The exhibition that was supposed to be artist unit Chim Pom’s (see Out of Tokyo 179) first solo show at a museum, was put off. According to schedule, the event should have kicked off on November 1 at the Museum Studio of the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima MOCA), and for the artists and organizers, and of course also for the audience, the sudden cancellation of the exhibition is quite a big deal.
The incident takes root in an action that took place on October 21, when Chim Pom (this time minus Ellie, the group’s only female member) chartered an aircraft, and had the pilot write "pika", a Japanese onomatopoetic word for "flash", into the sky above the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. On the next morning, the local "Chugoku Shimbun" published a "photo submitted by a reader", followed by reports in other media that helped spread the news among the citizens of Hiroshima.
The problem was that the action wasn't announced beforehand to the mass media and other public institutions, nor to associations of bomb victims. After learning that the curator in charge of the planned exhibition was on the spot as well, The Citizens' Affairs Bureau immediately got in touch with the museum, and in an instant meeting the cancellation of the exhibition was decided with the artists' agreement. The Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, by the way, is administrated by assignment by the Hiroshima City Culture Foundation, and none of the staff members, including the curators, are public officers.
On October 24, both parties jointly invited representatives from a total of seven local bomb victims' associations to the municipal office (two of which did not attend), and after explaining the situation, Chim Pom leader Ushiro Ryuta made a statement of apology that was featured on TV and other mass media, in that day’s evening news and the following day’s newspapers. I attended the session and witnessed the questions and answers from Ushiro and chief curator Kamiya Yukie, which I'd like to sum up briefly.
- In January, after the plan for the exhibition was fixed, Chim Pom proposed to the Hiroshima MOCA their plan to "light up the Hiroshima sky in one way or another." Chief curator found the idea "too provocative in consideration of the feelings of the bombed city’s inhabitants," and further explained that the museum won't be able to cover the costs involved, so she asked the artists to come up with another idea.
- In May, Chim Pom proposed three alternative plans, including one according to which they would write said word into the sky. The chief curator explained that she turned this down as well, and was "assuming that the artists had understood the museum’s position." However, the artists claimed that their plan "wasn't rejected at any point," but that they had been aware that it would be the museum’s decision as to whether exhibit the completed work."
- Once they had a rough idea about the costs, they decided to forge ahead, and the curator in charge concluded that "a guerilla-like action was the only way." Informed about this, the chief curator judged that, "if the artist are willing to go this far, we cannot go even farther to stop them," and gave up her attempt to convince them, but later admitted that she "should have made more effort to persuade the artists." In addition, it was explained that the curator in charge did say that "a guerilla-like action was the only way," but that this was not a recommendation.
- Opinions from the museum side included the idea that they could "finish the work, show it to the people, and then see how it goes," but assuming that people now were "no longer likely to look at the work in a calm manner, " museum director Harada Yasuo, an A-bomb victim himself, together with his assistant director, decided to "admonish" the artists and cancel the exhibition.
In the October 23 edition of the Chugoku Shimbun, Ohi Kenji, a professor of art history at Hiroshima City University’s Faculty of International Studies, wrote, "The idea to make the bomb the theme of an artwork is commendable, however the artists should have been more thoughtful in their consideration of the ’sacred ground' of Hiroshima and the feelings of the aged bomb victims." Many people from the art business are seeing the cancellation as an "inevitable result", but I'm not sure if it’s okay to end the discussion at this point.
On the day after Chim Pom’s apology, the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art opened an exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang’s work to celebrate the Hiroshima Art Prize the artist was awarded this year. Part of the opening even was a performance involving explosives. These "Black Fireworks" were launched right into the sky above the A-Bomb Dome, as a "requiem for the atomic-bomb victims". Supposedly a "wake-up call against the possession of nuclear weapons, and an expression of the wish for peace," images of the work by this world-renowned artist, who was responsible for the fireworks display at the opening ceremony of the recent Beijing Olympics, were all over the place in nationwide news programs.
According to Chim Pom leader Ushiro, their "pika" was an attempt to "inspire the people in the world to think about the reality of peace, and mirror the state of today’s society with its vague and blurred memories of peace and things past." He further explains that "the plane’s gradually vanishing condensation trail symbolized the 'laid-back peaceful views' of contemporary Japan." The condensation trail itself wasn't even the actual artwork, but only part of a video the artists were going to produce later. That’s why the works of Chim Pom and Cai were different in nature and intention, but technically both share the point of staging something unusual in the sky that anybody can see by just looking up. While Chim Pom did not announce their operation beforehand, Cai had informed the city administration’s PR magazine, two local communities, and "various other related institutions" (according to the press release). The bomb victims' associations apparently hadn't heard about it until being briefed in Chim Pom’s apology meeting.
Cai does not support war, and I don't think he intended to upset any bomb victim either. However, among those who witnessed the "Black Fireworks" I spotted a man who ran around madly and shouted, "I can't believe it! That’s unforgivable!" Forgivable or not, that’s the question here, and I ask myself why Cai’s work was, but Chim Pom’s wasn't. This should be the integral point of the discussion, and therefore I believe it is necessary that Chim Pom complete their work first, so that the public can compare it to Cai’s. So far the particularity of the "sacred ground" prevented the artists from doing so, but I think that people in the art world should keep raising their voices for them.
In the press conference, Ushiro explained that he wants to present the artists' idea "in the form of a proper artwork", and the remark, "how can you think about finishing your work with all this fuss being made?" he spurned dryly, "Well, we're artists…" He apologized for the lack of communication prior to the event, and maintained his attitude and pride as an artist. Later I learned that although canceling the exhibition was a high price to pay, the negotiations they started with the seven bomb victims' associations were "going well". The whole story of the incident will even be made into a book. "In the end it all caused a greater stir than we had intended, and now the first thing we're planning is to complete the work," explains Ushiro. It’s that proactive stance to turn anything into profit, in which I'm seeing a relief.
If you allow me to add a comment, I'd like to point out that most of the comments posted in blogs and elsewhere on the Internet speak of "hit-driven sensationalism", "juvenile indiscretion" or "carelessness of the adults around". Only a few of them are based on facts, and some are not even getting the reason for the artists' apology right. For me, this is an occasion that reminds me to caution myself and remember that it should be the duty of the media to provide primary information in order to get rid of unfounded assumptions and speculations.