The Study of Gender and Theatre/Performance: on Asian Women Artists

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This project was conducted as a joint research with a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Reseach(C)(1) for three years (2004 2006). We had already received a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(C)(1) for the previous two years (2002 2003). Therefore, this research project has been a continuation of the first one, and there have been no major changes in our aim. One of our ongoing aims has been to formulate theoretical frameworks that will help deepen our understanding of works by Asian women artists in the field of Theatre/Performance and Contemporary Art. In our research, we have drawn on - the critical perspectives of Gender and Post-colonial Studies.During the project, we have continued to focus on the work of contemporary Asian women artists who currently work in several locations (Japan, South Korea, North America, Canada, etc.). Placing the work of these women artists at the center of our project has given our approach to theoretical developments an important grounding and perspective … More in the geo-political context of East Asia. That is, by looking at the diverse expressions of "Asian Women" artists in the context of histories of imperialism and colonialism in the 20^<th> century, and the unavoidable experiences of migration and exile which have resulted, we are now better able to understand and articulate the complex forces shaping "Theatre/Performance Art and Gender" in the region. As these "diasporic" experiences continue in the 21^<st> century, it will become even more important to examine these diverse forms of expression and ways in which they resist and diverge from dominant narratives of "homogeneous global culture" or liberal notions of "multi-cultural societies."We have organized and coordinated numerous projects related to this research project in which artists, activists, and academics could open alternative spaces for dialogues and exchanges of creative expressions and critical discourses. We believe that these emerging, transnational spaces have fostered both new forms of creative expression and theoretical mappings at points where discourses on postcoloniality and gender intersect. Less