What is a Festival Today?

Dates: Tuesday, October 16 2018, 19:00
Speakers: Ren Fukuzumi, Chihiro Minato, Mariko Mori
Since ancient times, festivals (matsuri) have been held in Japan as events marking the celebration of New Year, expressing hopes for a good harvest or salvation from disease, or showing gratitude. On the other hand, the period from the 1990s through the 2000s saw the emergence of numerous arts festivals all over the country. Today that sudden burst of energy is now starting to cool down. A festival has a social function, one which changes gradually with the times. The first session of the symposium will exchange various opinions and insightful case studies about art as participants explore the state of the festival today.

Tokyo as Living/Creation Zone

Dates: Sunday, November 18 2018, 13:00
Speakers: Shinya Satoh, Tomoka Shibasaki, Naoki Honjo
Ten years old this year, Festival/Tokyo is (as its name literally implies) a festival that takes place in Tokyo. If we presume a festival to be something that emerges from the everyday as a contrast to that everyday, what is the everyday that now forms Tokyo? For the people who live and create in it, what kind of place is this immense city whose outline remains unclear? This session will examine Tokyo of the present as the soil from which a festival can be cultivated.

Tokyo: Its Current Position

Dates: Sunday, November 18 2018, 16:00
Speakers: Shinya Satoh, Tomoka Shibasaki, Naoki Honjo
While the population of Japan continues to overconcentrate in Tokyo, it is clear that the position of the city is shifting in terms of the rest of Asia or the world. By taking an overview of the current situation for the city in which F/T is based, rather than simply compared it with other cities, this session will reinterpret Tokyo as we look ahead towards updating the festival.

Moderators: Kaku Nagashima, Chika Kawai

Tuesday, October 16 2018, 19:00
Sunday, November 18 2018, 13:00 / 16:00

500 yen (per session)

*Please see here for reserve tickets
*Please pay for your tickets when you collect them from the venue box office.

Festival/Tokyo Executive Committee office
4F 5-24-12 Mejiro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0031 Japan
TEL: 03-5961-5202
E-mail: contact@festival-tokyo.jp