This project involved a variety of research with a focus on Japanese women composers including Mieko Shiomi of avant-garde art movement Fluxus. The group also posed questions to the community about gender-based discriminatory conditions in the field by widely sharing views and information via two online events and the publication of a magazine. Project collaborators include the above-mentioned Mieko Shiomi (artist), Shoko Shida (composer), Kaori Takahashi (sociologist), Satoko Miyakoshi (graphic/editorial designer), and Reina Ashibe (art manager). In addition, distribution of the Japanese/English language magazine “The Dialogue: Arts & Women” in Japan and overseas was aimed at building a forum where the pertinent issues could be openly discussed.
JWCM (Japanese Women Composers Meeting)
The JWCM is a research collective looking at contemporary musicians and society. The group was officially launched in June 2019 on the back of a PPP project, the symposium “Mid-Career Women Composers Summit,” held in August 2018 with eight contemporary music composers as panelists. Based on their experiences of living outside Japan in countries like Indonesia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the United States, members hold surveys and discussions on the environment surrounding female composers, in topics such as “gender,” “freelancing/freelance economies,” “nationality and ethnicity,” and “career and marriage.”
Chikako Morishita
Co-director
JWCM (Japanese Women Composers Meeting)
jwcm.site@gmail.com
Online (Zoom)
Publication