Tomiyama Taeko

Tomiyama Taeko (富山妙子, 6 November 1921 – 18 August 2021) was a Japanese visual artist whose work addresses themes relating to war and the complicated moral, emotional, and social issues of colonial and post-colonial history in East Asia. Her works range from paintings and prints to multimedia slide presentations and more recently, installations.[1] Tomiyama died in August 2021, at the age of 99.[2]

In this Japanese name, the surname is Tomiyama.

Life

Tomiyama was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, in November 1921. She spent her youth in Dairen and Harbin in Manchukuo. After graduating from the Harbin Girls' School in 1938, Tomiyama went to study at the Joshibi Women's School of Art and Design (now Joshibi University of Art and Design) in Tokyo, from where she later dropped out because of the Pacific War.[2][3][4] She had traveled throughout Japan as well as internationally since the 1950s, using her art to express her commitment to social and political problems in the areas she visited. Her first experience was in the early 1950s when she went to work in the Chikuho mining region in Kyushu. From that experience she produced several drawings and lithographs and exhibited the works a few years later in Japan.[5]

In 1978, Tomiyama was banned from entering South Korea on account of her artistic collaboration with poet Kim Chi-ha, who had been arrested for his pro-democracy activities and his criticism of the government's handling of the People's Revolutionary Party Incident.

Tomiyama's most prominent work was dedicated to the victims of Japanese imperialism, in particular Koreans, including women sexually exploited by the Japanese military known as comfort women.

In June 2021, Tomiyama was awarded South Korea's Order of Civil Merit for her contributions to the country's democratization process.[6]

References
  1. Jennison, Rebecca (1997). ""Postcolonial" Feminist Locations: The Art of Tomiyama Taeko and Shimada Yoshiko". U.S.-Japan Women's Journal. English Supplement. No. 12 Special Issue: Gender and Imperialism 1997 (12): 84–108. JSTOR 42772109.
  2. Takeda, Hajime (19 August 2021). "画家の富山妙子さん死去　光州事件テーマ、海外にも影響". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. Jennison, Rebecca (9 November 2010). "Tomiyama Taeko: An Artist's Life and Work". Critical Asian Studies. 33: 101–119. doi:10.1080/14672710122817.
  4. Hein, Laura; Tanaka Nobuko. "Brushing with Authority: The Life and Art of Tomiyama Taeko". Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. Jennison, Rebecca; Hein Laura. "Imagination without borders: Tomiyama Taeko". Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  6. "재단활동 민주주의 바람되어, 역사에서 일상으로' 제34주년 6·10민주항쟁 기념식, 민주인권기념관 착공식". 5·18기념재단 (The May 18 Memorial Foundation) (in Korean). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
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