Cultures of Resistance

Any idea of culture begins an argument about definition. Here in ‘Cultures of Resistance’ Takayama is looking at culture as ‘a response to environment’. Perhaps not a definition immediately recognisable but there is a school of thought which sees human culture, any culture, as a mediating activity between the holistic environment and the life form. For Takayama the idea of resistance to the dominant form is a powerful historical thought form which has shaped the story of our world. Yet it is not just an idea of humanity. As an activity, nature provides a constant culture of resistance to the works of human hands.

This ongoing conflict of spirit is what this series seeks to reflect with images in which a conflict between forms and structures appear. Resistance itself is a charged concept and too often we look to see aggression as its natural expression. However, as Takayama understands in ‘Cultures of Resistance’, aggression is a short term response which often fails its purpose. When the struggle against an opposing force is brought to bear slowly, over time, the consequences can change a balance of power. A genuine persistence in purpose and underlying determination of will can succeed against odds which seem overwhelmingly final.

In Cultures of Resistance, Takayama offers imagery which looks at the ability to resist the structures of our own realities.