If the japanese collective Gutai is more or less known internationnally, most generally as filling the gap in an evolutive vision of history of art between "action painting" and performance, many major collectives and avant-garde experiments in Japan (as Mavo, Jikken kobo, Zero Dimension, The Play, Hi Red Center) are still today quite unknown outside Japan. This lecture will present some of the many avant-garde developments that took place in Japan since the start of the twentieth century, and try to highlight their fonctionning and connections with artists and collective outside Japan.

The lecture will be framed by several japanese film screenings at AP News.

Lecture and screenings are based on a collaboration of AP News and Corner College.