2022 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
The Archipelago Speaks Back: Pacific Islander Art and Resistance between Oceania, Japan, and Postcolonial Metropoles
| Project/Area Number |
19K01210
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Waseda University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
DVORAK G・E 早稲田大学, 国際学術院, 教授 (20613079)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
|
| Keywords | postcolonial / Oceania / contemporary art / resistance / climate change / Micronesia / 太平洋諸島 / 現代アート |
|---|
| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Building on the work achieved in previous years of the grant, and compensating for the challenges of undertaking a KAKENHI grant that had been proposed with originally such an extensive plan for overseas travel and engagement, FY2022 entailed undertaking more practical research feasible within central sites in Japan (including Kyoto and Tohoku areas), Okinawa, Australia, Palau, and Hawaiʻi. Although the original plan called for a revisitation of European sites such as Venice Biennale and Documenta, two major exhibitions, the extreme restrictions of covid-19 border protocols in Japan and other countries, combined with the prohibitive cost of airfare in the wake of the pandemic, weakened yen, and heightened fuel charges due to the Ukraine war all required me to cancel my research planned for Europe. Instead, I focused more on postcolonial art production and resistance/resilience in Palau, which hadn’t originally been in my plan but which served as a perfect substitute for the research I had planned to conduct in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (which was still closed to overseas visitors). Conducting in-depth workshops in Palau in connection with local carvers, painters, environmentalists, and other experts proved to be very productive. Also, having been able to survey the exhibition I curated as part of this research in Brisbane, “Air Canoe,” in April 2022, then revisiting Hawaiʻi in March 2023 for followup conversations that linked my earlier KAKENHI project with the next phase ended up positively, despite the other setbacks caused by the pandemic.
|
