Hayate Murayama

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Orfalea Center Graduate Students

Departments

History

Research Clusters

Social Data and the Archive

Affiliation Period

9/2024 - 6/2025

Email

Research Project

The Resilient Legacy: Archiving Tomiyama Taeko’s Art and Activism Across Borders

Research Description

My research is based on Japanese artist Tomiyama Taeko (1921-2021). Her artwork series produced mainly in 2008, Hiruko and the Puppeteers: A Tale of Sea Wanderers, will be donated to the Art, Design & Architecture (AD&A) Museum at UC Santa Barbara from Tomiyama Taeko’s family. I am working with the AD&A Museum as a research fellow to organize the exhibition, Tomiyama Taeko: A Tale of Sea Wanderers, to celebrate the major gift of the artwork series. My research as a historian for this project has focused on her autobiography and the historical and political events that interested her. Since the motifs and expression in her artworks are abstract and enigmatic at first glance, mere analysis from an art historical perspective does not fully unpack her intentions on the canvas. Rigorous research on her life history, international travels, and attention to political issues is necessary to fully grasp what her creation was for.

Research Interests

Tomiyama Taeko; Japanese art; Decolonial archival practices; Political art; Cross-border activism; East Asian history (Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan).

Orfalea Center Productions

English website of Tomiyama Taeko
Zines and blurbs for the Tomiyama UCSB Museum Exhibition
Online archive of Tomiyama’s Exhibition & Workshop at UCSB

Student Bio

Hayate Murayama is a graduate student in the Department of History and the Curatorial Research Fellow at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UCSB. Hayate explores the intersections of war history, memory, and transnational impact, with a focus on how personal memories are often appropriated and reshaped to fit broader collective narratives.