Podcast 32: A Body in Fukushima w/ Eiko Otake and William Johnston

Photo of Eiko Otake in Fukushima by William Johnston

A Body in Fukushima is a collaborative photography project by Eiko Otake and William Johnston. Eiko Otake is a movement-based, interdisciplinary artist and William Johnston is a photographer and a professor of Japanese history at Wesleyan University. Together they have produced a compelling and deeply moving series of dance photography exploring Eiko’s response and movement within abandoned areas in Fukushima since the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdowns of 2011. Between 2014 and 2019 Eiko Otake and William Johnston made five visits to irradiated and abandoned spaces, where Eiko danced “embodying bitter grief, anger, and remorse, sometimes in vulnerable gestures and at other times dancing fiercely.” This project has grown into photo exhibitions, video installations, film screenings, and a book. Following the book’s publication on 1st June 2021, we were by Eiko Otake and William Johnston to discuss this project.

This session was recorded as part of the Exploding Appendix Avant-garde Art Practice and Research Group on the 29th June 2021. If you would like to be involved in future sessions send me a message at explodingappendix [at] gmail.com.

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