Asian Feminist Art (AFA) is a group whose dream is to foster women's creativity and revive, create and share across cultural and national boundaries, Asian feminist art.

AFA aims to bring back artistic expression which grows out of Asian women's everyday experiences and, in so doing, value the women's perspective.

Artist Taeko Tomiyama was AFA's founding member. AFA has been and will continue to support her and will enjoy her activities with AFA in the future.

AFA's plans include the AFA Festival, three events over a number of years in several countries.

The first of these events was held in Tokyo on International Women's Day, March 8 and 9, 1991. Called 

"Onna-no-Uta" (Women's Song), the performance recreates a herstory of women's art by reviving and reinterpreting, on stage, Chinese poetry from the third century.

Chinatsu Nakayama, a well-known novelist, recited sections from the Kojiki (legendary tales of Japanese mythology) which she has reinterpreted from a feminist perspective.

The Kojiki's feminist reinterpretation provided an illuminating insight into a past where women had more freedom and suggested how male/patriarchal interpretations of history can deprive women of this freedom.

The contrast of the colorful Chinese dance and the lament of the Chinese poetry translated and performed in Japanese beautifully portrayed the depth of women's artistic expression.

The second round of festival events will be held in November in Bangkok, Thailand and in Indonesia. It will continue to redefine artistic expression from a pro-woman point of view while strengthening Thai-Japan and Indonesia-Japan networks.

The third part will be held In Cheju Island, Korea in 1992. The group also plans workshops, seminars, networking and other activities to create a valued place for Asian feminist art.

Source: Asian Women's Liberation, No. 8, 1991.4, English Newsletter Section, Asian Women's Association, Shibuya Coop 211, 14-10. Sakuragaoka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, japan 150