In a letter to me of 20 June 1990, sent from his famous address 5370 Shimosuwa-machi, Nagano-ken, Japan, Yutaka Matsuzawa writes under his beautiful Japanese signature: “P.S. I want to inform you that I visit to Amsterdam with my wife and also my daughter Kumiko, with who I visit your home, in 1971.”
Of course I remember until today Yutaka Matsuzawa-san’s impressive presence in my rather small Amsterdam apartment, Houtmankade 35, where many, now reputed, conceptual artists visited and stayed at the time. I had met Matsuzawa-san on the green lawns in Arnhem at the ‘Sonsbeek ‘71’ event, that spread out over the whole of Holland, in which Matsuzawa took part by announcing his concept of ‘world revolt’ at the heart of this show by Wim Beeren, the Sonsbeek Park. I had seen Matsuzawa’s exhibition at ‘Art & Project’ in the summer of 1970, in the beautiful art villa that Adriaan van Ravesteijn and Geert van Beijeren had in Amsterdam. That same summer of 1971 Matsuzawa had a publication in the ‘Art & Project Bulletin’, number 21.
After those meetings we wrote letters back and forth between Japan and The Netherlands. Our correspondence of 1989/1990 came about because I had invited Yutaka Matsuzawa to take part in ‘Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy’, the meeting of artists, scientists, spiritual leaders and economists that I initiated, encouraged by French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou (1926-1987) in the sense of “an Art of Peace Biennale, Triennale, Quartre...”, as Robert put it. These AmSSE dialogues were to take place at the Stedelijk Museum and the Fodor Museum of Amsterdam, in September and October 1990.
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