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’.

Field recordings

Yasuhiro Morinaga presents Field Recording Series Endah Laras [Surakarta, Indonesia]
Endah Laras [Surakarta, Indonesia]
A pioneer of Japanese Sound Design, Yasuhiro Morinaga’s field recording series has just launched the first edition! This first edition is featuring one of the most astonishing Indonesian singers, Endah Laras, who has been known for Javanese traiditional art like Wayang Kuri. The recording was conduced at the open-air studio, owned by Endah’s father who was regarded as one of the maestro of Javanese Wayang Kuri. The location has rich sonic environment and enriches natural resonance. Through her astonishing voice with different music instruments, such as ukulele and guitalele and other traditional Javanese instruments like gender and Javanese sitar, The music in itself beings us the feeling of Kroncong and Folk. Although we all know that Indonesia has strong tradition in gamelan music or ritual ceremonies, this recording work should be treated as a new music of modern Indonesian sound.

Outland ethnologies

Thang Mo by Ngoc Dai [Vietnam]
Ngọc Đại is one of the most influential composers in contemporary music in Vietnam. Due to the socio-political and sexual lyrics, the original album was prohibited by government to release in Vietnam. This album presents the Dai's unique singing style, evoking the northern Vietnamese folksong, composition based on the chanson music. Ngọc Đại was born in 1946 in Vietnam. He studied composition in Hanoi Conservatory from 1977 to 1983 but soon decided to leave the national communist system and live as a true independent artist and is probably the only socially and politically committed composer in Vietnam and he has also been recently convicted by the Vietnamese Authorities for being a counter-revolutionary artist when his last album was released.

Performing arts

The Seen and Unseen
One day, Tantri comes to realise she will not have much more time with her bedridden twin brother Tantra, who is losing his senses one by one. Grappling with this reality, Tantri finds solace in the deepness and the darkness of night. Under a full moon, she dances, finding herself between reality and imagination, loss and hope. Tantri experiences a magical and emotional journey into womanhood that eclipses Tantra’s fading life. The Seen and Unseen (Sekala Niskala) is a new performance work, a cross-cultural collaboration between artists from Indonesia, Japan and Australia. Inspired by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini’s film The Seen and Unseen, which has been described as “a truly singular film” (Cinema Scope) and “a haunting and hypnotic interpretation…rooted in Balinese arts and culture” (Variety). This dance-theatre production is a visual feast incorporating dance, live music and song, and features an electronic score, creating a blend of traditional Balinese dance movement with a contemporary approach to theatre. Driving this production is the Balinese philosophy of Sekala Niskala (“the seen and unseen”), a fundamentally dualist spiritual structure that describes what we cannot see as having equal value to what is seen in the world.