Workshop no. 22: Japanese Expanded Cinema: Preview Program and Lecture with CCJ

On Wednesday, June 13th, 2018, our friends from Collaborative Cataloging Japan (CCJ) came to the store to share some of the amazing moving images they've unearthed in their quest to bring largely unseen, thoroughly avant-garde, and uniquely Japanese experimental film to the public.

Our collaborative event started with snacks, refreshments, and a looped preview of works that CCJ has committed to research, preserve, and present. Our guests got to preview the works from artists Keiichi Tanaami, Takahiko Iimura, Ko Nakajima, and Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver, and learn about their contributions to Japanese moving images.

Afterward, Julia Ross, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Westminster and curator at International Film Festival Rotterdam gave an enthralling presentation on Japanese Expanded Cinema, a movement from the 60s and 70s that broke the traditional sit-in format of cinema to incorporate cultural spaces, performance, light, and live music.

Photos from the event can be seen below. Many thanks to Ann and Julian from CCJ for partnering in this workshop. We are excited to support them in the future, and look forward to sharing their work.

About Collaborative Cataloging Japan (CCJ)
Collaborative Cataloging Japan (CCJ) is an international, 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, documenting, and disseminating the legacy of Japanese experimental moving image made in 1950s—1980s, in order to enable their appreciation by a wider audience. CCJ aims to strengthen the supporting ecology for preservation and dissemination by offering public events, research and preservation initiatives, and distribution of works on DVD as well as on digital platform. Without this effort, this unique sector of Japanese cultural heritage, which historically has been underrepresented and unsupported, would remain available to only a very few. Buried in artists’ studios or independent archives, many works are in danger of literal disappearance as film and video mediums continue to deteriorate. The scope of moving image focus includes: fine art on film and video, documentations of performance, independently produced documentaries, experimental animation, and experimental television. For more information, please visit: http://www.collabjapan.org/

About Julian Ross
Julian Ross is a Research Fellow on a Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media at the University of Westminster, United Kingdom, where he is currently researching contemporary uses of the slide projector. His PhD entitled ‘Beyond the Frame: Intermedia and Expanded Cinema in 1960-70s Japan’ was completed at the University of Leeds on a White Rose Research Studentship in 2014. He is a short film programmer at International Film Festival Rotterdam (2015-) and a freelance curator of film programmes, performances and exhibitions. He has curated films and performances at Tate Modern, BFI, Eye Film Institute, Anthology Film Archives, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and other institutions. He was an assistant curator for a film series on the Art Theatre Guild of Japan (ATG) at MoMA and Pacific Film Archives.

WORDS BY SAM GEAN