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Heidrun Holzfeind "News from K"
Asakusa
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Heidrun Holzfeind
Throughout rapid economic growth in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Japanese archipelago experienced turmoil triggered by a series of resistance movements spearheaded by workers, students, and ordinary citizens. These movements took place behind glamorous events such as the first Tokyo Olympics and Osaka Expo. The authorities were determined to quell these protest movements, resorting to ruthless crackdown on dissidents. Even though the intense disputes may seem to have subsided, this period still quietly but certainly reverberates today.
Heidrun Holzfeind ’s work centers on the effect of architecture and power relations in urban landscapes on society and personal identity, exploring the interrelations between individual histories and political narratives. Her latest work News From K (2023-), is an experimental video sketch in progress, where she examines urban landscapes as well as the writings of anarchist activist Toshihiko Kamata, who was said to have led the Black Helmet Group which formed around him in 1971. After the violent suppression of the student movement in Tokyo and the failure of the opposition to the Japanese-American security pact, this radical leftist group resorted to a bomb struggle as a propaganda tool against state power and Japan's involvement in the Vietnam War. After several bombings of police stations in Tokyo, and the US military communication station in Sendai, the ‘Christmas Tree Bomb’ exploded at the Oiwake police station box in Shinjuku. Kamata was arrested in 1980 and is currently serving a life sentence.
Kamata’s letters from prison link his militant past to his present life behind bars, with critical observations of the sociopolitical conditions both within and beyond the prison walls and the national borders. In this film, fragments of his poetic and philosophical reflections spanning the five decades since the bombing - eight years on the run and more than 40 years inside the wall - resonate in the landscapes and locations where Kamata lived and spent time during his struggle in Tokyo, Yamaguchi, Miyagi, and Akita.
Within the frame of "landscapes as a power device" (*1), in which the power structure of the state and capital is discerned in the details of ordinary, unremarkable scenery, the film captures not only the remnants of the former radical activists but also anonymous citizens and laborers. It observes individuals such as road constructors preparing for work, an elderly man cleaning a parking lot early in the morning unnoticed but under the security cameras, and even police officers patrolling on white bicycles. These sceneries reveal the presence of unnamed individuals who remain hidden unless one takes a moment to pause amid the city’s hustle and bustle. These landscapes serve as a lens into the socioeconomic structures of an aging society, growing social disparities, increasing surveillance, the ever-present state authority, and silent acts of resistance. From this vantage point, this work revisits the landscape theory developed by filmmakers and photographers in the 1960s and 1970s, as exemplified by A.K.A. Serial Killer (*2) through the eyes of an outsider.
The exhibition also features corresponding materials including trial documents, written records of support from civic activists, maps that trace Kamata’s footsteps during his struggles, and a small fraction of books that he has read in prison over the years. This exhibition delves beyond the aftermath of the bombings, exploring the convoluted past that led the assailant to resort to such extremes and casting doubt on the efficacy of the current legal system. These subjects provoke conjecture about the potential for citizens to engage with society. The exhibition space is envisioned as a platform for reflection and debate about the prospects for social change.
*1 Masao Matsuda, Fukei no Shimetsu (The extinction of Landscape), Tabata Shoten, 1971.
*2 Masao Adachi, A.K.A. Serial Killer, 86 min., finished in 1969, released in 1975. In collaboration with directors Kōji Wakamatsu and Nagisa Ōshima, screenwriter Mamoru Sasaki, and critic Matsuda Masao.
Heidrun Holzfeind ’s work centers on the effect of architecture and power relations in urban landscapes on society and personal identity, exploring the interrelations between individual histories and political narratives. Her latest work News From K (2023-), is an experimental video sketch in progress, where she examines urban landscapes as well as the writings of anarchist activist Toshihiko Kamata, who was said to have led the Black Helmet Group which formed around him in 1971. After the violent suppression of the student movement in Tokyo and the failure of the opposition to the Japanese-American security pact, this radical leftist group resorted to a bomb struggle as a propaganda tool against state power and Japan's involvement in the Vietnam War. After several bombings of police stations in Tokyo, and the US military communication station in Sendai, the ‘Christmas Tree Bomb’ exploded at the Oiwake police station box in Shinjuku. Kamata was arrested in 1980 and is currently serving a life sentence.
Kamata’s letters from prison link his militant past to his present life behind bars, with critical observations of the sociopolitical conditions both within and beyond the prison walls and the national borders. In this film, fragments of his poetic and philosophical reflections spanning the five decades since the bombing - eight years on the run and more than 40 years inside the wall - resonate in the landscapes and locations where Kamata lived and spent time during his struggle in Tokyo, Yamaguchi, Miyagi, and Akita.
Within the frame of "landscapes as a power device" (*1), in which the power structure of the state and capital is discerned in the details of ordinary, unremarkable scenery, the film captures not only the remnants of the former radical activists but also anonymous citizens and laborers. It observes individuals such as road constructors preparing for work, an elderly man cleaning a parking lot early in the morning unnoticed but under the security cameras, and even police officers patrolling on white bicycles. These sceneries reveal the presence of unnamed individuals who remain hidden unless one takes a moment to pause amid the city’s hustle and bustle. These landscapes serve as a lens into the socioeconomic structures of an aging society, growing social disparities, increasing surveillance, the ever-present state authority, and silent acts of resistance. From this vantage point, this work revisits the landscape theory developed by filmmakers and photographers in the 1960s and 1970s, as exemplified by A.K.A. Serial Killer (*2) through the eyes of an outsider.
The exhibition also features corresponding materials including trial documents, written records of support from civic activists, maps that trace Kamata’s footsteps during his struggles, and a small fraction of books that he has read in prison over the years. This exhibition delves beyond the aftermath of the bombings, exploring the convoluted past that led the assailant to resort to such extremes and casting doubt on the efficacy of the current legal system. These subjects provoke conjecture about the potential for citizens to engage with society. The exhibition space is envisioned as a platform for reflection and debate about the prospects for social change.
*1 Masao Matsuda, Fukei no Shimetsu (The extinction of Landscape), Tabata Shoten, 1971.
*2 Masao Adachi, A.K.A. Serial Killer, 86 min., finished in 1969, released in 1975. In collaboration with directors Kōji Wakamatsu and Nagisa Ōshima, screenwriter Mamoru Sasaki, and critic Matsuda Masao.
Schedule | Oct 27 (Fri) 2023-Dec 3 (Sun) 2023 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.asakusa-o.com/en/news-from-k/ | ||||
| Venue | Asakusa https://www.asakusa-o.com/en/ | ||||
| Location | 1-6-16 Nishi Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0035 | ||||
| Access | 2 minute walk from exit 3 at Tawaramachi Station on the Ginza line, 5 minute walk from exit B at Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express line, 8 minute walk from exit 2 at Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa or Tobu Isesaki line. | ||||
| Phone | 090-8346-3232 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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