Book Launch, Talk & Signing: Japan Art Revolution

06:30pm - 08:00pm, Thu 25 Sep 2025

Please join us for the launch event of Japan Art Revolution: The Japanese Avant-Garde from Angura to Provoke, published by Thames & Hudson, in our Cafe Bar. The author and designer of the book, Amélie Ravalec, will be in conversation with the Culture and Fashion writer Rosalind Jana, before signing copies of the book.

Portrait of man with flower in his mouth

Book Launch, Talk & Signing: Japan Art Revolution

6:30pm, Thu 25 Sep 2025

Please join us for the launch event of Japan Art Revolution: The Japanese Avant-Garde from Angura to Provoke, published by Thames & Hudson, in our Cafe Bar. The author and designer of the book, Amélie Ravalec, will be in conversation with the Culture and Fashion writer Rosalind Jana, before signing copies of the book.

This event is part of our Past Programme

The 1960s in Japan were a time of profound social change, political unrest, and student protests. The turbulent years of the postwar era inspired an artistic explosion, with the emergence of a revolutionary scene of avant-garde artists who pioneered many disciplines: experimental and erotic photography, "Angura" theater and underground street performances, apocalyptic butoh dance, surreal illustrations, and seminal graphic design.

Taking design cues from Japanese luminaries Yokoo Tadanori and Awazu Kiyoshi, Japan Art Revolution showcases more than six hundred captivating artworks, encompassing photographs, film stills, theater posters, and illustrations by visionary artists including Moriyama Daido, Hosoe Eiko, Araki Nobuyoshi, Ishiuchi Miyako, Tanaami Keiichi, Hijikata Tatsumi, Ohno Kazuo, Terayama Shuji, Tenjo Sajiki, Kawada Kikuji, Neo-Dada Organizers, Hi-­Red Center, Hanaga Mitsutoshi, Nakahira Takuma, and Tanabe Santaro, to name a few of the artists featured in this book.

Drawing on extensive interviews with these iconic artists, this comprehensive publication offers readers a nuanced understanding of the thriving world of Japanese avant-­garde art, complemented by insightful texts and quotes from esteemed experts, curators, academics, and archivists.

 

Amélie Ravalec is a Parisian film director, producer, and colorist. She directed her first documentary, Paris/Berlin: 20 Years of Underground Techno (2012), at the age of sixteen, winning the Festival Pick Award at the Sydney Fringe Festival. She went on to direct multiple films on underground arts, including two documentaries on the Japanese avant-­garde. Her films have been shown at cinemas, festivals, museums, and cultural institutions across fifty countries, and acquired by TV networks including ARTE, Sky Arts UK, and ORF Austria.
 

Rosalind Jana writes about art, fashion and culture. Her work regularly appears in the BBC, Vogue, ArtReview, Frieze, Apollo and The Guardian. She also works communications, copywriting, editorial work and scriptwriting for Loewe, Olivia von Halle, The Financial Times, Margaret Howell and Netflix, and texts for galleries. Rosalind has lectured, delivered workshops and hosted panels and conversations for places including London College of Fashion, City University, Oxford University, Soho House and Waterstones.