Minoru Hirata
Kyushu Faction Street Happening at the Tenjin Intersection of Fukuoka, 26 February 1970
(1970, printed 2011)
Tate
Founded in Tokyo by the artists Genpei Akasegawa, Natsuyuki Nakanishi and Jiro Takamatsu, Hi-Red Center created happenings and events that were socially reflective, anti-establishment and anti-commercial. Inspired by Japan’s neo-dada movement and Fluxus, the group used the urban environment as their canvas, creating interventions that raised questions about centralised authority and the role of the individual in society.
One of their most famous performances consisted of an ironic action in which the artists scrubbed the streets of Tokyo during the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, in response to the government’s demands that the city should present a clean image to the world. The group disbanded in 1964.
