Happy 30th anniversary!

2024 is the 30th anniversary of Peekaboo Art project, which started in August 1994.

“Is this really art?” I started this interactive art project with the participation of passersby, although I was wondering if it was art or not.

It is an art project that asks not art fans but “passers-by” questions such as what family is, what marriage is, and what gender is. The name “social practice” is now attached to this genre of art project.

If you were something/someone other than yourself, how would you feel and how would things be different from the way you are now? It is a basic concept form that invites people to imagine this.

Photo: August 28, 1994

This is the Harajuku pedestrian street, Peekaboo Art project, for the second time. The first theme was family, and the project name was “Instant Family”

I remember we held the first season of the art project at Omotesando side of Harajuku.

The artist asked passersby to “Create your ideal family, and get a commemorative photo!” Participants choose their favorite family members on a family sheet, and a “Peekaboo board” to match each family member. Then, we took their family photo with an instant film camera. The participant was asked to sign the photo as a family member on the spot. One photo is given away and one was kept to us for preservation.

This “family member” was almost a replica of the actual composition of grandparents, parents, and sisters. And they actually took a picture of them with their faces out of that roll's Peekaboo boards.

Other participants, such as a group of young friends, tended to form families with pets and owners.