What we do

Mayokage

  • Organization : Chiharu Shinoda
  • Section : International project
  • Type of Grant Program : Single Individual
  • Art Forms : Theater

Outline

Chiharu Shinoda began creating her new project“Mayokage”in 2021. “Mayokage” focuses on Ruwatan, a Javanese ritual for warding off evil spirits. Featuring traditional Wayang (Javanese shadow puppetry), Ruwatan is still performed on the Indonesian island of Java. These traditions have a profound connection to local social conditions and communities. Shinoda looked at a variety of protective rituals and traditions in the making of “Mayokage,” which was created together with Balai Budaya Minomartani, a community cultural facility in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This production, created on the back of a work-in-progress performance and exhibition given in February 2023, had its premiere in Yogyakarta. Directed by Chiharu Shinoda, the production featured contemporary puppeteer Nanang Ananto Wicaksono, with music by Yuri Nishida. Characters appearing in “Mayokage” were created by Kazuki Takakura, who specializes in pixel art. In Yogyakarta, the performance was streamed online, with expert-led online lectures and related workshops at a local elementary school also on offer as part of the project, which culminated with a debriefing session and exhibition about the performance in Tokyo.

Profile

Shinoda Chiharu
Playwright and director. In 2004 she co-founded Japanese theater company FAIFAI with students from the same faculty of Tama Art University, and until she left in 2012, Shinoda was a core member of the group, handling direction, scriptwriting, and planning. After leaving FAIFAI she started working independently from her new base in Bangkok.
Her creations include works that question the origins of theater itself, such as “Four Chances for Drama” and “Higeki”; “ZOO,” based on a play by a Chilean writer about a zoo where humans are the exhibits; and “Cross The Road,” a participatory performance piece that simulates revolution using the act of walking by visitors.
Shinoda put together the work “Supernatural Pavilion” at the 2018 Bangkok Biennal, and in 2019 participated in ADAM Artist Lab in Taipei as well as Music Hacker’s lab at the Manila WSK Festival. She returned to Japan in March 2020 and is now based in Nerima.

Venues

Barai Budaya Minomartani, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Morishita studio, Koto City, Tokyo