"The 3rd Two" - From Postwar Feminism to Post-Feminism in East-Asia

The exhibition project "The 3rd Two" by Art5 e.V. is dedicated to three generations of internationally active Japanese, South Korean and possibly Taiwanese women artists who intensively deal with the topic of their own identity as women in the social structure of their countries.

Some artists work in their home countries, others work from a more distanced external position and try to create new, different concepts of femininity, as well as its meaning and value within their cultures. Through their works, a deep, touching, sometimes disturbing insight is given into history and into a present that is little known or perceived in the West. For the gaze of the West too often celebrates the wishful image of the "compliant geisha" as an export hit of a Northeast Asian manga culture; a cliché that further complicates the work of the artists and proves how little respect is shown to women in their own contemporary culture. By focussing on medially different approaches of the female artists and introducing their artistic strategies, "The 3rd Two" aims to show the mechanisms of patriarchal societies by artistic means and to open up perspectives of a critical view. In this current 3rd Wave of feminism, the new concepts and formulations of a separate Asian female identity independent of the West are also becoming loud.

The exhibition project aims to provide a strong platform for these concentrated, intense voices, which is mostly denied to feminist artists in their own countries, and supports the few clearly and obviously feminist exhibitions of recent years.

Last edited on 25.11.2024