霜田誠二 我與亞洲行為藝術

我與亞洲行為藝術
霜田誠二
日本國際行為藝術節總監

到目前為止，我仍然感到有點詫異，我為什麼會寫這樣一篇關於亞洲行為藝術的文章。我知道，我是一個很了解亞洲行為藝術的藝術工作者，我可以說我所從事的工作以及自一九九三年創辦日本國際行為藝術節開始，對部份亞洲國家的行為藝術發展產生了重大影響。

當然，我明白每個國家都有一些更稱職的人才，可以介紹自己國家行為藝術的歷史以及發展狀況。但是，我希望籍此機會，透過自己的故事與大家分享我對亞洲行為藝術的看法。

首先，我想介紹本人以及日本國際行為藝術節的一些背景資料。

我一九五三年生於日本長野；一九六九年入讀長野中學。一九六零年，由於日本政府計劃簽訂美日安全條約，國內人民發起了大規模的反政府運動；當時很多學生、工人以及群眾發動了大型遊行示威，反對日本政府。那時候，日本政府亦修改了能源政策，用石油取替煤炭，很多煤礦工人因此而被解僱，最後亦加入反政府運動，而許多藝術工作者以及從事文化活動的人士亦紛紛加入反政府行列。我現在還清楚記得，六歲那年，我家門前有一大群示威工人，向著長野車站浩浩蕩蕩進發的情況。

當然，人民力量始終是較為薄弱的，政府政策最終沒有被推翻。一九六四年，奧運會在東京舉行，市內很多舊城區被移為平地，取而代之的是新建築、新道路。六十年代是所謂的經濟高速發展時期，反越戰情緒、崇拜嬉皮士熱潮等大量美國文化湧現日本。當時，國內亦正醞釀一股強大的日本地下文化，很多從事文化工作的人在國內進行宣傳活動，反對現代主義。

五十年代中到六十年代初，很多藝術工作者創作了大量前衛的表演作品。當時社會的風氣比較開放，大家都熱衷於直接發表意見；一九六九年，我升上中學的時候，就是處於這樣的一個年頭。而在西方國家，很多大學生和工人到紛紛上街示威，我就讀的中學亦定期組織反越戰以及反政府政策遊行，學生們亦通宵達旦開會。

踏入七十年代，政治運動開始減少，原因有很多，但無論如何，最終的結果就是支持新左派運動的人越來越少。我亦找不到任何理由去繼續上學，於是我輟學一年。我坐便車到了北海道，開始習詩。或者，我已經厭倦了向外表達自己，反而對內心世界產生了興趣。我發現寫詩是其中一種表達自己的最佳方式，祇要一枝鉛筆、一本記事部就可以了。但那年以後，我發現自己再不懂用文字表達自己，於是我想到了用身體代替；或者因為我曾經是一位運動員，對人體有一定認識，也相信行勝於言這個道理。

一九七五年，我第一次到大阪演出，一九七七年一月又到了東京。那段日子，我通常都租用那些專供創作樂團現場表演的小型音樂廳或一些小地方表演；那些小型音樂廳不單止遍佈東京，在日本其他小鎮亦相當普遍。那時候，我利用那些小型音樂廳，由北部北海道到南部九州島，展開了長達一個月的日本國內巡迴表演之旅。在旅途期間，我認識了具體美術協會、九州派、新達達派、零距離以及日本激流派等六十年代的前衛藝術家，他們都比我年長二十多歲，但有幾位當時仍然活躍於各類活動。

一九七九年，我在東京租用了一個小地方，在那裡表演了一百場，寫了九十九首詩；一九八零年，我的詩集終於正式面世。一九七九年，我在東京另外舉行了三十多場表演。

一九八二年五月，我到了中國，這是我第一次出國旅行。我到中國不是為了表演，而是與父親一起去的。戰亂的時候，我父親既是一名教師，亦是中國東北部一個半軍事化農業集團的領導。當時，日本軍國主義政府在當地建立了傀儡政權，強迫大量日本人民遷到那裡。父親與一百四十名年僅十四到十六歲的學生亦因此而到了中國。但在一九四五年八月戰爭結束的時候，父親被趕至當地的俄軍逮捕，送往西伯利亞的勞改營。他的妻子以及四十名學生由於未能成功逃返日本而自殺，與祇有一歲半的長子雙雙離開了他；父親在一九四八年返回日本後才知道這件事。一九八二年，我與父親以及他以前的學生重返村裡參加一個紀念儀式，那是戰後第一次舉行的悼念儀式。這是我第一次出國的經歷。

這次出國的經驗給予我一次很大的文化衝擊。我記得，即使是在北京，連接機場和市中心的高速公路就像是一條鄉間小路，我們從哈爾濱乘坐小車進村。我仍然記得當地人的生活情況，部份房屋是用泥和草搭建的，這是我第一次見到這樣的房屋。我們進村之後，學校開始舉行儀式，小學生奏樂跳舞，熱烈歡迎我們。父親和他以前的學生走到山上；在那裡可以望見那條村莊，大家都哭了起來，一直等到時間到了才要離開。

當年我二十八歲；二十八歲第一次出國算不上年青。但無論如何，我體驗了一次文化衝突。後來，我決定要更投入地從事藝術工作，因為我知道，生命原來並不漫長，而是非常短暫。如果我要繼續從事藝術行業，就一定要更努力、更專業地組織藝術活動，這樣才會活得更有意義。

一九八二年十二月，我意外地碰上了出訪巴黎的機會。當時，我在東京一家小型音樂廳表演，表演結束後有一位觀眾說他有一張去巴黎的單程機票，還鼓勵我去一趟。機票十天內有效；那位觀眾跟我說，他原本在巴黎讀書，買了來回機票到日本之後才決定在東京結婚，所以他不再需要那張返回巴黎的機票了。我當然知道使用別人的機票是非法的，但他幫我巧妙地解決了這個問題。最後，我帶著一點錢，安全到了巴黎，逗留了三個月。這次旅程，又一次帶給我很大的文化衝擊，這是我第一次接觸到真正的西方文化。由於我身無分文，我在巴黎街頭做了幾百場表演，每天賺點生活費。在巴黎的三個月，我不停思考如何以藝術為生，而巴黎人都對我非常熱情。返回東京之後，我策劃了幾個藝術活動，以日本當時得令的藝術工作者、音樂人、製片人和舞者作為賣點。我們的活動沒有得到公眾支持，我開始明白，藝術發展的道路還很漫長。我經常為活動墊支……但我甘願這樣做，我們經常一起討論活動計劃，又經常喝醉。

一九八六年，我第二次出國旅行，在幾個歐洲國家進行表演，為時長達三個月；一九八七年和一九八八年，我又花了三個月時間在歐洲。行程部署方面完全沒有問題，因為演出機會很多，而我這個年輕前衛的日本藝術工作者亦很受歡迎，幾乎每個星期我都有機會在小劇院、畫廊或者博物館演出，有時甚至有酬勞。

一九八九年，我決定前往韓國。雖然韓國鄰近日本，但是我對韓國所知不多。我在京都做了一場表演，賺了點酬勞，便出發到下關市，再乘船到韓國斧山，逗留了三天，然後又到了首爾。這一星期或許可稱得上是我第一次到海外進行藝術資料搜集的旅程。

一九九零年，我被斧山青年雙年展以及視覺藝術節邀請到韓國的一些機構演出。

一九九一年，我到了香港，為莫昭如策劃的活動表演了兩場。我與莫昭如曾經見過面幾次，其中一次是一九八七年在東京，另一次是一九九零年分別在東京和紐約。那次，我在紐約參加富蘭克林‧福爾蘭斯籌組的表演活動，莫昭如專誠去看我演出，還邀請我去香港。我的演出很受香港人歡迎，聽說有一個劇團對我的肢體動作留下了極深印象。

我曾經聽說過曼谷有很多有折扣優惠的旅行社，香港演出之後，我到了曼谷，買了一套曼谷─雅典─華沙／富蘭克福─曼谷─香港的機票。我到了希臘和波蘭參加當地的行為藝術節，又在德國做了幾場個人表演，兩個月後我又回到香港。後來聽說臺灣有人想見我，於是我到了臺北，認識了王墨林。

莫昭如和王墨林帶我真正走進了韓國以外的其他亞洲地方。我們經常聚頭，與他們的朋友一起談天說地，一起喝酒。雖然當地沒有反對行為藝術的運動，但因為當時剛發生了一九八九年天安門事件，所以當地局勢頗為緊張。或者，經過那場地下小型劇院運動之後，這兩個與中國有著密切關係的城市需要更多社會觀點，需要更新的藝術表達方式。有好幾次，莫昭如和王墨林與朋友一起為我舉辦行為藝術工作坊和藝術講座，讓當地人士參與。不過，要發展行為藝術從來都不是一件容易的事。

一九九九年開始，我多次被邀到韓國參加當地的各類節慶活動。事實上，韓國在那時舉辦了很多活動，並經常在開幕式中加插表演。雖然當時的經濟狀況不好，但當地藝術工作者會喜歡與自己的學生策劃表演活動，有時學生的英語比老師好，部份藝術家前輩還能說一點日語。我對他們靠自己獨立組織藝術活動印象非常深刻，這與波蘭的情況相似。在波蘭，藝術工作者往往也是活動策劃人，因為祇有藝術工作者才明白行為藝術和藝術活動本身需要什麼，而且他們在藝術界都有較好的關係網。

參加波蘭藝術節的愉快體驗，促使我決定在一九九三年二月創辦首屆日本國際行為藝術節。我們一起創作，一起談天暢飲，渡過了很多開心日子。我知道前面的工作艱巨，但我亦知道我是唯一可以在日本組織這類國際行為藝術節的人。一九九三年第一屆日本國際行為藝術節祇有兩位日本藝術工作者和三位韓國藝術創作人參與，其餘十人來自歐洲和加拿大。無論如何，首屆藝術節非常成功，不但在長野受歡迎，甚至東京的藝術雜誌都表示對藝術節有興趣；這是日本第一個真正的國際行為藝術節。

一九九四年，我在日本認識了新加坡著名藝術家唐大霧，我邀請他參加了一九九五年第二屆的日本國際行為藝術節，但他卻推薦李文。參加第二屆藝術節的亞洲藝術工作者就祇有李文、莫昭如推薦的兩位香港女藝術家，以及一位韓國女藝術家。到了一九九六年的藝術節，李文向我推薦泰國的清彭‧阿皮蘇克和新加坡女藝術家王良吟，而王墨林又推薦了臺灣的陳界仁以及北京的馬六明。其實，王墨林之前並不認識他們，後來中國著名藝評家栗憲庭送給我有關這兩位中國前衛藝術家的個人資料，墨林看了資料後，才到北京與他們見面，並決定推薦六明成為第一位參加日本國際行為藝術節的中國大陸藝術工作者。我和墨林在完成九六年的日本藝術節之後，計劃創辦臺灣國際行為藝術節。可惜，由於經費問題，計劃告吹了。無論如何，除了兩位日本藝術家之外，還有來自四個亞洲國家的藝術工作者參加了九六年的日本國際行為藝術節。

一九九六年，東京藝術博物館邀請我籌辦一個行為藝術活動，於是我想到了以亞洲行為藝術系列的形式進行。博物館希望我安排五場周末表演，於是我們邀請了韓國、中國、新加坡和泰國的藝術工作者連續幾個周末表演。後來我才明白，原來日本國際行為藝術節每年才舉辦一次，不足以吸引亞洲表演者參加。於是從一九九六年開始，藝術節改為一年舉行兩次，一次在二月份，是面向國際的，另一次在七月份，主要集中在亞洲地區。

一九九七年，我在魁北克認識的藝術家朋友Le Liue和藝術中心總監理查‧馬泰爾(曾參加九三年和九六年的日本國際行為藝術節)邀請我到魁北克製作一個亞洲藝術節，除了我之外，韓國的李湘轃、中國的馬六明、臺灣的陳界仁、泰國的清彭‧阿皮蘇克和新加坡的錢德拉塞卡也獲邀參與。事實上，在九六年日本國際行為藝術節舉辦之前，西方國家的活動策劃人和藝術界對亞洲的行為藝術可謂一無所知，而日本國際行為藝術節可能是唯一一個活動可以引領西方國家的活動主辦方去認識亞洲的行為藝術，同時，這亦是一個讓亞洲藝術工作者接觸西方藝術世界的機會。

不過，由於我之前對亞洲的資料搜集工作做得不足，我祇知道韓國、香港和臺灣的情況，所以很難邀請其他亞洲藝術工作者到日本參加行為藝術節；於是，我開始到東南亞搜集更多資料。一九九六年我到了泰國；一九九八年我到了新加坡和印尼；一九九九年我又到了菲律賓和緬甸。

一九九八年和一九九九年，我分別邀請到印尼的阿海麥安妮和昂敏參加二月份舉行的日本國際行為藝術節。我沒有菲律賓方面的資料，但曾經通過電子郵件聯絡當地幾家藝術畫廊，跟他們說我要到馬尼拉物色合適的藝術工作者，後來他們安排了阮‧莫洛‧奧金寶和朗拿度‧瑞茲跟進我的資料搜集工作。與他們交談了幾次之後，奧金寶忽然跟我說他有意在一九九九年十二月組織首屆菲律賓國際行為藝術節。由於我和阿海麥安妮將會在二零零零年二月在耶加達舉辦第一屆耶加達國際行為藝術節，奧金寶希望菲律賓的藝術節可以在耶加達藝術節之前舉行。

參加過九六年日本國際行為藝術節之後，清彭‧阿皮蘇克開始在泰國組織藝術活動，又在一九九八年創辦了亞托邦國際行為藝術節。他認為，雖然泰國經常舉辦行為藝術活動，但祇是作為展覽等活動的開幕表演，在參加日本國際行為藝術節之前，他並不知道世界上原來有其他的行為藝術節，莫洛和其他知名亞洲藝術家也曾經這樣告訴我。雖然部份亞洲國家已經開始發展行為藝術，但表演活動很少，而且並非定期舉行，他們並不知道，行為藝術已經發展成為現今社會一個重要的藝術媒界。但是，當他們參加了日本國際行為藝術節之後，就意識到行為藝術是一個很重要、很有意思的藝術活動，正如我在一九九一年從波蘭回來之後，也有同樣的感受，哪怕祇是短短數天與藝術工作者會面，也是一個難忘的經驗。

活動不僅對藝術工作者產生了重大影響，對整個社會而言也是如此。一九九八年往印尼途中，我先到新加坡與緬甸藝術家昂敏見面。我問他緬甸的行為藝術的發展狀況，他說他曾經參與過行為藝術，於是我決定邀請他參加一九九九年二月舉行的日本國際行為藝術節。昂敏在日本的演出非常精彩，於是我決定到緬甸利用短片與他探討表演和藝術。令人驚喜的是，在緬甸這樣一個獨裁主義國家裡，昂敏家裡竟然有自己的畫廊，還在那裡舉辦現代藝術展，又給我策劃演出活動。

一九九九年，馬六明為我安排演出，我到了北京。九六年日本國際行為藝術節之後，我有時會在外地碰見他。一九九八年在奧利亞我又與他碰面，當時他說，如果我有時間到北京的話，他會幫我在北京籌劃演出活動。當時我們已經邀請了朱冥參加九九年日本國際行為藝術節，六明又在北京邀請了盛奇和王邁兩位中國藝術家，我們就在六明的朋友位於北京市郊的工廠做了一些非正式的演出，吸引了很多觀眾前來欣賞，著名藝評家和搖滾音樂人崔健，還有舒陽都是座上客。第二年，六明又與陳進和朱冥創辦了OPEN行為藝術節，他們把藝術節請柬連同日本國際行為藝術節小冊子一併寄給了國外很多藝術家。後來，舒陽在北京為我安排了一場短片演出，還介紹我與西安的相西石和成都的戴光郁以及余極認識。於是，我去了北京。

上世紀九十年代初，除了波蘭之外，我還經常往來其他中歐國家。自一九八八年開始，斯洛伐克的新扎姆基藝術節 (朱赫茲‧祖塞夫執導) 以及羅馬尼亞的德蘭斯瓦尼亞藝術節 (尤杜‧古茲達夫執導) 每年都深受歡迎，吸引很多藝術工作者出席。藝術節剛起步的時候，主辦方祇管寄出大量請柬，至於最終誰會真正出席，就要到活動開幕當天才會知曉，中國和其他亞洲國家也有類似情況。有時候，日本國際行為藝術節的目錄就如一本實用指南，主辦方祇管按照目錄內藝術家聯絡資料發出請柬，甚至並不認識收件人是誰。

日本國際行為藝術節與其他活動不同，因為我們會負責支付幾乎所有藝術工作者的國際旅費、食宿和火車票等費用，這些開支在日本都是非常昂貴的。作為總監，我必須清楚知道有哪些藝術家參與活動。有時我會依賴朋友的推薦，但我總會到他們的居住地跑一趟，因為我相信，行為藝術與表演者的生活背景和社會環境有著密切關係，因此藝術節總監有必要事先了解與會藝術工作者的背景資料，而這一點尤為重要。作為總監，如果我對他們的背景一無所知，我就沒有半點信心把這些藝術家介紹給觀眾了。

無論如何，為了推廣行為藝術，我經常穿梭亞洲各地；當然，我亦會到訪亞洲以外的其他地區，哪怕當地沒有行為藝術演出，我仍然會到當地宣傳。我們需要更多藝術工作者參與亞洲行為藝術發展。二零零零年五月，我第一次來到越南何志明市，做了一場表演以及一個短片演出，吸引了大約五十位觀眾，大部份都是藝術工作者，不過他們全部都是走社會現實主義路線。表演結束後，大部份觀眾馬上離場，認為行為藝術對越南來說太新鮮了。不過，仍然有三位女藝術工作者留了下來，我問她們其中一位會不會表演行為藝術，雖然沒有經驗，但她卻回答說：“會！”我決定邀請她參加二零零零年七月舉行的面向亞洲的日本國際行為藝術節。她名叫黃莉，雖然初次參加行為藝術表演，但是演出非常精彩。

我知道，行為藝術並非一種深奧的藝術媒介，藝術工作者不須要懂得特別技巧，經過特別訓練或使用特別素材，我們祇須要一個空間，但不是什麼“專用”空間，我們可以在任何地方表演，即使是在大街上也可以。事實上，菲律賓和印尼很多藝術家都很擅長街頭表演，有時甚至在政治示威活動上演出。

亞洲很大，我祇是比較熟悉北部和東南部的情況，但僅僅這兩部份已經包括了很多國家，他們有不同語言、宗教信仰、社會制度和歷史背景，部份國家有相當程度發表意見的自由，但是有部份曾經歷過西方和日本殖民主義管治的國家，即使時至今日，在這方面仍然非常落後。

我記得二零零一年我在紐約籌劃了一個小型的亞洲藝術節，名為“日本社會與滋賀藝術博物館”。當時紐約的“九．一一”事件發生了才三星期，市內情況仍然緊張，不過，仍然有很多紐約市民前去欣賞，活動在日本也吸引了很多觀眾入場。參加這次活動的藝術工作者有來自韓國、印尼、越南、緬甸、泰國和日本，我向觀眾介紹每位表演者的背景資料，又向他們解釋即使同在亞洲地區，各國文化可以是如此不同。不過我發現，稻米是亞洲地區主要粮食，也就是說，亞洲各國人民的腦海裡都對種植稻米的農田景色留有深刻印象。

二零零三年，我在中歐組織了一個亞洲行為藝術巡迴表演之旅，在斯洛伐克、匈牙利、波蘭和塞爾維亞-蒙特內哥羅四個國家演出，參加表演的藝術工作者有十五位來自日本，三位來自中國大陸，兩位來自臺灣。這次活動由日本國際行為藝術節和當地藝術工作者協辦，這些屬於日本國際行為藝術節的在外交流是非常重要的活動。這類國際間合作需要建基在真正的友情之上，而我們在全世界已經建立了這樣一個良好的友誼網絡。事實上，日本國際行為藝術節曾經邀請過五十個國家超過三百五十位藝術工作者參與。過去十年，我曾經與中國、韓國、越南、緬甸、印尼、新加坡、波蘭、法國、美國、墨西哥、智利、阿根廷、烏拉圭等國家一起為日本國際行為藝術節組織交流活動，情況許可的時候，亦會儘量安排亞洲的藝術工作者同行，因為我知道他們須要累積更多經驗。二零零七年十一月，我在北京、成都和西安組織了第三次中日交流活動。雖然當地已經有由中國藝術工作者籌辦的行為藝術節，例如OPEN藝術節以及大道現場藝術節等活動，但是我發現，在這些城市舉辦再多的行為藝術表演仍是可行的。

今年，亞洲各地舉辦了很多有關行為藝術的國際活動，例如菲律賓每年一度的 “TUPADA行為藝術與多媒體藝術節”以及每兩年一次的“TUPADA國際行為藝術節”、新加坡的“幻想的未來”、韓國的“韓國國際行為藝術節”以及“實驗藝術精神”，還有中國的OPEN藝術節和大道現場藝術節，而西安、成都、香港等地也舉辦了各類表演活動，在澳門又舉辦了國際行為藝術節。此外，泰國舉辦了亞托邦國際行為藝術節，臺灣也有自己的國際行為藝術節，印尼有“Perfurbance現場藝術節”，還有很多不同的行為藝術活動或項目在印尼各地、越南和緬甸舉行。過去十年，亞洲地區在行為藝術方面的發展十分出色。今年年初，我的藝術家朋友埃耶科與他的同事在緬甸仰光開創了一個新的藝術天地“全新零距離藝術空間”。埃耶科寫信跟我說，他們希望這個空間能夠成為他們自己的藝術創作新天地，成為籌辦展覽和表演的場地，甚至設立藝術圖書館，發展成為藝術工作者聚會的地方。我仍未有時間去參觀，但我相信這個空間不僅代表了他們的希望，也是我們所有人的希望。

今年五月，中國發生了災難性地震，而緬甸亦受暴風吹襲，死傷無數。正如二零零六年印尼海嘯和去年的地震一樣，它們全部都是可怕的天災。在出外表演的途中經常聽到這類消息，災難中很多受害者都是兒童，這些消息實在太不幸，心裡實在不好受。不過，很多西方國家和亞洲各地的藝術工作者寫電郵給我，希望我幫忙了解一下他們在日本國際行為藝術節認識的緬甸和中國大陸的藝術家朋友的情況，因為有一段時間電子郵件通訊網絡中斷了。我覺得，這種全球性的同一感受、同一擔憂，正是我們行為藝術活動網絡所促成的一個重要正面的成果。雖然社會上仍然存在各種各樣的問題，就像亞洲區內存在著不同文化一樣，但是，縱使生活苦澀，世界仍然充滿希望，因為我們還有一種溝通媒介，名叫：行為藝術。

Performance Art in Asia - A Personal Perspective

Seiji Shimoda
(Artist, NIPAF director)

I am still wondering how I can write this piece on Performance Art in Asia. I know I am one of the people who best know Performance Art in Asia in general. I dare say my activities and NIPAF (Nippon International Performance Art Festival, since 1993) have exerted a significant influence on the development of performance art in several Asian countries.

Of course, I know that each country has people better suited to describe their own history and development of performance art. But on this occasion I would like to express my own views about Asian Performance Art via my own experiences.

First of all, I need to share my personal history and background, as well as that of NIPAF.

I was born in 1953 in Nagano and entered Nagano High School in 1969. In Japan, a big people’s movement arose in 1960. Because the Japanese government wanted to conclude the AMPO (US - Japan security treaty) many students, workers and ordinary citizens marched in huge demonstrations, which rattled the Japanese government. During that period the Japanese government also changed its energy policy from coal consumption to oil. Many coalmine workers were laid off and they also engaged in anti-government activities. Many artists and those involved in culture joined the anti-government movement. I vividly recall a big workers demonstration going to Nagano Station in front of my house when I was six years old.

Of course, People Power was not strong enough and the system remained unchanged. In 1964, we hosted the Tokyo Olympic Games. Many old districts were bulldozed to make way for new buildings and new roads. The so-called Era of Economic High Development arrived in the 60’s. A lot of US-influenced culture was imported including anti-Vietnam War sentiments and the hippie cult. Those times also spawned a strong Japanese underground culture, in which many people engaged in culture promoted anti-modernism activities throughout the country.

Since the mid-50s and 60’s, many artists have created lots of avant-garde performances; the atmosphere of society was so volatile that everybody wanted to express their own opinions directly to others. And 1969, the year I entered high school, was just such a time. As in the West, many university students and workers demonstrated in the streets. In my high school, students periodically organised anti-Vietnam War and anti-system demonstrations, while student meetings lasted late into the night.

But those movements crumbled with the arrival of the 70s. There were several reasons for this but the net result was that sympathy dwindled for the New Left movement. I also could not find any reason to go to school and stopped for a year. I hitchhiked to Hokkaido then started to write poetry. Maybe I was tired of expressing myself to the outer world and became more interested in the inner universe. I found that writing poetry was one of the best means of expression. I needed only one pencil and a notebook. But after that year, I hit a wall in terms of being able to express myself through words. I then thought of bodily expression - perhaps because I had previously been a good athlete. I knew something about the body and believed that actions spoke louder than words.

I performed for the first time in Osaka in 1975, before moving to Tokyo in January 1977. In those days, the so-called Live House and small rented space served as our place for expression. Live Houses existed not only in Tokyo but in so many towns throughout Japan. During that period, I embarked upon a one-month tour of Japan using Live Houses from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. Through this tour of Japan I met many 60s avant-garde artists including Gutai, Kyushu-ha, Neo Dada, Zero Dimension and Japanese Fluxus artists. They were some 20 years older than me but several were still active.

In 1979, I performed one hundred times in a small rented space in Tokyo and wrote 99 poems, before publishing a book of poems in 1980. I also gave more than 30 performances in Tokyo in 1979.

In May 1982 I went to China, my first experience of travelling abroad. I did not go to perform. I went because my father had been a teacher and the leader of a semi-militarised agriculture group in northeast China during the war. The militaristic Japanese government had created a puppet regime and forced many Japanese citizens to go there. My father, with 140 students aged 14 to 16 years old, also relocated there but at the end of the war in August 1945 the Russian Army arrived and he was arrested and sent to a labour camp in Siberia. His wife and one-and-a-half year old first son died when she and 40 students who unsuccessfully tried to escape to Japan committed suicide. My father did not know that fact until he returned to Japan in 1948. Anyway, in 1982, he and his ex-students went to their former village for a memorial ceremony, the first time since the end of the war, and I went there with them. It was my first experience of going abroad.

This experience exerted a great cultural shock upon me. Even in Beijing, I remember that from the Airport to the city centre the highway was like a country road. From Harbin, we took a small bus to the village, and I remember how life was for the local people. Some houses were constructed of soil and straw, a new sight for me. After reaching the village, the junior school prepared a warm welcome ceremony for us, with students performing music and dance. My father and his ex-students all cried after we reached the hill where we could see the village until it was time to leave.

I was 28 years old - not so young for my first experience abroad. But anyway, I experienced a cultural shock. As a result, I decided to concentrate more on Art as I already knew that life was not so long but very limited. If I wanted to continue art, I would have to concentrate on my art activities as a professional if my life was to have meaning.

That same year, in December 1982, I had the opportunity to go to Paris. It was very much by accident. I had just finished a performance in a small Tokyo Live House when one of the members of the audience told me he had a one-way air ticket to Paris and encouraged me to go there. The ticket had a 10-day time limit. He told me that he was studying in Paris and had bought a return ticket to Japan but had decided to marry in Tokyo, so he no longer needed the ticket. Of course, it was illegal to use another person’s named ticket but he knew how to circumvent this. Anyway, I reached Paris safely with a little money and stayed for three months. This, too, was a big cultural shock for me as it was my first encounter with real Western culture. Because I had no money, I did hundreds of street performances in Paris to earn a little each day. During this three month period, I was considering how I could live as an artist. People in Paris treated me warmly. After returning to Tokyo, I organised several art events featuring many Japanese same-generation artists, musicians, filmmakers and dancers. I realised we had lots to achieve in the cause of art development as there was no public support system for our activities. I always spent my own money . . . but always willingly, and we often got drunk and discussed upcoming projects.

The second opportunity to travel came in 1986, and I did various performances in several European countries for three months. I also spent three months in 1987 and 1988 in Europe. It was not so difficult to schedule because there were many opportunities and I was well accepted as a young avant-garde Japanese artist. Almost every week I could perform in small theatres, galleries and museums, and even received an artistic fee.

In 1989, I decided to go to Korea. I had no real knowledge of Korea even though the country was so close. I performed once in Kyoto then used the artist’s fee to go to Shimonoseki to board a ferry to Pusan in Korea, where I stayed three days before moving on to Seoul. Maybe this one-week trip served as my first artistic research abroad.

In 1990, I was invited to perform by the Pusan Youth Biennial and See Art Festival in Korea organisations.

In 1991, I performed twice in Hong Kong at events organised by Mok Chiu Yu, whom I had met in Tokyo in ‘87 and also in ‘90 in Tokyo and New York. He came to see my performances in New York, which had been organised by Franklin Furnace, and he invited me to Hong Kong. My performance was well received by Hong Kong people and I heard that a theatre group was impressed by my physical performance.

After Hong Kong, I went to Bangkok to buy a plane ticket for Bangkok-Athens-Warsaw/ Frankfurt-Bangkok-Hong Kong. I had heard that there were lots of discount travel shops in Bangkok. I joined a performance art festival in Greece and Poland and also did several solo performances in Germany before returning to Hong Kong two month later. Then I heard that someone in Taiwan wanted to meet me, so I went to Taipei to meet Wang Molin.

These two people - Mok Chiuyu and Wang Molin - were the entree for me to real Asia, with the exception of Korea. We talked a lot, discussed a lot and drunk a lot with their good friends. Even though there were no performance art movements there, there was tension because it was just after the Tiananmen incident in 1989. Those two China-related areas needed more new social perspectives, and maybe needed new avenues of artistic expression after the underground mini theatre movement. On several occasions they and their friends organised my performance art workshops and artist’s lectures for local people. But performance art development was often not easy.

From 1999 onward, I was also invited to many festivals in Korea. In fact, so many art festivals were held in Korea in those days - they always had a performance as the opening event. Their financial situation was not so good but artists organised themselves with their students. Sometimes, those students spoke better English than the teacher artists. And some older generation artists spoke a little Japanese. I was so impressed by their independent way of organising art festivals by themselves. It was the same in Poland. The performance organiser of an art festival was always an artist himself. Only artists understood the rudimentary point of performance art and the festival. Also, artists had a better network in the art field.

So, I decided to start NIPAF in February 1993 because the festival in Poland had been such a good experience. Some days we really had a good time - producing good art work, having great conversations - and consuming lots of beer! I knew it would be hard work but I also knew I was the only person who could organise this kind of international performance art festival in Japan. In the first NIPAF in ‘93, there were only two Japanese and three Korean artists, while the remaining ten came from Europe and Canada. Anyway, it was a big success: not only in Nagano - Art Magazine in Tokyo expressed a keen interest because it was the first real international performance art festival in Japan.

In 1994, I met leading Singapore artist Tang Dau in Japan. I asked him to participate in the second NIPAF in 1995 but he suggested Lee Wen instead. In NIPAF95, Asian artists only comprised Lee Wen, two young Hong Kong female artists recommended by Mok Chiuyu, and one female Korean artist. For NIPAF96, Lee Wen recommended Thai artist Chumpon Apisuk. And he recommended Amanda Heng, a female Singapore artist. In addition, Wang Molin recommended Chen Chieren from Taiwan and Ma Liumin from Beijing. In fact, Molin did not meet him until I showed him the portfolio of Chinese avant-garde artists that Li Shengtin, a famous Chinese art critic, had sent me. Molin went to Beijing and met them and decided Liumin should be the first artist from Mainland China to join NIPAF. Molin and I tried to organise TIPAF (Taiwan International Performance Art Festival) just after NIPAF96 finished. This failed, however, due to financial constraints. Anyway, for NIPAF96 I could invite artists from four Asian countries, excluding two from Japan.

Also in 1996, a Tokyo art museum invited me to organise a performance art event, so I put together the Asian Performance Art Series. The museum asked me to stage five weekend performance events: we invited artists on successive weekends from Korea, China, Singapore and Thailand. I realised that just one NIPAF a year was too infrequent to invite enough Asian performance artists. Since 1996, NIPAF has run two festivals a year. One is international and held in February, while the other focuses on Asia and is held in July.

In 1997, Le Liue, my Quebec artist friend, and art centre director Richard Martel, who participated in NIPAF93 and NIPAF96, asked me to produce an Asian Performance Festival in Quebec. Lee Sanjing from Korea, Ma Liuming from China, Chen Chieren from Taiwan, Chumpon Apisuk from Thailand, Chandrasekaran from Singapore and I were invited. In fact, prior to the NIPAF96 Festival, organisers and artists in the West had no idea about Asian performance art. The NIPAF was probably the only way Western organisers could be exposed to Asian performance art. Likewise, it was a way Asian artists could contact the Western art world.

Nevertheless, in those times it was very difficult to invite artists from Asia to NIPAF because my research in Asia was inadequate. I only knew Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. So I embarked upon a research trip to South East Asia. In 1996, I went to Thailand, in 1998 I went to Singapore and Indonesia, and in 1999 I visited the Philippines and Myanmar.

We invited Arhmaiani from Indonesia to NIPAF98 and Aung Myint to NIPAF99 in February. I had no information about the Philippines but e-mailed several art galleries about my research trip to Manila, following which Yuan Moro Ocampo and Ronaldo Ruiz visited me there. After several discussions with them, Yuan Moro Ocampo suddenly told me he wanted to organise the first PIPAF in December 1999. Because Arahmaiani and I were organising the first JIPAF in Jakarta in February 2000 he said he wanted to hold the PIPAF before the JIPAF.

In Thailand, after his experience of NIPAF96, Chumpon Apisuk launched performance art events and then started Asiatopia in 1998. He said performance art often happened in Thailand but only as an opening event at exhibitions; in fact, he did not know about the existence of performance art festivals in the world until his participation in NIPAF. This is what Yuan Moro and other leading Asian artists told me. Several Asian countries already had performance art but only put on short performances and infrequently. They did not know that today performance art was so important as an art medium. After the NIPAF experience, however, they realised it was an important and interesting artistic activity. This is what I felt following my experiences in Poland in 1991. Even meeting over just a few days - directly meeting artists – was an impressive experience.

The impact was substantial, not only among artists but local society. I first met Myanmar artist Aung Myint in Singapore in 1998 on the way to Indonesia. I asked him about performance art in Myanmar, and he said he had already experienced it. I decided to invite him to NIPAF99 in February. He produced a very good performance in Japan so I decided to go to Myanmar to discuss performance and art with a video show. It was amazing that even in such an authoritarian society Aung Myint had his own gallery in his house and organised modern art exhibitions and my performance there.

I also went to Beijing in 1999, where my performance was organised by Ma Liuming. After NIPAF96, I sometimes met him abroad. In 1998, I met him again in Austria and he said he would organise some events for me in Beijing if I had time to go there. We had already invited Zhu Ming to NIPAF99. In Beijing, Liuming invited two other Chinese artists, Sheng Qi and Wang Mai. We undertook private performances in Liuming’s friend’s factory in the surburbs of Beijing. Many people came to watch, including famous art critic and rock music celebrity Cui Jien. Shu Yang was also in the audience. The following year, he organised the Open Performance Art Festival with Chen Jin and Zhu Ming. They sent many invitations to international artists with the NIPAF catalogue. Later, Shu Yang organised my video show in Beijing and also introduced me to Xian, Xian Xishi, Chengdu, Dai Guanyu and Yuji. Then I went there.

In the early 1990’s, I often went to Central Europe, not only Poland. Slovakia’s Nove Zamky (directed by Juhasz Jozef) and Romania’s Transylvania (directed by Uto Gusztav) performance festivals had been well received every year since 1988. I met so many artists there. In the beginning they just sent lots of invitation letters and no-one knew who really attended until the festival opened, just as in China and other Asian countries. Sometimes, the NIPAF catalogue served as a good guide book because it included artists’ contact details. They sent invitation letters even though they did not know who he/she was.

NIPAF is a rather different kind of festival because we cover almost all artists’ international travel costs as well as the cost of hotels, food and trains, which in Japan are so expensive. As director, I needed to know who the participating artists were. Sometimes I relied on friends’ recommendations but I always tried to go to their country because I believe it is most important that the director knows a participating artist’s background as performance art is very close to one’s society and life. If, as director, I was unfamiliar with their background, then I could not introduce such artists to audiences with any degree of confidence.

Anyway, I travelled a lot in Asia to promote performance art but not only in Asia, of course. Even when there was no performance art to see I promoted performance art. Yes, we need more artists involved in performance art in Asia! I went to Ho Chi Min in Vietnam for the first time in May 2000. I did one performance plus a video show. About 50 people attended - most of them artists - but all were social realism artists. After finishing my performance, the majority of guests quickly disappeared, saying that performance art was too new an art for Vietnam. But three young female artists stayed and I asked one of them if she could do performance art. She said ‘yes’, even though she had no experience. I decided to invite her to NIPAF Asia, which was held in July 2000. Her name was Hoan Ly - she did an amazingly good performance even though she was just a beginner in performance art.

I know performance art is not so difficult an art medium. Artists need no special technique, no special training or materials. We need space but not ‘dedicated’ space. We can perform anywhere, even in the street. Actually, many artists in the Philippines and Indonesia specialise in street performances. Sometimes, they perform in political demonstrations.

Asia is a vast area. I am only familiar with North and South East Asia. But even in that region there are many different countries with different languages, religions, social systems and history. Some countries have a fair amount of freedom of expression, while some countries are in a really bad situation even now. Those places have a history of Western and Japanese colonialism.

I remember in 2001, I organised the Asian Performance mini festival in New York named Japan Society and Shiga Museum of Art. It was just three weeks after 9/11 in New York. It was still a tough situation but so many New Yorkers attended, and in Japan it was also well attended. The artists came from Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Japan. I explained their background to the audience and how different even the same area of Asia can be. At one point, however, I realised that rice was our common main staple. It means that our countries have a strong rice field view in our memory.

In 2003, I organised an Asian performance art tour in Central Europe, visiting four countries - Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Servia-Montenegro - with 15 Japanese, three Mainland Chinese and two Taiwanese artists. That kind of foreign NIPAF exchange tour was important, and was co-organised by NIPAF and local artists. For this kind of international co-operation, we need a really good relationship. But we already have such a good network around the world. In fact, NIPAF has already invited more than 350 artists from 50 countries. In the last decade, I have organised NIPAF exchange tours with China, Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Poland, France, the US, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, etc. and always try to include Asian artists as tour members whenever possible because I know Asian artists need more experience. Last year, in November 2007, we staged the third China-Japan exchange in Beijing, Chengdu and Xian. I found it works to have performance art events in these cities, even when there are already some other performance art festivals directed by Chinese artists like Open Art Festival and Dadao Art Festival.

This year, Asia is hosting so many international performance art festivals. The Philippines is hosting its TAMA (TUPADA Action and Media art) on an annual basis and TUPADA every two years. Singapore is holding its Future of Imagination, while Korea is holding the KIPAF and KOPAS. In China, the Open and DADAO are on and there are performances in other cities like Xian, Chengdu, Hong Kong and the Macao MIPAF. Thailand is hosting Asiatopia, and Taiwan the TIPAF. In Indonesia, you can see Perfurbance in Jogjakarta. Many performance art events or projects have been held in several Indonesian cities, and in Vietnam and Myanmar. The development of performance art over the past 10 years in Asia has been remarkable. At the beginning of this year in Myanmar, my artist friend Aye Ko and his colleagues opened a new art space in Yangon, called New Zero Art Space. He wrote to me saying they wanted this space for their own new art space, for exhibitions and performances, and as a meeting place for artists with their own art library. I have still had no time to visit but I believe that this space is not only their hope but the hope of all of us.

A catastrophic earthquake struck China in May and a terrible cyclone hit Myanmar, killing an enormous number of people. Both were terrible events, as was the 2006 tsunami and last year’s earthquake in Indonesia. I always heard such news while abroad on art trips. Many children were victims of these incidents. It was really hard to check the news sometimes because it was so sad. Many Western and Asian artists e-mailed me to ask about artists from Myanmar and China whom they had met in NIPAF because for a while e-mail was down. I realised that this kind of global feeling and anxiety is really important - and one of the positive results of our performance art networking activity. Still, many different problems exist in our society. It is like cultural differences exist even in the same Asia. Nevertheless, we can have hope in today’s world even if life is often so terrible - because we have this medium called performance art.