Tsuneko Taniuchi

After studying 20th-century Western art history and sociology at Kobe Jogakuin, Japan, Tsuneko Taniuchi studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris (France) for two years between (1970–1972). From 1983 to 1987, she travelled extensively between New York, Paris, and Japan (Kobe, Tokyo), before settling permanently in France in 1987.{{Cite book|last=Brit, Mehdi.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/896989074|title=Interviewer la performance: regard sur la performance en France depuis les années 1960|date=2014|publisher=Manuella|others=Meats, Sandrine.|isbn=978-2-917217-61-0|location=Paris|pages=|oclc=896989074}} Her early works focused first on paintings, and then on installations, including photographs, and videos.{{Cite web|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi » Daily Work, 1994|url=https://taniuchi.fr/en/installations/daily-work/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=taniuchi.fr}}

In 1995, she began her performance work, which she sees as a series of "micro-events."{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=20 August 2012|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=https://www.paris-art.com/tsuneko-taniuchi/#haut|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.paris-art.com}} This term refers to the personal dimension of her actions, in relation to contemporary society and politics, in  which she is generally the main performer alone or she directs a team of often female dancers, performers, actors, etc. The situations she sets up are the result of an intersection between the viewer, the art work and the artist with political and social questioning.{{original research inline|date=May 2021}}

Initiated in 2002 at the Galerie Jennifer Flay in Paris.

Since 2002, the date France adopted the PACS - Civil Solidarity Pact, allowing same-sex couples to embrace a form of union close to civil marriage, Taniuchi has developed a new series of Micro-Events called "Micro-Events/Weddings."{{Cite web|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=http://www.macval.fr/Tsuneko-Taniuchi|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.macval.fr|date=25 May 2012 }} Their aim is to question, through a variation of contexts, the social norms surrounding marriage; to this date, she has "married" more than two hundred ninety people, men, women, all sexes and genders, and sometimes with several people at once.{{Cite journal|last=Dumont|first=Fabienne|date=2013|title=Le mariage pour tous, version Tsuneko Taniuchi, ou comment démythifier un rituel sclérosé|url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/inter/2013-n115-inter0858/70122ac/|journal=Inter: Art Actuel|language=fr|issue=115|pages=62–64|issn=0825-8708}}

A selection of her performance series of her micro-events from 1995 to 2010, were exhibited at Le Générateur in 2011. The exhibition was conceived as a retrospective of the forty-one micro-events, created since 1995. The event combined the staging of previous performances reactivated by the artist and by women dancers/performers, narrations by actors of certain micro-events, and the exhibitions of video archives.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=20 August 2012|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=https://www.paris-art.com/tsuneko-taniuchi/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.paris-art.com}}

A monograph was also devoted to this series, distributed by R-Diffusion.{{Cite web|last=r-diffusion|title=r-diffusion-Micro évènements|url=http://www.r-diffusion.org/index.php?lang=fr&article=TTE-01&multisite_origine=rdiffusion|access-date=2021-01-30|website=r-diffusion}}

She has repeatedly questioned the role and image of women in contemporary society, through a practice of disguise that take in socially determined contexts, as is the case with her performance "Micro-Event n°45 /Six Female Characters + A Women / Seven days" where she played the female roles of waitress, boxer, gymnast, homeless woman, Ganguro, and Ninja.{{Cite web|last=Tran|first=John L.|date=2014-08-28|title=Artist takes a jab at social identity|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/08/28/arts/artist-takes-jab-social-identity/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}}

More recently, her work has involved other performers—dancers, actors— around themes related to multiculturalism, postcolonialism and intersectional feminism.{{Cite web|title=Micro-événement n°49 {{!}} Transverse|url=http://transverse-art.com/oeuvre/micro-evenement-ndeg49|access-date=2021-01-30|website=transverse-art.com}}

{{Cleanup section|date=March 2024|reason=Needs excessive use of bold text resolved, see MOS:NOBOLD}}

2020

• Micro-Event n°51 /It's the body as subjectivity. Le Générateur, Gentilly, France, 6 March.{{Cite web|title=Soirée partagée > Catherine Froment / Tsuneko Taniuchi {{!}} Cnap|url=https://www.cnap.fr/soiree-partagee-catherine-froment-tsuneko-taniuchi|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.cnap.fr}}

2019

• Flower Bed, London East Asia Film Festival, (Film & Art), Tate Modern, Starr Cinema, London, UK, 26 October (cat. LEAFF2019).{{fact|date=March 2025}}
• Lignes de vies - une exposition de légendes, curated by Frank Lamy, MAC VAL – Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France, 30 March – 25 August.{{Cite web|title="Lignes de vies - une exposition de légendes"|url=http://www.macval.fr/Lignes-de-vies-une-exposition-de-legendes-6685|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.macval.fr|date=14 March 2019 }}
• Micro-Event 50 /My Body Is Political - Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY, 17–18 May.{{Cite web|title=Emily Harvey Foundation|url=https://emilyharveyfoundation.org/JS/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=/newyork/PDF/EmilyHarveyFoundation/0138.pdf&url=/newyork/Pages/emilyharveyfoundation.html&pos=635&nav=Past%20Exhibitions|access-date=2021-01-30|website=emilyharveyfoundation.org}}
• Hors Pistes 14e Édition, L’odeur de la lune vague après la Pluie, Judith Cahen and Masayasu Eguchi, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2 February.{{Cite web|title=Hors Pistes 14e édition - La lune: Zone Imaginaire à Défendre|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/cgEBA5z|access-date=2021-01-30|website=Centre Pompidou|language=en-EN}}

2018

• Micro-Event 50 /My Body Is Political, Le Générateur, Gentilly and  Musée d’art et d’histoire de Saint -Denis, France, 17 November & 2 December.{{Cite web|last=Egrelon|first=Léa|title=Micro-événement n°50 / Mon corps est politique {{!}} Le Générateur|url=https://legenerateur.com/spectacle/micro-evenement-n50-%e2%80%a2-tsuneko-taniuchi/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=legenerateur.com|language=fr-FR}}
• Micro-Event /Weddings Anniversary (installation), Quel Amour !? MP1-8, curated Eric Corne, Mac, Musée d’art contemporain de Marseille, France, 5 May – 2 September.{{Cite web|title={{!}} Cnap|url=https://www.cnap.fr/collection-en-ligne|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.cnap.fr}}

2017

• Micro-Event n°49 /Space Oddity – The Artist and Her Studio, Traversées Ren@rde, curated by Damien Sausset, Julie Crenn, Nadège Piton & Erik Noulette, Transpalette, Bourges, France, 21 October – 28 January 2018 (performance: 16 December).{{Cite web|title=Transpalette Centre d'art {{!}} Cnap|url=https://www.cnap.fr/transpalette-centre-dart#presentation|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.cnap.fr}}
• Micro-Event n°49 /Space Oddity – The Artist and Her Studio, Emily Harvey Foundation, NYC, 27 October (performance & screening).{{Cite web|title=Emily Harvey Foundation|url=https://www.emilyharveyfoundation.org/JS/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=/newyork/PDF/EmilyHarveyFoundation/0110.pdf&url=/newyork/Pages/emilyharveyfoundation.html&pos=2700&nav=Past%20Exhibitions|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.emilyharveyfoundation.org}}
• Herstory, des archives à l’heure des postféminismes, curated by Julie Crenn &  Pascal Lievre, Maison des arts – centre d’art contemporain de Malakoff, France, 21 January – 19 March.{{Cite web|title=(pas de titre)|url=https://archivesherstory.com/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=archivesherstory.com|language=fr-FR}}
• Micro-Event n°6 bis /Fast Food – Sushi Merguez, La Nuit européenne des musées 2017, 2 May, curated by Frank Lamy & Julie Crenn, MAC VAL – Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, in the exhibition Tous, des sang-mêlés, France, 24 April – 3 September.{{Cite web|title= Tous, des sang-mêlés - MAC VAL|url=http://www.macval.fr/Tous-des-sang-meles|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.macval.fr|date=16 June 2020 }}{{Cite web|date=2017-06-18|title=Brassages en revue au MAC/Val|url=https://next.liberation.fr/arts/2017/06/18/brassages-en-revue-au-macval_1577674|access-date=2021-01-30|website=Libération.fr|language=fr}}

2016

• Micro-Events 1995–2015, Légende, curated by Lauren Buffet for FRAC Franche-Comté, Besançon, France, 5 February – 7 May.{{Cite web|title=Légende {{!}} Cnap|url=https://www.cnap.fr/legende-0|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.cnap.fr}}
• Micro-Event n°49 /Space Oddity – The Artist and Her Studio, Le Générateur, Gentilly, France, 9 October.{{Cite web|title=Micro-événement n°49 {{!}} Transverse|url=http://transverse-art.com/oeuvre/micro-evenement-ndeg49|access-date=2021-01-30|website=transverse-art.com}}

2015

• Micro-Event n°44 /Theater of the (Re)presentation of Self, after "Fresh Acconci, Les lanceurs d’alerte – Carte Blanche à Sylvie Blocher, Mudam, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 7 February.
• [http://www.macval.fr/IMG/pdf/cfqd_effet_vertigo_mac_val.pdf L’Effet Vertigo Parcours #7–New Hanging of Works from the Collection], Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry–sur–Seine, France, 24.10.2015–2017.
• Micro-événement N° 14 /Love me tender, L’Effet Vertigo Parcours #7–New Hanging of Works from the Collection, 2002. 20 framed color photographs, 29.5 × 20.5 cm (each). MAC VAL Collection, 2011.

2014

• Tsuneko Taniuchi Micro-Events, solo exhibit, [https://www.hermes.com/jp/ja/story/maison-ginza/forum/140718/ Ginza Maison Hermès], Le Forum, Tokyo, Japan, July 18–September 21.{{Cite web|last=Tran|first=John L.|date=2014-08-28|title=Artist takes a jab at social identity|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/08/28/arts/artist-takes-jab-social-identity/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}}
• Micro-Event n°46 /Weddings in Tokyo, Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo, Japan, 8 August.
• Micro-Event n°45 /Six Female Characters + A Woman / Seven Days, Ginza Maison Hermès, Le Forum, Tokyo, Japan, July 18–September 21.{{Cite web|last=HASEGAWA|first=KANAE|title=Micro-Events: Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/tsuneko-taniuchi-micro-events-review-hermes-tokyo-performance-artist-weddings|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.studiointernational.com}}

2012

• Situation(s) [48°47 34 N / 2°23 14 E], curated by Frank Lamy, MAC VAL – Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de- Marne, France, 30 June–23 September.{{Cite web|title=Situation(s) [48°47'34 N / 2°23'14 E] - MAC VAL|url=http://www.macval.fr/situation-s-48o47-34-n-2o23-14-e-172|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.macval.fr|date=17 August 2012 }}
• Micro-Event n°42 /Weddings in the Summer Gardens, Situation(s) [48°47 34 N / 2°23 14 E], curated by Frank Lamy, MAC VAL – Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France, 1 July.{{Cite web|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=http://www.macval.fr/Tsuneko-Taniuchi|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.macval.fr|date=25 May 2012 }}
• Micro-Event n°25 /Public communication bar / VIPCocktails, Neon. La materia lumino- sa dell’arte, curated by David Rosenberg & Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Italy, 6 June.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

2011

• Micro-Events /Daily Resistances, Le Générateur, Gentilly, France, 22 October – 30 October.{{Cite web|last=Lussac|first=Olivier|title=Micro-Event/Résistances quotidiennes @ Tsuneko Taniuchi. 2011|url=http://artperformance.over-blog.fr/article-micro-event-resistances-quotidiennes-tsuneko-taniuchi-2011-122783489.html|access-date=2021-01-30|website=artperformance.org|date=2 March 2014 |language=fr}}{{Cite web|date=2011-12-22|title=Tsuneko Taniuchi, Le Générateur, Gentilly / 22 - 30 octobre 2011|url=https://www.artpress.com/2011/12/22/tsuneko-taniuchi-le-generateur-gentilly-22-30-octobre-2011/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=artpress|language=fr-FR}}
• Micro-Event n°41 /Flower Bed, Nuit Blanche, curated by Alexia Fabre and Frank Lamy, Hôtel Amour, Paris, 1 October.{{Cite web|last=Paris.fr|title=63 - Tsuneko Taniuchi: Micro-Evénement N°41 / Flower Bed, 2011 - Vidéo Dailymotion|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkx5rs|access-date=2021-01-30|website=Dailymotion|date=7 September 2011 |language=fr-FR}}{{Cite web|date=2015-02-10|title=sommaire artpress2 n°36 "Les expositions: à l'ère de leur reproductibilité"|url=https://www.artpress.com/2015/02/10/sommaire-du-artpress-n36-les-expositions-a-lere-de-leur-reproductibilite/|access-date=2021-01-30|website=artpress|language=fr-FR}}

2010

• Micro-Event /Weddings Anniversary, Rendez-vous du forum, Session 2, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2010 – CNAP Collection 2013.{{Cite web|title={{!}} Cnap|url=https://www.cnap.fr/collection-en-ligne#/artwork/140000000652299?filters=query:tsuneko%20taniuchi&page=1&layout=grid&sort=by_author|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.cnap.fr}}

2009

• Micro-Event n°13, La Force de l’Art 02, Grand Palais, Paris, 30 May. 15 April 24–June 1.{{Cite web|last=Jean-Philippe|first=Daignan|title=Performance de Tsuneko Taniuchi - Vidéo Dailymotion|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9gfj0|access-date=2021-01-30|website=Dailymotion|date=June 2009 |language=fr-FR}}
• Micro-Event n°36 /Ice Vitrine, Lilith Performance Studio, Malmö, Sweden, 13 February.{{Cite web|title=» Tsuneko Taniuchi Micro – Event n°36/Ice Vitrine|url=https://lilithperformancestudio.com/archives/tsuneko-taniuchi-micro-event-n36-ice-vitrine/|access-date=2021-01-30|language=sv-SE}}
• Micro-Event n°5 /Nine Female Characters + Queen Béatrice, tijdenstefaf, organized with Nadja Vilenne Gallery, Theater aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht, Netherlands, 8 March – 16 March.{{Cite web|title=Himmelsweg - Chemins de Paradis@Vrijthof Maastricht|url=http://www.nadjavilenne.com/himmelsweg---chemins-de-paradis@vrijthof-maastricht.html#.X_hjKC3pPxg|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.nadjavilenne.com}}

2007

• Feminist Art Base, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, curated by Maura Reilly, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Museum: Tsuneko Taniuchi|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/about/feminist_art_base/tsuneko-taniuchi|access-date=2021-01-30|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}
• Micro-Event n°25 /Public communication bar / VIPCocktails, invited by Nadja Vilenne Gallery, Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, 19 April.

2006

• Micro-Event n°18bis Marianne, La Force de l’Art 01, curated by Hou Hanru, Grand Palais, Paris, 10 May – 25 June.{{Cite web|last=Lussac|first=Olivier|title=Micro-événement n° 18bis/Marianne @ Tsuneko Taniuchi. 2006-2013|url=http://artperformance.over-blog.fr/2015/01/micro-evenement-n-18bis-marianne-la-force-de-l-art-tsuneko-taniuchi-2006-2013.html|access-date=2021-01-30|website=artperformance.org|date=4 January 2015 |language=fr}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/183263252|title=La force de l'art, première triennale: le catalogue.|date=2007|publisher=Réunion des Musées nationaux|others=Galeries nationales du Grand Palais (France), Réunion des musées nationaux (France)|isbn=978-2-7118-5346-5|location=Paris|oclc=183263252}}{{Cite web|title=Article {{!}} Les micro-événements de Tsuneko Taniuchi ou la confusion des genres {{!}} esse arts + opinions|url=https://esse.ca/fr/article/60/les-micro-evenements-de-Tsuneko-Taniuchi|access-date=2021-01-30|website=esse.ca}}

2005

• Micro-Event n°26 /I Get Married in Chinese, Miss China Beauty Gallery, Paris, 8 February – 28 February.
• Micro-Event n°25 /Public communication bar / VIPCocktails, Scènes de vie, Swiss Cultural Centre, Paris, 30 October – 18 December.

2004

• Micro-Event n°24 /Weddings, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool Biennial,  Tate Liverpool, Independents district, Liverpool, 18 September–28 November.
• Micro-Event n°25 /Public communication bar / VIPCocktails, Occupations #1, MAC VAL- Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France, 22 October – 24 October.

2003

• Micro-Event n°21 /Marriage Candidates, Intimités, Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 7 March – 9 March.

2002

• Micro-Event n°14 /Future Bride Likes to Paint, Art & Vitrine, Rougier & Plé, Paris, 15 January – 1 February.
• Micro-Event n°14 /Love Me Tender, Sens Dessus-Dessous, Galerie Jennifer Flay, Paris, 26 January – 3 February.

2001

• Micro-Event n°11 /Tsuneko Troc, Tokyorama, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud and Jérôme Sans, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 1 September – 30 September.
• Micro- Event n°11 /Tsuneko Troc, in Arts d’Attitudes, Le Lieu, Québec, (France au Québec / La saison), organized by l’AFAA et Le Lieu, 6 September – 8 September.
• Micro- Event n°9 bis /A Female Boxer, Je ne suis pas une Pénélope, Espace Culturel François Mitterrand, Beauvais, France, 18 November – 13 January.
• Micro-Event n°6 /Berlin / Fast Food, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, (Villa Médicis Hors les Murs 2000/AFAA), 21 October.
• Ganguro Girl, Les Revues parlées – Machines, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 15 December.
• Micro-Event n°12 /The Right to Housing, Rewind, Glassbox, Paris, March–21 April.

2000

• Micro-Event n°5 /Nine Female Characters, Paris pour escale, curated by Hou and Evelyne Jouanno, Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, 7 December – 18 February 2001.  

1999

• Micro-Event n°5 /Nine Female Characters, Transpalette, Bourges, France, 9 October – 7 November.
• Expériences du divers, Galerie Art & Essai / Université Rennes 2, Rennes, France, 18 May – 26 June.{{Cite journal|last=Jouanno|first=Evelyne|date=2001-09-01|title=Exploring the New Internationalism|url=http://journals.openedition.org/critiquedart/2148|journal=Critique d'art. Actualité internationale de la littérature critique sur l'art contemporain|language=en|issue=18|doi=10.4000/critiquedart.2148|issn=1246-8258|doi-access=free}}

1998  

• Passeurs, Centre national de la Photographie, curated by Julie Sauerwein and Adriaan Himmelreich, Paris, 29 April – 6 June.
• Gare de l’Est, curated by Hou Hanru and Enrico Lunghi, Casino Luxembourg / Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg, 12 December – 21 February 1999.
• Ici, ailleurs et nulle part, Quartier Éphémère, Montreal, Canada, 21 November – 20 December (exhibition-residency)
• Micro-Event n°20 /How to Become a Good Housewife, Ici, ailleurs et nulle part, Quartier Éphémère, Montreal, Canada, 21 November.

1997

• Parisien(ne)s, curated by Hou Hanru, and organized by Iniva in collaboration with Camden Arts Centre, 7 February – 23 March.{{Cite web|last=Archive|first=Asia Art|title=Parisien(ne)s|url=https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/library/parisiennes|access-date=2021-01-30|website=aaa.org.hk|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Taniuchi Tsuneko|url=https://iniva.org/library/digital-archive/people/t/taniuchi-tsuneko|access-date=2021-02-01|website=iniva|language=en}}

1995

• Micro-Event n°1 /Ato No Matsuri /Too Late, Chez Valentin Gallery, Paris, 8 July.
• You are not invited / Collection de Nora, Heart Gallery, Paris, 21 November – 13 December.
• Strangers in Paradise (Étrangères au Paradis), curated by Michel Nuridsany, Le monde de l'art, Paris, 11 April – 27 May.

1994

• Chaque génération paye les erreurs de la précédente, curated by Hou Hanru, Hôpital Éphémère, Paris, 8 January – 9 January.

1991

• Il reste toujours une place, Credit Agricole gallery, Poitiers, France, 8 October – 31 October.

1989

• Galerie du Triangle, Bordeaux, France.

1986

• Galerie Moris, Tokyo, Japan.

1983

• [https://www.jacktiltongallery.com/gallery Jack Tilton Gallery], New York.

• 2025 Prix d'honneur, AWARE (Archives of Women Artists Research & Exhibitions)https://www.artnewspaper.fr/2025/03/07/aware-decerne-ses-prix-et-sassocie-au-louvre

{{Reflist}}

• [https://taniuchi.fr/ Artist website]
• [http://www.paris-art.com/tsuneko-taniuchi/ Interview with Tsuneko Taniuchi]
• [https://asianw-art.com/taniuchi-tsuneko/ Artist profile on Asian Women Artist datebase]

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Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Japanese women artists

Category:20th-century Japanese artists

Category:21st-century Japanese women artists

Category:21st-century Japanese artists

Category:Artists from Hyōgo Prefecture

Category:Japanese performance artists