Installation

The Voice of Inconstant Savage
Commissioned for the Engawa – Japanese Contemporary Art Season programme organized by Calouste Gulbenkian Museum's Modern Art Center, The Voice of Inconstant Savage 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

POLLINATORS
本作は、ベトナム北部の山岳地帯のモン族の生活にフォーカスし、シャーマンによる厄除儀礼と養蜂家による採蜜行為を重ね合わせた視聴覚インスタレーションとなっています。シャーマンによる精霊との対話と養蜂家による蜂との対話から引き起こされる人間、環境、そして生活における共生共存を通じ、記号化された私たちの社会生活にオルタナティブな視点を導入していく作品となっており、3D立体音響と4チャンネル映像によって、観賞者への没入度を一層高めていきます。

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.

Outland ethnologies

Thang Mo by Ngoc Dai [Vietnam]
「Thang Mo」は、ベトナム国内で政治風刺や過激な性的表現による歌詞が原因で販売中止となった問題作です。ベトナム北部の伝統民謡を想起させるダイ氏の歌声とシャンソンをベースに繰り広げられる本作は、2017年のTPAM(国際舞台芸術ミーティング-横浜)で初めて披露されました。本作は、TPAMでダイ氏が歌った曲目を中心に構成しており、ミキシングやレコーディングには、ベトナムの舞台芸術界で圧倒的な支持を得ている音楽ディレクター、ニャット・リー氏が務めています。リー氏による繊細なミキシング処理も本作の聞きどころの一つといえるでしょう。