Hitomi Watanabe "Seasons of the Student Movement 1968-69"

Osaka Nikon Salon

This event has ended.

The year of 1968 was eventful with the Vietnam War, assassination of Martin Luther King. Jr and Robert Kennedy, the outbreak of the Paris revolution and the arrival of Apollo to the Moon. Meanwhile, Watanabe wandered around Shinjuku and took photographs at pubs. However, on October 21st, she encountered a chaotic crowd surrounding Shinjuku station. The crowd was gathered for the International Day of Action Against the War. As she was absorbed by the crowd, she experienced a simulation of the war in which searchlights illuminated the crowd's helmets as their silhouettes wavered through the entire space. Watanabe was just exposed to the power of mass student power.
Meanwhile, Watanabe was also influenced highly after meeting Yoshitaka Yamamoto, a prominent individual in Tokyo University's student movement. Since then, the artist has investigated student movements at Tokyo University, Kyoto University and a high school as well. With memories becoming more faint in 40 years, only the undeveloped rolls of film seem to have captured the spirit of the student movement. 45-50 monochrome photographs on display.