Is it possible to collect and display only works whose exhibits are rejected in Japanese art museums? In other words, you can imagine the collection of non-heated art and books in one place. Whether such exhibition planning is allowed will be a measure of how tolerant Japanese society is for freedom of expression.

In fact, this project was attempted at the international art festival `` Aichi Triennale 2019 '' held in Aichi Prefecture from the 1st. The name of the exhibition is 'Freedom of Expression and After'.

Only when the show was introduced on the air and the interviewees' interviews were positively introduced, I felt that Japanese society had the tolerance to accept even if it was awkward to them. This is because the works exhibited in the exhibition are those that have been removed or refused to be exhibited in art museums and public cultural facilities around Japan.

Among the exhibits is the `` Peace Girl Award '', which is based on the issue of comfort women in Korea. It includes a video of the contents, and various works that contain US military bases, nuclear power plants, racism, and criticism of the Abe regime. In the Korean media, the Peace Girl Award was highlighted, but in Japan more criticism was given of the works inspired by the Showa King.

Nevertheless, why is this project created? That's because of the crisis that Japan's violation of freedom of speech and expression has reached an undeniable level. It is true that this atmosphere is getting stronger due to the recent conflict between Korea and Japan. Therefore, the exhibition gathers works deprived of freedom of expression by systematic censorship or self-censorship by local governments or governments, and shows why these works were rejected.

On the homepage of the exhibition, there is a title titled 'Freedom of Expression' produced in 2015, and the subtitle 'Erased Things' is included under the title. The exhibited works are full of things that Japanese society does not want to see and hear. In other words, it means the things that Japanese society wants to erase. As can be seen from the fact that this exhibition includes 'after', the inconsistency of expression is still not resolved four years after 2015.

The exhibition was the subject of interest in Korea because the exhibition was canceled in three days amid the conflict between Korea and Japan, and included the girl statue of peace. The Girl of Peace Award suffered a dismantlement without the permission of the artist, saying that miniatures were exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2012, and that it violated the museum's policy.

The exhibition also brought a huge backlash. When the show was aired, there were more than 400 threatening calls foretelling terrorism and over 1,000 protest mails. The protest calls flooded not only with the organizers of the festival but also with the Aichi Prefectural Office and its sponsor companies.

Aichi, the organizer of the Triennale, announced that it decided to stop the exhibition because it was difficult to operate safely. Governor Omura said at a press conference on the 3rd that he had a fax saying he would come with a gasoline barrel if he did not stop the exhibition. The fax was a mean warning that he would not hesitate to commit anti-human crimes to achieve his purpose.

This threat reminds me of the Kyoto animation arson that happened in July. Kyoto Animation is Japan's leading TV animation production company.At the time, CCTVs installed around the company used a portable gasoline barrel to burn gasoline and light a fire in the studio. Gave.

In a more refined way, pressure to stop the exhibition was also put on by officials. Mayor Yugora Nagoya, who visited the exhibition on the 2nd, said, "No matter how much you think, you'll trample the hearts of the Japanese people. You don't have to use taxes." "Acknowledgment of the installation of the Girl Award by the Administration is that of acknowledging the Korean side's claim to the comfort women." The secretary of state also said he would carefully review the subsidies if he did not stop the exhibition.

Japan's Mainichi Shimbun strongly protested the suspension of the exhibition in an editorial on the 6th entitled `` Suspension of Independence in Expression and Unforgivable Extremity. '' This is a violation of Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press and denies censorship. Disagreement with oneself is never acceptable to imply terrorism and to prevent freedom of expression.

This incident surrounding the 'Free Wealth of Expression' shows that Japanese society is 'the free society of expression'. Forcing us not to see, say, or remember uncomfortable truths will erase the past and hide history.

The controversy of the 'freedom of expression' controversy hurt many people in that it left a bad precedent for the exhibition to cease in the face of threats suggesting terrorism. However, it is comforting that many Japanese came to realize the importance of 'freedom of expression'.

# In-It # In-It #Lee Hongcheon