Japan Society Announces November Talks & Art: Daido Moriyaha, Dai Fujiwara

Japan Society announces upcoming events including rare New York appearances by famed photographer Daido Moriyama, fashion and design pioneer Dai Fujiwara, and Hideo Levy, the first American to publish in Japanese.

CURRENT & UPCOMING AT JAPAN SOCIETY

Hideo Levy: A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard
Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 6:30 pm, at Japan Society
Hideo Levy became the first Westerner to publish a Japanese-language novel in Japan in 1992. Nearly 20 years later, his seminal story of an American coming of age in 1960s Japan was translated into English. As part of Japan Society's ongoing Authors on Asia series, Levy discusses his experience as a gaijin (outsider) in Japan, echoes of his life that informed the novel, and how he became the first American novelist to write in Japanese. Published as Seijouki no kikoenai heya by Koudansha in 1992 (English translation by Columbia University Press, July 2011), Levy's A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard follows a privileged and alienated gaijin thrust into the political and social upheavals of 60s Japan. Followed by a book signing and reception.

An Evening with Daido Moriyama
Thursday, November 3, 2011, 6:30 pm, at Japan Society
Visiting New York City to recreate his 1974 performance PRINTING SHOW at the Aperture Foundation, famed Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama appears at Japan Society to discuss his recent photography and early projects, such as the series 71 New York as well as PRINTING SHOW. Moderated by International Center of Photography curator Christopher Phillips, the discussion is followed by a reception. Presented in conjunction with PRINTING SHOW-TKY at the Aperture Gallery November 4 & 5, and part of the Performa 2011 new visual art performance biennial.

New Japan Architecture: Recent Works & New Trends
Thursday, November 10, 2011, 6:30 pm, at Japan Society
Japanese architecture is at the forefront of global trends: daring form, technological innovation and increasingly the move towards more sustainable structures, in which the techniques and practices of traditional design inform a new generation of cutting-edge architecture worldwide. Architect Edward Suzuki and Columbia University architecture professor Dr. Geeta Mehta, and author of New Japan Architecture: Recent Works by the World's Leading Architects, discuss leading examples of recent residential, public and commercial architecture in Japan, and look at trends from the "wow factor" to the greening of Japanese architecture. Followed by a reception and book signing.

Mastermind in Textile: An Evening with Dai Fujiwara
Wednesday, November, 16, 2011, 6:30 pm, at Japan Society
Dai Fujiwara, former Issey Miyake creative director who created A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) line with Miyake, among various other lines, appears at Japan Society this fall when he visits New York City to go Color Hunting in Central Park. Fujiwara discusses his Color Hunting project, shares his bounty from Central Park, and answers questions about life at Miyake and what the future holds, including the architectural project titled Sun House, featured in Japan Society's current exhibition Fiber Futures, which uses fabric as part of roofing design. Moderated by Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's Cara McCarty and followed by a reception.

Postcards from Japan
Through November 27, 2011, at Japan Society A-Level exhibit space
Postcards from Japan is a miniature exhibition of original postcard-size works of art created by 22 artists from northeastern Japan in response to the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that struck on March 11. "At a time when power and communication lines were down throughout the region, making it extremely difficult to contact family and friends, the Japanese postal service was a marvel of resilience," says Joe Earle, Director of Japan Society Gallery. "In many cases, the first news that loved ones were safe was by postcard." Inspired by the impact of those postcards, curators Kate Thomson and Hironori Katagiri, two sculptors based in Iwate, Japan, and Edinburgh, Scotland, invited artists from the stricken region to make new postcard-sized works for this exhibition, which debuted in August at the Edinburgh Festival and continues to further venues in the UK following the Japan Society showing. Free to the public.

Fiber Futures: Japan's Textile Pioneers
Through December 18, 2011, at Japan Society Gallery
Fiber Futures exhibits a new art form emerging from a remarkable fusion of Japanese artisanal and industrial fabric creation. Coaxed from materials as age-old as hemp and newly developed as microfilaments, a varied array of more than 35 large-scale works from 30 artists exemplify a thirst for experimentation, whether it be the search for unconventional material or in the fusing of seemingly opposing extremes of old and new. While the spirit of a Japanese sensibility and a technical virtuosity hewn over centuries is everywhere evident, one also sees the medium of fiber used to express ideas about nature and sustainability and personal and cultural identity.

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