Art Qaeda
Profile
Art Qaeda is a Tokyo-based collective of anti-war artists and writers. Working mainly in Japan and Korea, they use self-proclaimed 'terror tactics' to comment on the wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.Led by an enigmatic man calling himself 'Al K. Ida', the group publishes educational pamphlets and stages confrontational performances. Art Qaeda is most likely to found at busy intersections, on trains, in crowded shopping malls, as well as at sporting and art-related events. The group gained notoriety in 2003 when it created thousands of copies of the pamphlets the Coalition Forces were dropping over Iraq and instead placed them all over Tokyo.
Statements by Al K. IDA
"At the 2003 Yokohama Triennial, Yoko Ono exhibited a bullet riddled box car from a train that was used to carry Jewish prisoners during World War II. I imagine the piece was intended to comment on the nasty realities of war. Lit from the inside, the bullet holes became exits for laser beams. It was quite beautiful, especially at night. However, it did little to acknowledge the fact that Japan was at that very moment helping to fund a war that was killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Though Yoko Ono has always been a great inspiration, I felt that artists needed to produce works that were much more immediate and confrontational in order to really get a message across.""Che Guevara, the American Government, Greenpeace, Saddam Hussein and numerous groups of people in the Middle East have all been labeled 'terrorists' at some point in time. I guess the most universal meaning of the word terrorist is now something like, "A person who reacts strongly to something they don't like." So we became art terrorists - and there is a huge difference between an art terrorist and a terror artist."
" Art and media both deal with how we perceive and understand things. War is about killing people and taking things. Our work is clearly on the 'art' side of the fence."
SELECTED ACTIVITIES (As described by Al K. Ida)
Propaganda Pamphlets (Performance 2003)
"During the build-up to the Iraq War, few people in Tokyo seemed to care about both the war itself and Japan's involvement in it - even though Japan has been a strong supporter and economic benefactor of America's illegal war for oil. I have acquaintances who honestly believe that Japan is a pacifist country. Their ignorance and arrogance is sickening. When I saw the English translations of the propaganda fliers that the forces were dropping on the Iraqi public, I was quite shocked by the violent images and threatening words. I thought, 'How would the Japanese public feel if such pamphlets fell from the air? Perhaps they would realize that the peace they take for granted is actually quite delicate.' So I went up to the top of a tall building where my friend works and threw off several thousand pamphlets - all in the original Arabic.""Several days later, after I found the actual 'drop schedule' used by the coalition forces on the web, I gathered 7 or 8 creative friends to help me. This was the start of 'Art Qaeda'. We targeted the Tokyo Art Fair and other events. We replaced the store maps and fliers at department stores with the very pamphlets coalition forces were dropping all over Iraq and Afghanistan. Though we made a lot of people angry, I think we achieved our purpose. By experiencing a few seconds of fear or 'terror', many residents realized that Japan was currently taking part in a war of aggression."
History of Terrorism In Japan (Textbook 2007)
"As the war in the Middle East escalated, Japan's government became paranoid of terrorism. Trains, office buildings and shopping malls went on 'red alert'. Foreigners were targeted. New laws were enacted to deport and harass undesirables. All foreigners coming into Japan were fingerprinted and photographed. Depictions of 'potential terrorists' in the media were always foreign males - usually of Middle Eastern descent. Books about terrorism had popped up everywhere - but none dealt with the simple fact that in modern Japan, every recorded instance of terrorism was carried out by Japanese nationals or lifelong residents - the massive assassinations of the Meiji era, the Red Army hijackings and the subway sarin attack were all perpetrated by homegrown terrorists. Fear of the foreign 'other' was irrational and clearly racist. With donations from people in Japan and overseas, we published 500 copies of a hardcover textbook titled, History of Terrorism in Japan (日本のテロ歴史). We then smuggled the text into libraries and book stores throughout Japan. Some were thrown out but many of them are still there. Some have already even ended up in the hands of book and art collectors."
Graffiti 'Live Long Iraq' (Graffiti / Performance 2003-2008)
"Though I didn't personally take part, I encouraged all of our members worldwide to satisfy their graffiti urges by writing 'Live Long Iraq' in places they felt appropriate. Even the U.S. government has often stated that "Iraq is not the enemy.'' In fact, America is quick to emphasize that the war in Iraq is 'for the people of Iraq' and 'for the future of Iraq.' Therefore, our graffiti is just a restatement of official government policy. Yet, just by writing the word 'Iraq' or saying that you support Iraq makes you suspicious in most people's eyes - especially when you do this in Japan, England and the United States." "Instead of saying 'Long Live Iraq', I chose to switch the order of the adjective and verb. 'Long Live' sounds like a nationalistic slogan or patriotic epithet - like England's 'God Save the Queen'. In contrast to this, 'Live Long' rings like a message of good will, a blessing. It also places an emphasis on 'live', which is basically what all people want to do."
