豊田有希『あめつちのことづて』より
The Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused enormous disruption in our lives, has revealed dark sides and weaknesses in our societies and ourselves that we had not given attention to before. At the same time, it has become an opportunity to focus anew on the meaning and importance of living with other people.
In this time of confusion about how best to move forward, why don’t we look at the spot we’re standing on and the things around us, use our hands and our bodies, think about the future of our lives and our area, try things out, and reach out to others and our surroundings?
In this workshop we will begin thinking, learning and trying, individually and together, through activities including fieldwork, lectures, research and creation, along with artists and other people active in a variety of fields.
The workshop will be made up of two sections: Fieldwork and Lectures.
In the Fieldwork section, participants will look for their own field and think about their stance and methods in engaging with it—guided by the activities of photographer Yuki Toyoda—in order to deepen their understanding of the nature of fieldwork, which is indispensable for community action, and put this understanding into practice.
In the Lecture section, in order to expand our awareness of events, perspectives and projects, we will provide a setting where guests working in the areas of Minamata disease, Hansen’s disease and social care speak about their experience and discuss various topics.
In the second half of this fiscal year, we also plan to have each participant undertake research and creation in their own fields, in tandem with fieldwork and lectures.
Philosopher Tetsuro Watsuji wrote, “fudo (climate) is not simply a natural phenomenon. It is something in which people discover themselves—a method of human ‘self-understanding’ in which we can find all expressions of human life, including literature, art, religion and customs.” Fudo is also different from “environment,” a word we hear often. Certainly, it’s even farther from “nostalgia.” It could be called the result of a back-and-forth between people and land, formed by unceasing time and the human activities that have unfolded therein.
On the other hand, topographical maps seem at first glance to show a geographical, static situation—mountain ranges and rivers, plains formed by the differences in their elevations and so on. However, when we think of the Tama region (western Tokyo) or various landscapes in Japan, the images that come to mind—highways weaving through cleared hilly terrain and mountain passes, abandoned farmland, walled-off coastlines—cannot really be thought of as images that depict a geographically natural state. And it seems that we can no longer talk about topographical maps without talking about the impact of people. This landscape is the result of our post-war socio-economic choices, and it’s also something that has affected our collective psyche in various ways.
Today it has become quite artificial to say “natural features.” But there must be a way to connect with current landscapes and natural features in a way appropriate to our time. Rather than engage in mere nostalgia or simplistic paeans to nature, in this age of coronavirus we’d like to go into the field and start the actual work, bringing along various questions: “What sorts of topographical maps have we drawn?” “What ways of life exist therein?” “Can we draw topographical maps going forward?” “What sorts of connections with landscapes and events, and connections with people, can ‘we’ create?” and “How is topography possible?”
Guest artist
Yuki Toyoda (photographer)
Schedule
– Wednesday, September 29, 2021 19:00 – 21:00
– Saturday, October 23, 2021 15:00 – 17:00
– Saturday, November 27, 2021 15:00 – 17:00
– Saturday, December 25, 2021 15:00 – 17:00
*The schedule thereafter will be posted once it is confirmed.
Guests
Michi Nagano (staff member, Supporting Center for Minamata Disease), Tetsuya Kimura (curator, National Hansen’s Disease Museum), Ami Takahashi (director, Kodomo no Ie, Yuzuriha), others
Schedule
– Thursday, September 16, 2021 19:00 – 21:00 (guest: Ami Takahashi)
– Friday, October 8, 2021 19:00 – 21:00 (guest: Michi Nagano)
– Saturday, November 6, 2021 15:00 – 17:00 (guest: Tetsuya Kimura)
*The schedule thereafter will be posted once it is confirmed.
– People who wish to start an activity in the area where they live
– People who wish to update or improve an activity that they have been working on
– Open to all regardless of age, gender or experience
20 people
Free (Costs related to fieldwork, research and creation must be covered by the participant.)
Apply in one of the following ways.
*Applications will be selected by lottery if the number exceeds capacity.
*Personal information will be strictly managed and will be used only for administration of and notifications for this program.
Application deadline
Tuesday, August 31, 2021 (Applications must be received by this date.)
Artfull Action NPO
FAX: 050-3627-9531
E-mail: mail@artfullaction.net
September 2021 – March 2022
*About twice a month (A total of about 14 sessions including fieldwork and lectures are scheduled.)
*2 hours per session
Various locations in the Tama area, Koganei Art Spot Chateau 2F (Chateau Koganei 2F, 6-5-3 Honcho, Koganei, Tokyo), online via Zoom, etc.
*Activity methods will be considered based on circumstances including the Covid-19 situation.
