Namiko Kunimoto has published her second book, Imperial Animations in Transpacific Contemporary Art, published by the University of California Press. This, her second book, received the FirstGen Scholar Award from the publishers. Kunimoto is the Director of the Center for Ethnic Studies and an Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art. 

 

Imperial Animations in Transpacific Contemporary Art situates the Japanese Empire as a world-historical event that persists today through pervasive and deep impacts on regional and global politics. Considering contemporary artwork from across the transpacific region, Kunimoto documents efforts to expose colonial trauma and reveal its presence in shaping political liberalism in Japan as well as the global rise of aspirational fascism. At the heart of these artistic endeavors is a drive to animate, both in the sense of digitalization and performance and in the urge to enliven, mobilize and reveal the continuities of imperialism today. The animate art addressed in this book urges us to think critically about imperialism and its links to the digital age, land, racism and violence, thereby inviting us to re-envision our collective future.

 

The release of the book was celebrated with a book launch event, hosted by the Center for Ethnic Studies on March 26, 2026. 

 

You can purchase this book from the University of California Press.