and contemporary ones. I have used images from the
19th c. of the transformation of the emperor image from the Son of the Sun, into a
Prussian warrior, side by side with images of Western military commanders, ambassadors
and other powerful men, presented as frightening, exotic, devilish, somehow bizarre
images in the Japanese prints of Yokohama style parallel in time to the photographs of
that period. Uniforms played a central image in the works presented in this space from
the emperor's Prussian outfit, through the American soldier represented in Bubu and
Shimada 's Made in Occupied Japan which works as a comment on the relationship
between war, occupation and the position of the prostitute within this complexity, to Akira
the Hustler's white navy uniform in his Shirohata (White Flag) installation contributing a
gay perspective to the problem of gender identity where stronghold masculine signifiers
were ruptured and questioned a white navy-like uniform was equated to white flag of
surrender, and the Japanese national anthem, a nationalistic and somewhat militaristic
song, was sung as a lullaby.
The design of the space emerged from my motivation to create a viewing cell for 48 ways
to make love (a video-work by Bubu de la Madeleine and Akira the Hustler), a collaboration
which is a parody on sexual guide books. I wanted an intimate little corner, where viewers
could sit comfortably and watch the video. The divider for this section became the
fan-shaped wall onto which I have installed the 19th c. images. Just beyond the screen,
a monitor was screening Morimura Yasumasa 's Elvis Presley video-art, where Elvis
was drawing his guns and shooting around, with a reference to the famous image by Andy

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Warhol. The Masculine Masquerade space was completed with some magnificent still
images (fan magazine covers) of Takarazuka actresses presonifying masculine generic
images.
All in all, this space was in my view, a reflection on the Israeli condition, and the
relationship between heroism, national ideas and militaristic practices in relation to the
problem of gender identity. Japan has been through the process and the debate of
nationalism and militarism for a period stretching over a century, and the images could
create an exemplary space to reflect on these aspects. In my view (not necessarily shared
by the viewers) this has been one of the strongest arguments of this sort of exhibition,
when one can enlighten a specific aspect or a problem in Israeli culture, through the
engagement with a Japanese culture.

Figure 16 - Masculine Masquerade General view

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Figure 17 - Masculine Masquerade Akira the

Hustler Shirohata (White Flag) project, 2000

Figure 18 - Masculine Masquerade Bubu de la Madeleine and

Yoshiko Shimada Made in Occupied Japan, 1998

Figure 19 - Masculine Masquerade Bubu de la Madeleine and

Akira the Hustler 48 ways to make love, 1998

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Figure 20 - Masculine Masquerade 19th c.

images of emperors and uniforms

Figure 21 - Masculine Masquerade Morimura

Yasumasa, posters for Takarazuka theatre, and
Yokohama style prints depicting foreigners in
Japan, second half of 19th c.
Embodiment of PostGender: Image Projections and Digital Reproduction
To pry an object from its shell, to destroy its aura, is the mark of a perception whose
"sense of the universal equality of things" has increased to such a degree that it extracts it
even from a unique object by means of reproduction
Walter Benjamin, The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Ch. 14

One of the major problems of PostGender exhibition was its limited budget. Unfortunately,
the controversial subject was not supported by any of the official bodies that normally
contribute to the exhibition of Japanese Art in Israel. Therefore, with a highly limited

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budget, the possibility of shipping actual work in large size with glass and frames seemed
imaginary. I had to come up with some alternative ways to acquire the works. Here came in
my experience with digital media. As most photographs are produced today as digital
prints (Lambda or C-type) I knew that I could get these images printed in highest quality,
for a fraction of the price I was asked by the shipping companies. On top of that, as I had
the special plan for the main gallery with the standing portraits, I have requested several
artists to prepare images with size specifications that will match the glass-cases. As it was
needed to reprint those images, I came up with the suggestion to print those images in
Israel. I promised the best quality of prints, and to ship the rolled images back to Japan.
That sounded like a fair deal, and the CD's with the digital files, started to flow into the
registrar's office. Some of the artists even sent us the negatives for scanning, while others
preferred to send the final digital file needed for printing.
What is already unquestionable norm in video-art had to be introduced into the
photographic world as well. The Aura of the paper print is questioned here again, as the
museum became the producer of the images. One can argue that this is the situation with
video-art as all works arrive today in DVD format, ready for projection. The question of
copy and original completely loses its relevance with video-art. The embodiment of the
image and the quality of it, depends on modes of projection/ viewing/ screening
employed by the museum. The decision made by the curator in relation to the projection of
a specific work on monitor, or projection on the wall, size of projection, quality of
projector, darkness in space etc. these elements determine the actual experience
suggested. These are crucial factors in the "materialization" of the video-art image.
Working in the same logic, the printing of a photographic digital image becomes the
embodiment of the "original" file that was sent in. The selection of size, quality of paper,
type of projection, will determine the quality of the print shown in the exhibition hall. The
strong point to emphasize in this context, is the equation between the processing of the
video image and its projection on the wall, and that of the photographic picture as a
digitally printed image, that can be produced in various ways, liberating the print from the
special Aura of the printed paper[25]
When I arrived in Israel to install (or possibly in this context to materialize) the
exhibition, I had a packet of CD's/DVD's waiting to be printed and projected. All I had to do
is spend several days at the printing house, checking and confirming each file, making
sure the final result will be of the best quality. Several days later, a large roll of printed
images arrived at the museum. The exhibition was ready to be hanged.

As I have spread the information of this development among other museum people, I
realized that some people are possibly shocked by this course - especially more traditional
museum staff who treat the work of art as a holy and wholesome artefact. The process
presented above has a more updated attitude which presumes that photographic prints are
done on the very same machines in Japan or in Israel. The digital reproduction of these

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images, has taken one step further the distance between the artist and the manufactured
image. The artist creates an image, which is a virtual/digital file, and the actual
"embodiment" (printing) of this image, is now completely in the hands of the machine. The
artist takes the position of confirmation she confirms that the colours are right, that the
print is the quality he may seek in terms of density hue, paper, etc. These elements
were all agreed with the artists who confirmed the quality of the prints. PostGender
therefore became the embodiment of the digital, an exhibition of the virtual and a revelation
of the power of the conceptual over the actual material.

To conclude, I shall pronounce that PostGender aimed at looking at an aspect in the

context of Japanese culture without trying to isolate it or relate to it as unique and
singular; but to see what was offered by Japanese artists as a contribution to discussion
around gender identity in various locations around the world, and lastly, to look at any point
of relevance from the Japanese experience to the Israeli context.
The overall attitude to avoid isolated, singular or unique discourse about Japan, was
encouraged by the use of works of art that were created with reproducible technology like
photography and video-art[26]I feel that my curatorial process was strongly attached to the
idea of the exhibition as an event or arena for new ideas and modes of thinking, rather
then a shrine for dear artefacts. Mobility, virtuality, disposability and inexpensive cost were
all main guidelines in the process of curating this exhibition. The relevance to Israeli
question was created by string of parallel lines which I was trying to stretch between the
Japanese experiences with militarism in the past, and contemporary Israeli reality.
I would like to summarize this text in the words from a personal letter sent to me by
Morimura Yasumasa, one of the prominent artists participating in PostGender project:
"In the past and present, its very popular to introduce Japanese contemporary art in
foreign countries. But, Ive never been satisfied with these past exhibitions. I think
you take different approach to introduce Japanese contemporary art, which is very
interesting for me. As you mention in your text that the theme still remains and
continues forever and repeatedly, our collaboration might also continue".
[1]This point can easily be slipped: many exhibitions of photography and video-art in the
past have easily foregrounded the "uniqueness" aspect. This sort of reading is still
common in the exhibitions of Contemporary Chinese Art (See the following note for a list of
relevant exhibitions that take this attitude).The only way I see the works who tackle
national identity to be effective in the contemporary art world, is when an artist is parodying
this notion, or flirts with the possibilities of cultural crossings and passing.
[2]I am referring here to the museum institutions in the West, as well as Israel, despite
the fact that I challenge the perception of Israel as a Western country in some articles I
have written, as I view Israel as a [West] Asian culture. Therefore, my personal inclination
towards [East] Asian cultures is aimed at redirecting the Israeli Gaze normally focused on

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Western centres, towards the East.

[3]The list of these exhibitions is very long, but I shall refer here to some of the
exhibitions of Japanese and Chinese Contemporary Art that were curated and shown in
Western museums in the past two decades: Reconstructions: Avant garde Art in Japan
1945-65, Oxford Modern Art, 1985; Tokyo: Form and Spirit, Walker Art Centre.
Minneapolis, 1986-7; Avant garde Japan 1910-1970, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1986;
Against Nature: Japanese Art in the 1980's, SFMOMA, San Francisco and Gray Gallery,
NYU, New York, 1989 ; Japanese Art of the 80's, Frankfurt Municipal Gallery, 1990; The
Cabinet of Signs, Tale Liverpool, 1991; Beyond Japan. Barbican Centre, London, 1992; A
Scream into the Sky: Japanese Art after 1945, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1993;
Facts of Life, Hayward gallery, 2001; Neo Tokyo: Japanese Art Now, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Sydney 2002; The Fukuoka triennial 2005 in Britain, Blackburn
Museum, 2005.
Among the general exhibitions showing Contemporary Chinese Art are:
Inside Out: New Art from China, SFMOMA, 1999; Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese
Art from China and the US, ASU art museum, 2005; Between Past and Future: Recent
photography and Video Art from China, V&A, 2005;
[4]The discussion is the topic of the first chapter of my MA thesis published in Hebrew:
Ayelet Zohar Morimura Yasumasa: "Portrait of the Artist as Art History" and the
question of inter-cultural Mimicry, Tel Aviv University, 2000 pp. 13-35
: "
"
-, ,
-, 2000 . 13- 35
[5]From this point on I am referring to the problem of exhibiting Japanese Art, but I
believe that this aspect can be relevant to dealings with any curatorial project in a context
of Non-Western Art. The question of artists originating from Other culture currently residing
in the West, brings another layer of discussion into the arena.
[6]See for example the text by Sharon Kinsella Cutties in Japan in: Brian Moeran
and Lise Scov (eds.) - Women, Media and Consumption in Japan, Curzon & Hawaii
University Press, 1995 http://basic1.easily.co.uk/04F022/036051/Cuties.html Also, the
theme of Manga has taken a huge chunk of interest in the West recently, causing many
works of art and exhibitions to revolve around this phenomenon. One of the interesting
questions that can be dealt with in this context is the question of leadership: do artists
today create work which they know the curator will be attracted to and will consider, or is it
the artist that creates the work and the curator follows? These notions and questions are
old it was already argued that the painters of the New York school were considering
the writings of Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg, before approaching their
canvas. See for example: Norman L. Kleeblatt - Critical Manipulations: Clement
Greenberg, Harold Rosenberg and Post War American Art http://www2.jewishculture.org
/programs/350/icons/kleeblatt/kleeblatt-text.html [last visited: March 25th, 2006]
[7]This attitude was strongly evident in the exhibition Between past and Future: New

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Photography and Video Art from China where many of the works presented were
revolving around political issues from the monuments for the workers and red army by
Wang Qinsong to the images of Mao Zedong quoted in the works of Gao brothers and Liu
Zheng The representation of simplicity and delicateness in Japanese Art was the main
theme in art exhibitions untill the 1980s. Recently there has been a significant change
in the way Japanese Art is perceived and understood. This change can be seen in the shift
between past exhibitions and the new wave of exhibitions that was pointing at the
tremendous change in Japanese society and cultural landscape.
[8]Among these are Murakami Takashi (and Noi Sawaragi - an art critic that works
closely with Murakami) who created the two most important Japanese exhibitions of the
2000s SuperFlat, a touring exhibition in various venues around the USA, 2000-1
and Little Boy Japan Society, New York, NY, 2005.
[9]It is important to note here that Murakami Takashi, who was educated as a
Nihon-ga painter, managed to bring forward the language of traditional Japanese painting
(Nihonga) in relation to the worlds of Pop Art and Japanese Comics (Manga) as a highly
successful theme in his shows.
[10]I would like to mention here that in my view, this is not the case with exhibiting
Chinese art, and so far, the major exhibitions of Contemporary Chinese Art still suffer from
the political-Orientalism imposed by the Western spectatorship. I am particularly referring
here to the grand exhibition Between past and Present: New Photography and Video Art
from China, which was shown in IPC, New York and V&A in London, 2005.
[11]I am aware of the fact that the Queens Museum in New York is currently preparing
an exhibition titled Global Feminism, continuing in the tradition of Global Conceptualism
exhibited in 1999 referring to the various discussions around the world of feminist
issues. The curator of the Japanese section will be Kasahara Michiko, who was also
involved in the PostGender conference, and wrote an article for the exhibition catalogue.
[12]Clearly, the final function of these pictures as a tool for selection differs from their
function in the Western wedding photographs that serve as a memory.
[13]There was an exception I used Japanese prints from the collection of the
museum, but these certainly correspond to the notion of "mechanical reproduction" in the
18th and 19th c. Japan.
[14]These include: Akira the Hustler, Bubu de la Madeleine, Ishihara Tomoaki,
Miyashita Maki, Okada Hiroko, Sawada Tomoko, Takano Ryudai. Morimura Yasumasa was
the only artist we have fully shipped his work from Japan, and parts of Sawada, Akira and
Takano's work arrived as printed photographs in rolls. The rest Yoko Ono and Shigeko
Kubota and Takarazuka Theatre, were only presenting video work.
[15]My initial idea was to look at a subject in a cross-cultural context, but this initiation
was declined by Mr. Nissim Tal, the general manger of Haifa Museums, as the Tikotin is a
Japanese Art museum by definition, and cannot host exhibitions which are not defined as
such.
[16]Ayelet Zohar The Seven Genders of Japan in: PostGender: Gender, Sexuality
and Performativity in Contemporary Japanese Art, Exhibition catalogue, Tikotin Museum of

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Japanese Art, Haifa Museums, Sep. 2005 pp. 43 - 157

[17]Among the genders I was referring to are the Nenja a mature Samurai with a
young homosexual consort; Onnagata a female impersonator in the Japanese theatre;
Ryosei androgynous, sometimes a (polite) reference to homosexual people; and
Nindan a fictional entity of male pregnancy, suggested by one of the works in the
exhibition. The various backgrounds and application of these terms was referring to the
possibility of creating a basket of terms which are not confined or obliged to any specific or
limited discipline or category.
[18]Male actors impersonating female roles are not unique to Japan, and exist in the
Greek theatre, in Shakespearian theatre, and various modes of comedy and comic shows.
For specific references on this issue please refer to some interesting texts like: Sue-Ellen
Case, Feminism and Theatre , New York: Routledge, 1988; Marjorie Garber, Vested
Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety, New York: Routledge, 1992; Lisa Merrill,
When Romeo was a Woman, University of Michigan Press, 2000; Laurence Senelick (ed. )
Gender in Performance: The Presentation of Difference in the Performing Arts, Hanover,
NH: UP of New England, 1992 and The Changing Room: Sex, drag, and theatre, London:
Routledge 2000; I thank Maki Morinaga for helping me in completing this list. For a thought
provoking discussion of female Masquerading as Oneself see: Wendy Doniger,
Masquerading as One's Self: A Revealing Study of Self-Impersonation in Literature,
University of Chicago, 2000 and The Woman Who pretended to Be Who She was: Myth of
Self-Imitation, Oxford, 2005
[19]I decided to coin this phenomenon with a new gender type NinDan(male
pregnancy). The Hebrew term coined in this context was
[20]see note 12 for details.
[21]This part of the museum was built in 1995 by the Japanese architect Junzo
Yoshimura (1908 1997) and the Israeli architect Alfred Mansfeld (1912-2004)
[22]The original building was designed in 1959, according to some designs provided by
Mr. Tikotin himself , later designed and completed by Haifa Municipality, and executed
under the supervision of Architect M. Lev in 1960. I thank Dr. Ilana Singer, Chief curator of
Tikotin Museum for providing this information.
[23]This attitude was also the initial concept that made the basis for the exhibition
catalogue. I wanted the catalogue to reflect the neon effect of the Japanese night quarters,
and therefore, the design of the pages took the shape of this theme: dark background with
bright lines and shimmering letters, following the pattern of neon lights.
[24]This is the title of the famous article by Joan Riviere from 1929. For reference see:
Joan Riviere Womanliness as a Masquerade in: V. Burgin and J. Donald, C. Kaplan
(ed.), Formations of Fantasies, London 1986
[25]In both cases the video projection and the digital image, artist's specifications
and requests were taken seriously, with the greatest care and sensitivity. Nevertheless,
artists seem to be more flexible about the ways their image is projected in video-art, and
more particular about printed images on paper, although I came across artists who were
very flexible about this as well.

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[26]Both Western technologies which have long been assimilated into Japanese culture.

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