This panel at the T3 photo fair and festival, organised by AWARE, will highlight the active role of women in photography in Korea and Japan from the 1960s, focusing on the practices of the pioneering artists Ishiuchi Miyako -present at the event – and Park Young-sook, whose work will be presented by art historian Kim Hong-hee.

Both artists engage with women’s lives: Park Youngsook (b. 1941), through portrait photography that challenges traditional gender roles as well as power structures surrounding women’s bodies and identities, and Ishiuchi Miyako (b. 1947), through the highlighting of scenes, body parts, clothing, and personal objects that carry memories and explore the traces of human existence. The panel will also open discussion on their roles in collective initiatives such as the self-published magazine Le Main (1996–2000) and the Sookmihoe Club (1961–), which allowed women to articulate their own narratives, challenge gendered expectations, and open new spaces within the photographic community and the broader art world. Building on transnational dialogue, the panel will shed light on the evolving landscape and gender-specific conditions of photographic practice in Korea and Japan from the 1960s to the present, situating them within a wider East Asian context.

The panel will be preceded by a presentation of AWARE’s mission, its research programs—including Women Artists in Japan: 19th – 21st century and Traces of the future: Japanese Women Photographers changing the perspectives of their time—as well as its digital tools, which are designed to provide reliable, high-quality information to anyone interested in the arts, including professionals such as curators, researchers, and educators, for use in the development of their own projects.

¹ The title of the panel refers to Ishiuchi Miyako’s series of work “Mother’s 2000-2005: Traces of the future”.

Pratical information

Sunday, October 12, 2025, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

T3 Photo Fair and Festival

Kyobashi 3-6-6, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan