50 Years of Being a Foreigner: A Conversation Between Eiko Otake and Tatsu Aoki

In this conversation, we will explore the underground art scene in postwar Japan during the 1960s and 1970s, a time marked by overlapping waves of political movements, social unrest, and student protests, when tradition was actively questioned and reimagined. Through the voices of Eiko Otake and Tatsu Aoki, both of whom came of age and were deeply engaged in that moment, we will hear firsthand reflections on this dynamic and turbulent period. Having moved to the United States in the 1970s, both artists went on to play significant roles in shaping experimental and cross-cultural art scenes since. Together, they will reflect on their formative experiences and consider a central question: what is the role of the artist in times of profound social and cultural change, back then and now?

Read Eiko Otake's manifesto here.

May 2026 marks 50 years since Eiko Otake began living and working in the United States. Eiko & Koma first performed at the Japan Society (NYC) on May 6, 1976. Fifty years later, hosted by the Heritage Museum of Asian Art, Eiko returns to Chicago with multiple presentations. This event series is presented in collaboration with Asian Improv aRts Midwest, Japanese Culture Center, and Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund and DePaul Humanities Center.

Explore other programs in this series here.

Eiko Otake

Born and raised in Japan and a resident of New York since 1976, Eiko Otake is a movement-based, interdisciplinary artist. From 1972–2013, she worked exclusively as Eiko & Koma performing their own choreography, earning awards from MacArthur, United States Artists, American Dance Festival, Dance Magazine, and the first Doris Duke Artist Award.

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Since 2014, Eiko has been directing her own projects. A series of site-specific solo work, A Body in Places, became the subject of her 2016 Danspace Platform that brought her a Special Bessies Citation, an Art Matters and the Anonymous Was a Woman award. A Body in Fukushima brought Eiko and historian/photographer William Johnston repeatedly to Japan's irradiated landscape, producing presentations, exhibitions, films, and a book. In the Duet Project (2017-), Eiko collaborates with Ishmael Houston-Jones, Joan Jonas, DonChristian Jones, Iris McCloughan, Beverly McIver, and Mérian Soto. I Invited Myself (2022-) presents exhibitions and screenings of her media works. Wen Hui and Eiko co-created a film No Rule is Our Rule and a performance work What Is War, which premiered at Walker Art Center and toured to BAM’s Next Wave Festival. www.eikootake.org

Tatsu Aoki is a leading advocate for the Asian American community, as well as a prolific composer, a performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a filmmaker, and an educator. He was born in 1958 into the Toyoakimoto artisan family, and performing by the age of four. In the early 1970s, Aoki was active in Tokyo’s underground arts movement with experimental arts and music. In 1977, Aoki left Tokyo and is now one of the most in-demand performers of bass, shamisen, and taiko, contributing to more than ninety recording projects and touring internationally over the last 35 years. He is noted for being the longest associated bassist for the late Chicago legend Fred Anderson. Aoki is a Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, which celebrates its silver anniversary this year (2020). His sustained and intensified endeavors have resulted in many awards from multiple cultural and musical organizations for his cross-cultural collaborations. Of note, in 2007 he received the Milestone Award by the Asian American Institute. In 2010, he received the Chicago’s Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan America Society. And in 2014 he received the “Living in our Culture” Award from the Japanese American Service Committee. In addition to receiving the Illinois Arts Council Ethnic and Folk Arts Master Apprentice Grant for multiple years, he has received the Illinois Secretary of State Community Service Award by Asian American Advisory Council and also a Commendation for Promotion of Japanese Culture by the Foreign Ministry of Japan in 2017.