In East Asia, the notion of ownership over women's bodies has been stripped away from women themselves. The very concept of womanhood has been imagined and produced to create a social expectation that women should be obedient to her own cultural patriarchy and to privileged Western colonizers. While gender inequality in East Asia is rooted uniquely in each sociocultural context, the gaze exerted upon women, especially their bodies, remains shared in many ways.
This exhibition sheds light on East Asian women who are claiming agency of their own bodies. Through the lenses of five emerging women artists from Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it reveals women's gendered experience and empowerment across their respective societies. Each artist tackles inaccurate, hyper-sexualized portrayals of women as they are manifested in their respective social contexts and personal experiences. This exhibition will show how women across East Asia are fighting hand-in-hand to refute expectations imposed upon them and seize bodily control on their terms.
This exhibition sheds light on East Asian women who are claiming agency of their own bodies. Through the lenses of five emerging women artists from Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it reveals women's gendered experience and empowerment across their respective societies. Each artist tackles inaccurate, hyper-sexualized portrayals of women as they are manifested in their respective social contexts and personal experiences. This exhibition will show how women across East Asia are fighting hand-in-hand to refute expectations imposed upon them and seize bodily control on their terms.
Currently working as a Curatorial Assistant at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Mizuho Yamazaki creates exhibition spaces where spectators encounter the social and cultural realities from other parts of the world. With a special interest in arts and politics in the Middle East and North Africa and trans-physical exhibition platforms, she completed her MA in Museum Studies at New York University, and has taken part in curatorial internships for MoMA PS1 and the Abu Dhabi Project at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as well as an exhibition design internship at the Tokyo National Museum.
Virginia Liu currently works at the Hong Kong Arts Centre Public Art Division, planning and executing art projects ranging from commissioned public art to community programs. She just finished a half-year professional attachment at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, funded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, where she worked on Future and the Arts and STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World. From 2020 onward, she is involved in Via North Point (2019-2021), an art project that aims at urban renewal and community building. She is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong with a BA in Art History and an MA in Cultural Studies.
Virginia Liu currently works at the Hong Kong Arts Centre Public Art Division, planning and executing art projects ranging from commissioned public art to community programs. She just finished a half-year professional attachment at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, funded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, where she worked on Future and the Arts and STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World. From 2020 onward, she is involved in Via North Point (2019-2021), an art project that aims at urban renewal and community building. She is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong with a BA in Art History and an MA in Cultural Studies.
