E2024-G101

Japanese Artist Tomiyama Taeko: A Voice Against Imperialism

Narrative

Tomiyama Taeko (1921-2021) (富山妙子) was a prominent Japanese artist who used her work to critique imperialism. Her art encompassed events like the May 18 Democratic Uprising, where the citizens of Gwangju, South Korea, stood against military dictatorship in 1980. Inspired by the Korean poet Kim Chi Ha (1941-2022), Tomiyama’s art linked historical injustices with present activism. Tomiyama’s connection to Minjung art reflects her engagement with social issues, exploring themes of struggle and resistance. Her woodcut print piece “Pieta in Kwangju” exemplifies this by depicting the trials and hopes of the democratic uprising. It is one of five works in her “Prayer in Memory-Kwangju, May 1980” (1980), which captures the spirit of this democratic resistance and was exhibited as part of the 3rd Gwangju Biennale. In addition to her woodcut prints, her depiction of comfort women victims of the Japanese army in visual works like her two-work painting series “A Memory of the Sea” (1986) underscore her dedication to storytelling about struggle and memory of womens’ lives under Japanese imperialism.

Resources

type	resource	title	description/caption	URL
해설	Tomiyama Taeko	Homepage		https://tomiyamataeko.org/tomiyamataeko/en/
해설	Tomiyama Taeko	Kwangju, May 1980: A Prayer in Memory		https://tomiyamataeko.org/tomiyamataeko/en/serieswork/kwangju-may-1980-a-prayer-in-memory
해설	Tomiyama Taeko	A Memory of the Sea		https://tomiyamataeko.org/tomiyamataeko/en/serieswork/a-memory-of-the-sea
해설	AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research, & Exhibitions	Taeko Tomiyama		https://awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/taeko-tomiyama/

Story Map

• Global Witnesses: Foreign Eyes on Gwangju's Struggle
  • Tales from the Outside: Foreign Witnesses' Accounts of the May 18 Democratic Uprising
  • Journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter: Showing the May 18 Democratic Uprising to the World
  • Japanese Artist Tomiyama Taeko: A Voice Against Imperialism
  • Zainichi Collector of Minjung Art and More: Ha Jung-woong