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An unprecedented exploration of Japanese women artists and their impact on the global artistic landscape, from the post-war period to the turn of the twenty-first century

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An unprecedented exploration of Japanese women artists and their impact on the global artistic landscape, from the post-war period to the turn of the twenty-first century

Taking inspiration from the Japanese word for 'breaking free,' Kaiho: Japanese Women Artists after 1945 reveals the essential role of women artists from Japan and its global communities. Featuring the work of 39 artists – from Ruth Asawa, Yayoi Kusama and Tomie Ohtake to Atsuko Tanaka and Yoko Ono – this deeply researched, expansive survey illustrates the radical, yet often overlooked contributions of Japanese women to global postwar art movements and contemporary art.

Kaiho covers a wide breadth of media, including sculpture, painting, installation, photography, ceramics, film, and performance. Looking at dynamic cultural exchanges and the forgotten margins of modernism, the book invites readers to explore new modes of artistic expression that emerged in post-war Japan and its transnational networks across  Asia, Europe, the United States and Brazil . Some of the artists are quite familiar to us today, while many lesser-known artists offer a fresh perspective into the creative output during this time period. Insightful texts dive into themes such as feminism, pedagogy, Fluxus, Gutai, the relationship between fashion and art-making, Japanese women artists in 1960s New York, environmental consciousness, and beyond.

Strikingly designed and brought to life through more than 300 images, Kaiho is an important record of Japanese visual culture and the legacy of its transformative women artists.

Biografie

Florence Ostende is  Director of Artistic Programmes and Content at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and previously Head of the Artistic Department at Mudam Luxembourg. Her exhibitions and publications include Kaiho: Japanese Women Artists after 1945 (2026), Noguchi (Barbican, 2021) and The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945 (Barbican, 2017).

Anaël Daoud is Assistant Curator at Mudam Luxembourg, where her projects include ‘Kaiho: Japanese Women Artists after 1945’ (2026). She previously worked on the exhibition ‘Arab Presences: Modern Art and Decolonisation. Paris 1908–1988’ (2024) at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. 

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