Searching for Hiroshima “counterculture”
Goto Izumi goes in pursuit of an outsider art movement in Hiroshima.
Hiroshima, a city that bears one of history’s deepest scars, is notoriously conservative. A testing ground, we often hear, for new products as marketers believe that if they can sell an idea to Hiroshima they can sell it anywhere. Is there space here, then, for underground, non-conformist art?
Hunt though I did, I must confess I did not uncover a thriving countercultural scene. I am happy to report, however, seeds of potential which, with your permission, I would like to introduce here. All have differing approaches, notions of art and creation, but I was stuck that all, at some point, mentioned the strong influence of Mura-ya, a small bar in a Kyoto machi-ya. A timely reminder that one never knows how far ripples from even the tiniest pebble might reach and who they might move.
Exhibit 1
Zetsumetsukigushu
Exhibit 2
[nuttsuponchon]
Exhibit 2
Haro
