In June 2026, several members of the Toronto Performance Art Collective (TPAC) participated in a very special collaboration with Japan’s Responding Performance Art Initiative. Originally conceived as a touring project to celebrate TPAC’s upcoming 30th anniversary, TPAC members approached a sister organization in Japan, Responding Performance Art Initiative, looking to develop a dialogue about how the two artist-driven organizations and their collective members negotiate the challenges of hosting international performance art projects in their respective national/regional/local contexts. Under the auspices of Responding8: ¿Absolute Territory? TPAC members were invited to tour several Japanese cities (Tokyo, Maebashi, Ishinomaki) to work alongside Responding members to present various performances, symposia and a joint workshop. This is a first stage of an exchange with the Responding Performance Art Initiative collective, who TPAC plans to host for a similar set of events in Canada in the next two years.

Responding curator Daisuke Takeya writes about ¿Absolute Territory?:

“Diversity refers to the coexistence of people with different characteristics and attributes—such as gender, age, nationality, race, disability status, sexual orientation, values, and neurodiversity—within a single group, respecting and acknowledging each other’s differences. When we view the existence of an individual as a “territory (as a land, in Japanese ‘Ryuoudo’)” and respect it, can it become something absolute, liberated from the constraints of the environment? “Absolute Territory” (an unfamiliar expression in English) can be translated to Japanese as “Zettai Ryouiki” (absolute domain). “Zettai Ryouiki” is a slang term and MOE term meaning “a sacred domain that no one can invade,” referring to the area of bare thigh skin exposed between a miniskirt or shorts and knee-high socks. But is anybody able to resist invasion?

“The global environment is currently undergoing significant changes, and we see nothing but destabilizing elements such as war and division. In such circumstances, those in power around the world frequently use the word “absolute.” What kind of bias is hidden in the idea of “absolute” as it is used in these completely different contexts? By using strong words like “absolute” and “territory” to describe a multicultural society that is constantly changing organically, is it paradoxical to consider the nature of the permeable body? We hope to provide an opportunity to think about this paradox through performance art.”