Hitotohito and Women’s Collectives throughout History

This is a 2021 article by art scholar Kira Tomoko (b. 1974) about the circumstances surrounding women’s collectives from the modern era to the present day.
Though many women artists have debuted since the before the war, it has been easy to view collectives with women-only membership as “objects of curiosity” given that art organizations centered on men were always the norm. Even after the achievement of legal and educational equality in the post-war period, the problem surrounding women artists has remained: they leave off creating as their life course narrowed to becoming full-time housewives and their histories are not taken up by male writers. Amid such social circumstances, women’s solidarity and feminist artistic practice have always been at risk of being perceived as an enemy within male-dominated structures.
Amid that present-day reality, Kira turns her attention to Hitotohito, which commenced activities in 2019. According to Kira, these activities, which can be described as a kind of “chatter (oshaberi)” between diverse members of varying backgrounds, have the effect of opening these artists up to the possibility of their personal experiences being shared at the social, political, and historical level. This is a methodology that has historically also been passed down in the women’s liberation movement. This sense of “chatter” was also shared by pre-war women artists. Kira notes that the creativity of works born out of “chatter” fosters an ability to imagine that can be shared while still acknowledging difference and sees potential in the significance of these works being shared little by little across time.

Title

Hitotohito and Women’s Collectives throughout History

Author

Kira Tomoko

First published

2021

Translation

Monika Uchiyama

Editing

Goto Oko, Naoki Matsuyama

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

Collectivism

First Posted Online

2022-08-31

Last modified

2022-08-31

© 2022 Kira Tomoko + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

The newly published English translations on this website (https://artplatform.go.jp) can be used without permission only for the purposes of education, research, critique, survey, and the like. English translations cannot be copied for the purpose of sale or distribution. You must comply with the Rules Governing the Use of the English Translations.

Citation

Footnote/endnote: Kira Tomoko, "Hitotohito and Women’s Collectives throughout History," trans. Monika Uchiyama, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted August 31, 2022, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202213.

Bibliography: Kira Tomoko. "Hitotohito and Women’s Collectives throughout History." Translated by Monika Uchiyama. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted August 31, 2022. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202213.

Original Japanese Edition

Kira Tomoko, “Rekishi no naka no josei korekutibu to Hitotohito,” On’na ga gonin atsumareba sara ga wareru [If five women get together, a plate breaks], (Tokyo: Hito-to-hito, 2021) 26–27.

吉良智子「歴史の中の女性コレクティブとひととひと」『女が5人集まれば皿が割れる』ひととひと、2021年、26-27。

National Diet Library(NDL)

https://ndlonline.ndl.go.jp/#!/detail/R300000001-I031732226-00

ISBN