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’.

Field recordings
Yasuhiro Morinaga presents Field Recording Series Slamet Gundono [Surakarta, Indonesia]
Slamet Gundono [Surakarta, Indonesia]
インドネシアはジャワ島のスラカルタで活動するパフォーマーのスラマット・グンドノとフィールドレコーディングした作品です。スラマット・グンドノはジャワ島を代表するパフォーマー、音楽家、影絵師。インドネシアの伝統文化を探求しながら独自のユーモアと風刺で、物語の事実/虚構を混ぜ合わせながら現代社会の様相をユニークな音楽として歌うユニークなアーティストです。森永とグンドノは2011年に公演された振付家である北村明子のダンス作品『To Belong』で知り合いになって以来、幾度となくコミュニケーションを交わし、今回のレコーディング・プロダクションにたどり着きました。二本のマイクロフォンでグンドノの歌声と楽器、そしてクンダンやゲンデルといったインドネシアの楽器演奏を一回録り(グンドノの音楽はその日の彼の気分で音楽が全く変わってしまう)で実現させ、一切のポスト・プロダクションを省くことで、フィールドでの彼を取り巻いた環境を如実に表す作品となっています。