Staff Picks: Tomoko Kanamitsu on Cao Fei

Discover hidden gems and hear from multiple perspectives in this series of gallery talks. Each month, an SFMOMA staff member highlights work that pushes boundaries, defies expectations, and inspires deep thinking. You might find a new favorite!

This month, Manager of Higher Education and Interim Head of Public Dialogue Tomoko Kanamitsu highlights multimedia artist Cao Fei’s film Whose Utopia (2006), which combines interviews, performances, and imagery to explore contemporary Chinese society from multiple angles.

At SFMOMA, Kanamitsu is responsible for programs and projects that target college and university audiences, as well as strategic partnerships with leading higher educational institutions in the Bay Area. She recently co-organized the Robert Rauschenberg and the Agility of Images study days and colloquium. She is also managing editor, academic liaison, and content strategist for web and social media for Public Knowledge, a partnership between SFMOMA and the San Francisco Public Library. Tomoko has a bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s in critical and curatorial studies of modern art from Columbia University. In a previous life, she was a product manager and designer for tech start-ups.