TalkFriday 30 May 2014
6:00pm
Shuji Terayama: No bird exists that can fly higher than the imagination
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle, London NW1 4QP
Organised by The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Shuji Terayama (1935-1983) is known outside Japan mainly as the writer-director of Fellini-esque films such as Death in the Country and Farewell to the Ark. In his own country, it was his poetry that thrust him into the national consciousness at the age of eighteen. His experimental theatre troupe, formed in 1967, cemented his status as a leading figure in the boundary-challenging cultural ferment of the time.
Despite all the genre-hopping and media-mixing, Terayama’s pre-occupations remained consistent and deeply personal. The themes that recur in the surreal potpourri of his films appear in the writings that make up this volume, treated in a more reflective way and often with a salting of self-deprecating humour.
Peter Tasker`s translation of Japanese Dream, essays by Terayama, has been published as a boxed set, and include a facsimile of the original Japanese book and large-scale reproductions of the accompanying photographs by Japanese masters Daido Moriyama and Takuma Nakahira. During the event, Tasker read from the essays, and discussed the life and work of Shuji Terayama.
Signed copies of the boxed set will be available to buy at the event, and are priced at £50.
About the contributors
Peter Tasker
Peter Tasker is a Tokyo-based analyst and writer. His engagement with the world of Shuji Terayama began with the films and developed from there. After several years as a market strategist in Japan, he co-founded Arcus Investment, a boutique specializing in Japanese securities. Peter has written several Japan-themed books, both fiction and non-fiction, and innumerable articles for the English language press. He has appeared on several Japanese current affairs programmes, in a TV commercial and has served as a non-executive director of a listed Japanese retailer. You can find his blog at www.petertasker.asia.
Mark Pearson (Chair)
Mark Pearson first visited Japan in 1980, and his life and work has been intimately connected with the country ever since. He co-founded Arcus Investment with Peter Tasker in 1998, and during the past decade has established in Tokyo a fine art photography gallery and photobook publisher.