Editorial / Linda Klösel /  Version 7

The cultural, social, or political context plays a decisive role in the understanding of art and culture. Art is always interpreted against the background of one’s own context—especially when culture-specific information necessary for understanding is lacking or misunderstood. According to the concepts of interculturality developed by cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall, such as culture-specific information behavior, Japan is a high-context culture in which much of the meaning is conveyed through implicit references, relationships, and body language rather than directly through words. These cultures are conveyed on the basis of an internal understanding, the respective context, and social norms.
In Empire of Signs, Roland Barthes recommends striving for “the possibility of a difference, a mutation, a revolution in the character of symbolic systems,” to “descend into the untranslatable and feel its shock … until the whole of the Occident within us begins to waver.” He suggests subjecting the stereotypical Western concepts of Japan—conformity, harmony, and hierarchy—to closer examination, and relativizing our age-old inherited strategies of universalism in order to be able to situate cultural difference at all. Of course, on the global platforms of this world there is, in every field, a form of exchange of information and ideas—which we, too, make use of for this issue—but we repeatedly encounter the limits of genuine understanding. It is precisely in light of these question marks that it is worthwhile to question one‘s own perspectives and convictions against the backdrop of their Western grounding. “The Japanese, it is said, expresses impressions rather than assertions.”
In VERSION 07, we speak with Aki Sasamoto about her partially improvised mono- logues and performances in sculptural environments. Manfred Grübl and Konrad Winter had the opportunity to discuss with Sou Fujimoto his architectural approach— the mutual interpenetration of architecture and nature—as well as the idea behind the “world-encircling” ring at Expo 2025. Kota Takeuchi offers insights into his work in the security zone of Fukushima, into art within the exclusion zone, and into his research on Japanese balloon bombs during World War II. Yoshiko Shimada also addresses this history from a feminist perspective; we speak with her about the for- gotten Japanese “comfort women,” censorship in Japan’s cultural policy, and gender roles in connection with Japanese colonialism and imperialism. Kazumi Minoguchi and Michael Schneider introduce us to the world of manga and anime and their development since the 1960s. Our Austrian contributions come from Christiana Perschon, who for her films engages in a collaborative exchange of experiences with Austrian women artists of the last century, and Jojo Gronostay, who, starting from his fashion label DMWC, raises fundamental questions about economic cycles and the attribution of value in the relationship between Europe and Africa. Ursula Maria Probst, Rashish India, and Kai Lam share their experiences exploring neuroaesthetics in the field of art and its impact on the body and society. Students of the Printmaking and Print Media class at Tokyo University of the Arts designed an insert in which they explain their approaches and research questions.