concrete

Current
The Voice of Inconstant Savage
[Commissioned Work] This multifaceted, polyphonic and immersive sound installation by Yasuhiro Morinaga establishes a historical encounter between Portuguese culture and Japan, memories and myths that remain and coexist with other cultures of the Amazon. Commissioned for the Engawa – Japanese Contemporary Art Season programme , The Voice of Inconstant (2023) is an immersive installation that superimposes a prayer inspired by the story of a 16th-century Portuguese missionary, a chant from a Kakure-Kirishitan (hidden Christians) prayer – a religion rooted in Nagasaki Prefecture –, a chant from the Karawara spirits of the Awá indigenous people – who live in the Amazon rainforest – and a chorus of Western Gregorian chant. Morinaga questions the position of the aesthetics of inconstancy in relation to the discourse of the “savage” that modern society confronts.

Field recordings
Sombat Simla: Master Of Bamboo Mouth Organ
Simla is known in Thailand as one of the greatest living players of the khene, the ancient bamboo mouth organ particularly associated with Laos but found throughout East and Southeast Asia. His virtuosic and endlessly inventive renditions of traditional and popular songs have earned him the title ‘the god of khene’, and he is known for his innovative techniques and ability to mimic other instruments and non-musical sound, including, as a writer for the Bangkok Post describes, ‘the sound of a train journey, complete with traffic crossings and the call of barbecue chicken vendors’.

Installation
Trading Garden
未来のモビリティに乗って過去へサウンドスリップ ヘッドセットをしてホンダのユニカブに乗ると、アークヒルズが昭和の頃のかつての「麻布谷町」へとタイムスリップ。かつての六本木界隈を忍ばせる昭和の生活空間のサウンド、金魚売りや豆腐売りやチンドン屋の声を、実際の外音と共存させながら聴くことで、都市における聴覚文化を考える音のAR作品「Trading Garden 市場の庭」

Performing arts
To Belong
"To Belong / Suwung" is an Indonesia-Japan international collaborative project, in which the choreographer, Akiko Kitamura takes a challenging role.  This project, based on elaborative researches since 2010,  was performed in Asian countries and earned high evaluations. The latest version of "To Belong / Suwung" was premiered at the Aoyama Round Theatre in Tokyo. Artists, taking active roles in dances, music, and visual arts got together from each country to perform in this project. Dialogues among generations, contemporary dance, traditional dance, martial art, backbones of each artist, and interactions with keen bodily senses generated intensive magnetic fields. The artists successfully reached the creation of new stage world by unifying the Indonesian tradition, mystic energy, and the modern expression.