With some delay, I'd like to take this opportunity to write about Tokyo governor Ishihara Shintaro’s speech at the opening reception of the recent "Collection of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain" exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT). I do this because Ishihara made some scandalous remarks that were followed by a flood of articles in the French press, but were virtually ignored by Japanese media.
On the evening of April 20, right at the beginning of his speech Ishihara showered an estimated 1500-1800 invited guests including numerous Cartier representatives with cold water, when he admitted, "I hate big fashion brands." Then followed a couple of remarks I'd summarize like the following: "I came here full of expectations because I heard it was a great exhibition, but what I saw was in fact nothing special." "There are only pieces of a bizarre taste on display here." "The work (of Ron Mueck) is supposed to show a mother seen through the eyes of a baby, but as nobody can see that without an explanation, I wouldn't call it a good work of art." "The idea of 'the bigger, the better' doesn't apply here, that’s why I hate art installations."
Then Ishihara talked about the activities of the metropolitan government-run art space Tokyo Wonder Site (TWS), bellowed his own horn by praising TWS' program to foster young artists, and closed with the words, "I wish Cartier spent some money on programs like ours." The speech was of course translated simultaneously into French, resulting in an apathetic mood across the venue. On the following day, various French publications such as "Figaro" and "Liberation" ran articles citing parts of the speech, and the "Liberation" article appeared also the website of the international art magazine "Artforum".
When sorting out the problem points, I think one gets two major issues: The pros and cons of allowing officials like the Tokyo governor to make such remarks at art exhibitions, and the question whether the points Ishihara made were in fact right on the mark or not. Point one can be further divided into the aspects of general propriety and civility, and pertinence in a diplomatic/administrative sense. Civility matters shouldn't be discussed in public, so I have to limit investigations to the second point, for which I first need to review the administrative situation of the MOT, and the structure of the Cartier exhibition.
The Museum opened in 1995. It was initially operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for Education and Culture (later renamed "Tokyo Lifelong Learning and Culture Foundation"), but since 2003 the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture ("Rekibun"), in which the organization was integrated, was assigned with the administration. The budget decreased from 2.18 billion yen at the time of the museum’s opening to approximately 750 million at present. The greater part is being spent on personnel expenses and building maintenance costs, and only about 150 million yen remain for exhibitions. MOT hosts an average of five shows per year, about two of which are generally planned by the operating organization, the rest being events realized in cooperation with other organizers. The dwindling budget is of course a result of the Tokyo government’s decreasing subventions.
Photo by Kioku Keizo
The Cartier exhibition is a typical example of a co-hosted show. According to MOT assistant director, Namiki Kazuo, the budget was made up of "under ten million yen from us (Rekibun), and over ten million yen from Cartier". Attendance reportedly met the organizers' expectations, and in the end "more than 60,000 visitors in total were counted". That’s miles away from the record holding "La collection du Centre Georges Pompidou" exhibition (1997, 300,000 visitors), but still not a bad result compared with the second- and third-ranked "Andy Warhol 1956-1986: Mirror of His Time" (1995 /90,000) and "Araki Nobuyoshi — Sentimental Photography, Sentimental Life" (1999 / 75,000) respectively.
MOT officials explained that "Governor Ishihara was a guest invited by Cartier, and we are not in the position to comment on guests' speeches." As mentioned above, the museum is run by Rekibun, an organization under the supervision of the Bureau of Citizens and Cultural Affairs. MOT director Ujiie Seiichiro (presently the chairman of Nippon Television Network Corporation) was appointed his position by the Tokyo governor, but a speech as devastating as this by the "guest" is likely to result in a decrease of exhibitions that attract large numbers of visitors, and are basically financed by third parties. Considering that quite a few good (or at least reputed) items from the MOT collection can presently be found in the collections of firms and organizations around the world (many of them associated with big fashion brands), my worries are certainly not groundless.
Photo by Kioku Keizo
Now let me come to point two: Do the comments of Ishihara Shintaro, an author of novels and himself a (hobby) painter, hit the nail on the head? I guess one would have to focus on the expression "pieces of a bizarre taste" ("getemono" in Japanese). Of course, Ishihara used this term in order to mark a contrast to the so-called "jotemono" of ceramic ware and craftwork. He seems to like such expressions. At the opening of TWS Shibuya, which was attended mainly by art-related professionals and government officials in charge of cultural affairs, Ishihara addressed himself to the gallery staff in a speech along the lines of the following: "In the moment contemporary art is being created, it is nothing but bizarre stuff. Whether it will turn into classical art depends on history’s judgement, and now it’s your job to go and find the seeds of future classics." Bearing in mind that he is actually right with this observation, one could see Ishihara’s remarks at the Cartier exhibition as a reinforced expression of his conviction, rather than mere ridicule or provocation.
But is that still appropriate when it’s about an exhibition showing already established works by the likes of Ron Mueck, Tony Oursler or Cheri Samba? And are the comments of someone who is not necessarily an expert in contemporary art, and who just makes public his opinion based on his own impressions, constructive parts of a speech? A leading gallery owner who heard the speech commented, "Ishihara doesn't know a thing about art. The MOT director and his team are certainly familiar with the exhibition’s backgrounds, but I wonder if they informed the governor too…". He even went as far as saying, "That self-indulgent guy should be kept away from responsible, culture-related jobs."
Photo by Kioku Keizo
What annoys me most is the ostrich policy of the majority of professionals in the arts and media in this country. For purposes of accuracy, before writing my article I asked around if anybody was in the possession of complete records of the speech. From the MOT I heard that they "don't keep records of guests' speeches on principle", and Cartier, who "didn't record any tape or video", referred me to their Japanese office (Richemont Japan). Although Richemont were supposed to keep records of the speech, they said they "don't have any", and even Herve Chandes, the director of the Fondation Cartier, refused to comment on several questions I sent him by email.
As I stated above, with the exception of some art-related blogs and a few magazines, so far only two publications reported on the issue: the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly-opposing Japanese Communist Party’s "Akahata (red flag)", and "Shukan Shincho (Weekly Shincho)", which is known for a radically cynical attitude. The latter is published by Shinchosha, a publisher with a close relationship to Ishihara Shintaro the novelist, and praised in their article the governor’s "trademark sharp tongue". As far as I know, there is nothing at all in the big newspapers "Asahi", "Yomiuri" and "Mainichi".
I think that, based on the above, there should be further discussion about the aforementioned two points. The phrase "nobody can see that without an explanation" borders on vulgarity, but right because of that I hope that a variety of people from all walks of life join the discussion. The same goes for the request to "keep Ishihara away from responsible, culture-related jobs." On May 14, Ishihara Shintaro announced that he is going to stand for re-election as the Tokyo Metropolitan Governor.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO