Skopje, Prishtina: THE SAHARA PROJECT: WEST, WHERE IS THAT? (2008, ongoing)

In an article issued last year in the culture magazine La Lettre, the Russian, Germany-based philosopher Boris Groys puts his finger on a crucial cultural-historical landmark in order to explain the European understanding of the arts and its factual domination. Groys claims that the adoration of the art object in the Western hemisphere is directly linked with the idea of dignity with regard to the human being in the humanistic traditional sense. In the arts as well as in the humanistic tradition, the object as well as the human body are considered untouchable - they both can by used as a means but mustn’t be functionalized. This ideal is defined –- and here lies the risk - as a genuinely European value, and the humanistic thought considered equivalent with European thought per se, states Boris Groys. Resulting from this conviction is the denial of the ability of dignity, humanity, democracy and tolerance to everything and everyone non-European, quasi per definitionem. 

For a few decades now, a new order is rendering itself visible or audible in Europe, which is going beyond the separation into West, East, Central and Middle Europe, to name just a few “Europes”. It seems that the ‘West’ moves steadily East-towards on the map and in people’s self-perception. Formerly set agreements seem to shift and stir, while one thought still stands there solidly: The idea of one real Europe within Europe, which is based on the European ideal - the Humanistic tradition itself being located in the West, the West of Europe, while the East (reaching beyond Europe) is planned to be ”converted” through economical and cultural funding and sponsoring. At the same time, more and more investors from the European and Asian East invest in mammoth culture projects in the West or West-West. The question resulting form all these observations and economical, cultural and political interdependences is: Where is the West, today, and what is it’s connection with a place formerly defined as ‘Europe’?

The Sahara Project wants to discuss the “repressed part” (verfemter Teil, Groys) of the Western tradition of thought, that fraction, which questions and always has interrogated the European hegemony and geographical position. 

Crucial questions include the following: 

- Where does the West end, where does the East start and based on what historical and present-day consciousness within the arts?

- Can the terms ‘East’ and ‘West’ still be applied in any illuminating way, especially with regard to an internationally connected and globally communicating art world? 

If it is, what and who profits from it and what does it mean to be form the ‘East’ or the ‘West’?  

If the terms ‘East’ and ‘West’ cannot satisfactorily be applied for a political, personal and artistic state of being what terms or concepts could we replace them with? 

- Is there a border free/transgressing art (practice) and who is receiving it?

- Central questions are: Does this “we” even exist, in the West, or the East, and whom would it include?

The Sahara Project attests: We stand in the desert, and we stand there together. Paralyzed between overcome cultural stereotypes and an art terminology that needs further distinction and accuracy, feeling estranged, not at home within ones own geographical accountings and (second-hand) reflections in the world. The Sahara Project wants to attempt to step across this polarity of East and West with the question “West, where is that?” and gather representatives of both sides researching mutual fantasies, visions, as well as images of envy and disgust. 

These questions were dealt with during a curatorial residence at the contemporary project space Press-to-exit in Skopje. An intermediary, reflective halt of the ongoing research was presented at the Center for Photography in Skopje. This presentation followed an invitation from stacion, contemporary art space in Prishtina, to participate in a work shop, and tried to include the decisive observations and experiences made in the capital of the newly born Republic of Kosovo.
In collaboration with Wooloo Productions, Kopenhagen.
Idea and concept: internationalcoffeeshop.org

New York, Latvia, MUSE (2010-11) (in process)

MUSE (Working Title)

Muses in mythology are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths. This project invites a diverse group of Latvian artists to search for their muse in New York.

New York is a city people from all over the world go to in order to seek out inspiration. But what does it mean to look for someone who is the source of knowledge toward ones own life? What personal (psychological) and social effects does such a search have? How many people does one have to meet until there is one that is truly an inspiration to ones own being and wanting, a true muse, if you will? Is there a method that can be applied to something so intimate and existential, as well as public and political? Last but not least: Does the idea of a muse differ among cultures?

Latvians are said to live along the line of confrontation between East and West, occupying a space diffuse in the political, demographic and philosophical sense; a space where the assessment and evaluation of its nation by the participants tends to be diplomatically evasive. Locked in between Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus, post-communist since 1991 and part of the EU since 2004, what does it mean for Latvians to look for their muse elsewhere, in the US, and in New York precisely? Who lures the eye, what is absurd or even obscene, more specifically, how do they read the city, reject and penetrate it while probing something, someone all creation is in need of?  

Vito Acconci and Sophie Calle, among other artists, both followed a stranger in the public space, someone whom they found attractive or made them curious. This project goes one step further. The artists invited are meant to not only fantasize and stalk but also search and meet their muse. To wander the streets of New York, to take risks and decrease distance at their own speed.

The Apex Art gallery space will be used as a studio (to dwell on methods, gather collected findings, and to track ones one meandering), a meeting place for artists and (potential) muses, and for public reports on the ongoing query. Every artist will finalize his/her search with one (or more) public talk, which can include all the people that were important for the search, or the muse/s only. If no muse can be found, then the method and ways of looking for it will be presented to a public and visualized in the space. Weekly updates among the participants will be held at the gallery space, they will be open for the public. The artists work with different media, and will introduce their approach to the task at the opening night.

The selected artists will be living in New York homes for the duration of their engagement. These places mark the points of departure for the individual queries. It is quite likely that the artists will have to move several times; this New York reality has to play into their experience of the place, and the idea of finding a muse in this city. They will start off living with a person of their choice, someone they know, or someone whom they feel could be helpful for their task, or even a person they consider a muse already. The curatorial team will organize these (free) accommodations for them.

Interested artists are Dmitrijs Lavrentjevs (born 1970), painter, Edmunds Lūcis (born 1959), multi-meadia, Uģis Prauliņš (born 1957), composer, audio producer, sound engineer, Rūta Mežavilka (born 1971), poet, writer, journalist, Edgars Mucenieks (born 1965), performance, installation.

The project is organized by Evelina Vanaga, curator, Luzern/Riga, and Lillian Fellmann, curator, journalist, Luzern/Amsterdam. 

Afghanistan – KABUL POOL PARTY PROJECT (KPPP)

PROPOSAL

POOL PARTY KABUL

We are intrigued with the Olympic swimming pool on top of Tapa Bibi Mahroo in Kabul. The amenity was built by the occupying Soviet forces in the 1980s, who were probably posted on the hill to watch out for Afghan mujahedin. It has never been officially used as a pool, because there was no way that even the Soviets could get water to travel uphill at such a steep angle. In the mid-1990s the Taliban pushed blindfolded criminal offenders from the highest springboard to test whether they would survive, if not they were sometimes still not freed but shot. Today kids play in the cement construction, men bet on their fighting hens or dogs in it, and every now and then after heavy rain fall one can cool off in it. This site of shabby majesty has never seen much water or collective happiness. We would like to change that by organizing an international pool party. The project aims at putting a group of local and foreign artists, Kabul children, students and other representatives from the city together to clean and paint the pool and find a way to fill it with water. (Maybe the water problems can be solved, by some Dutch water engineers?) If only for one day the place shall radiate with joy, music and splendor, and then remain as a colorful landmark to inspire new thoughts and creative use for local and international agents equally or collaboratively – be it as a swimming pool or not.

First we need to get in touch with the art and culture scene in Kabul, with the art school and the University, NGOs, municipal officials, construction companies, developers, international foundations, humanitarian aid workers to learn more about this landmark and to find some allies for this international project. Second we would need to go to Afghanistan in order to meet people, get acquainted with the site and figure out the practicalities and possible strategies. Back in Europe, we'd need to find the international collaborators and organize the financial means as well as logistics for this project. Right now Embassies around the world warn their citizens to not go to Afghanistan if not absolutely necessary; an exact schedule for this project can therefore not be given at this point in time. But it sure can be started now, and be assessed later in the year.

The team consists of Pier Taylor, researcher and graphic designer from Holland, and Lillian Fellmann, Swiss curator and journalist. It is possible that we would need to add co-workers later for translation, administration, organization, communication and documentation of this ambitious vision.

February 15, 2010

Tokyo, TOKYO WONDER SITE (April/May 2009)

I have spent one month at Tokyo Wonder Site in order to research the local art scene. Which is of course an unrealistic ambition and megalomaniac fantasy within such a short time frame. Plus, no “scene” can ever be comprehended by sitting down with individuals in a room alone. No matter how deep the exchange.

A wholesome experience includes close-up observations of this glimmering monolith that is constantly changing its shape and content and still remains recognizable. It takes intense field research, plunging in, visiting not only exhibitions, openings and artist talks, which I did, but also hanging out after the

official part is over. Sitting in bars, discos, do home visits, join cigarettes and ping-pong games and picnics in parks. The latter few I was not too good at, being five months pregnant I surely felt my energy limits.

What I did, though, was to meet with about thirty artists for portfolio reviews. I chose them after a rigorous research time of almost three weeks where I was wandering around Tokyo visiting galleries, museum and art spaces, talked to curators and museum directors to figure out who is in and who is not, what names where spilled at me and what was left unsaid. I worked through all the portfolios at Tokyo Wonder Site and received many useful tips from its curatorial team. I did not have the energy to go and visit all of the short listed artists in their respective studios in Tokyo and outside of it, which would have surely been critical and insightful with regard to the working context and living conditions of each one of them. Lucky enough, most of the artists could come out to meet me in Shibuya. We met at Tokyo Wonder Site where we discussed their work and exchanged ideas of the role of the artist in Japanese society today. Mostly with a translator sitting in with us.

It was interesting to learn how it seems to be much harder for Japanese artists (than for Swiss ones) to position themselves in society. Maybe I overlooked it, or it got lost in the translation but it seemed to me that there was only one door they all wanted to enter the art world, and that door did not read “resistance”. One of them mentioned the need to be different as an artist, and he explained to me how he would discover little things about him, habits, that he trained himself in in order to develop something like another view on things, to separate himself from the mass – like working at night only or cycling to avoid the masses. For most of them this step away from something like an unquestioned authority came natural to a certain extend, while it seemed that a veil of obedience still clung to their deepest sense of being, more of a guilt (or a habit?) than a responsibility towards society that they could not free themselves off. One artist very bluntly explained to me that it is hard to think independently, against the stream, as a creative islander and still move unharmed and joyfully in the Japanese society. The contemporary Japanese artist is still busying her/himself with aesthetics, not social or political dis/engagement, or the suggestion of alternatives to the society he/she lives in. Although global topics like ecology, cultural practices and new social needs are present in the art world; they appear to be set by the ones who entertain the scene financially. But maybe that is not so different anywhere else in the world, and it is especially transparent in countries with relatively young contemporary art scenes.


Time was the one single topic almost every artist had a take on, and not seldom a personal philosophy to share with me. An abundance of patience can be tracked or sensed in the young Japanese art, a deep love for time and duration, repetition and private historisization. There seemed to be no rush, and hardly any loudness expressed. Rarely I could find some cracks and something like violence shining through the colors and detailed arrangements of lines and thoughts. And where something dark was expressed it was laid out in exuberant beauty and precision – evoking an unnerving blindness in the viewer, a hunger to understand, to be allowed to enter the secret. There is an enormous quality in that, the gift of calmness given to the onlooker. Maybe it also comments on the fact that the Japanese artists still need to learn to bite the hand that feeds them. But how is art made political in Japan, then? As was pointed out to me, in contrast to Western style, Japanese tradition expresses what cannot be said. And maybe something like resistance and critique, which we are so ridiculously good at uttering in the West, is actually too blunt to transgress into a piece of art? I would not necessarily agree with that, nor would most artists I met.


The role of the artist in Japanese society I cannot conclude from the numerous but brief conversations I took pleasure in. All the same, it is a residence like the one I was so fortunate to benefit from at Tokyo Wonder Site that helps rising more refined and fastidious questions about this topic, it is a residency like this that stirs curiosity and respect for each other, which I in general deem more important than understanding.

These are the people I met:

Daisuke Nagaoka (http://yukikokawase.free.fr/Daisuke%20Nagaoka.htm). Daisuke told me that he was interested in the relationship of animal and human being, or rather the unnameable space or moment when one transforms into the other, where one is the other. He is interested in the damage these two entities or realms can do to each other. Another focus are his drawing/erasing pieces that he shows as short movies. With these he draws and immediately eliminates and changes certain aspects of it, the erasure is comparable to the cutting in a move, but softer and more partial. All the same, the effect is a change of scene and composition.

Chikara Matsumoto (http://www.2dk.net/urbanlenz/artists/e-Chikara.html) often draws ghosts. He nurtures his very own understanding of time, night and day. Chikara told me that it is essential for him to be awake at night and cycle through the city in order to get a chance to look at things how they are when all the hustle and bustle is over, and the human being is gone. It is his form of soft revolution against a very strict and authoritarian societal norm most Japanese must follow.

His animation work is lyrical and translunary. Matsumoto shot hundreds of hand-painted pieces by time-release to make the animation, which made the response and the motion magically wrap around each other. The wired but charming characters create the unique world of picture story books you read in childhood. "The invisible, but certainly existing important things. The ghosts in my animation admittedly float there and sing a song which is a mixture of anxiety and hope."

Tabata Kouichi (http://www.kouichitabata.com) produces next to paintings, collages and new forms of media, short movies that are based on drawings. The content is mostly very focused and uncomplicated - we see a fly, or a flower. It is his decision on the amount of frames and the time span, in which they are shown that translates the drawings into delicately trembling icons of timelessness and beauty.  

Aiko Miyanaga (http://www.aiko-m.com/) and I met when I have seen here work already in two places, in a solo show at the xx gallery, and at the NACT, where she was part of an emerging artist show. "The way my creation shifts unveils the fragility and uncertainty of the moment, and tells us how powerful our memory can be". Miyanaga specializes in site-specific installations. While she chooses materials and media according to the occasion, her most typical and original material of choice is naphthalene. She uses the material to form life-sized shoes, hats or cell phones, which she then places in glass cases on top of light boxes or other devices that radiate heat, as a result of which the objects slowly evaporate. These works are made of the same material as mothballs, which gradually loses shape and ultimately disappears. Miyanaga lets her works evaporate, however this doesn't mean that she just puts them somewhere and leaves the rest to fate. As she controls the time it takes for a work to disappear depending on the duration of the respective exhibition, there are naturally works that exist for just a few days, and others that stay in shape up to the last day of the event. It also happens that things that have been hidden inside the white objects become visible toward the end of an exhibition. In all cases, seeing how the glass cases are gradually covered with pure white crystals is a truly beautiful sight. In the show I saw at NACT she had old cupboards piled up several meters high and placed some hand-made pots in them. 

Ken Hamaguchi, pinter

Kyoko Ebata  ( http://kyokoebata.blogspot.com/). SSamzie Space in Seoul in Conjunction with Tokyo Wonder Site's Bilateral Exchange Residency Program. result of accumulated lifetime experience of the individual concerned.

Miki Kubota (http://www.hpfrance.com/En/Art/) who refurbishes furniture by stripping it off its threedimensionality and lies it out flat or hangs it on the wall, like a squashed or ran over and the neatly assorted pray. This working process translates the furniture into a new object or subject - like an enormous bug for instance.

Let me start off with the list of artists, curators and museum directors I was so lucky to meet. Teppei Kaneuji's large scale exhibition and first solo show "melting city/empty forest" I saw at the Yokahama Art Museum (http://www.yaf.or.jp/yma/index.php), that showcases younger Japanese artists next to its collection exhibitions. His installation art concerns itself with silhouettes and boundaries. ooze, bleed and blue are prominent elements in Japanese art. The contours of letters in calligraphy, and smudges in ink painting are indispensible techniques when it comes to expressing the Japanese conection of time and space. It is basically the same thing that the blots' contours and the construction they produce do for Kaneuji, writes Yusaku Imamura, director of Tokyo Wondersite. The artist is also treasuring the idea of small events froming a huge phenomenon. http://teppeikaneuji.com/kaneuji_works.html

Daisuke Fukunaga (www.geocities.jp/mihokanno1980/fukunaga.html) paints the most ragged scenes and the objects left behind. Shabby empty lots, worn-out mops, and wastes… Neither human figure nor even traces are present in Fukunaga's paintings. Instead, the scenes and objects exist themselves, as if they have stripped away the use-values that are usually attached to them, and bizarreness and some kind of attractive madness can be sensed from them. 

Keisuke Kondo, 2007 Tokyo Wonder Site. 

Mayuko Yoshida, filled a small attic room with long white paper strips that almost completely cover up a wooden chair under them. The chair changes into something that fights for its life, that desperately wants to breath. The light paper seems all of a sudden beastly and painful, while the heavy material of the wooden chair appears fragile, endangered. Mayuko told me that she concerns herself with words, the space between them and the things that disappear when we use words. She translated her fascination with that topic into an installation containing a black, laid table. Laid out were texts written in Braille and spoons filled with the ashes of that same text. This piece brings together different works that the artist was unable to put into words. This shows a specific Japanese tradition where, unlike in the West, the things are shown which cannot be named. 

Dig & Bury Yuji Oda, Nobuhiko Terasawa (www.digandbury.jp, studio BUM) are a funnybunch of two artists who do it the other way. They don't look for white cubes and oher spaces to show their work. Far more important to them is the feeling that they cross boundaries, the limitations of their culture, a geographical border or the idea of art at large. They are good communicators, with wild ideas and a lot of energy. Their practice contains sth. that is rather rare in Japan, it is socially engaged, political and humorous (too take off the edges). Where American socially engaged art feels weighty, or if doen badly, heavy-handed, Japan practices often seem to feel the urge to laugh off or ridicule its own content, which must not be mixed up with a lack of seriosity or meaningfulness. The artist xxexplained to me that most contemporary art from Japan made by young Japanese does not dare yet to oppose the tight social structures, the expectancy of anyone to provide to the smooth stream – every one is a drop that leads into the same river, so said by Jürgen Staack (www.juergenstaack.com/), a German artist who resided at TWS with me. 

Kouichi Tabata, www.kouichitabata.com, from painting to animation to drawing in one frame, movement without motion.

Takashi Kuribayashi http://www.takakuri.net/, http://ameblo.jp/takakuri/, coceworks.com, lived in Germany, speaks German. He lives in Kamakura outside of Tokyo where he can afford a big studio place. He builds whole biotops including animals and plants into existing museum structures. His work unifies a strong care for the environment, a fierce joy to attack any space given and a intrusive sense of humor. 

Tatzu Nishi (http://www.tatzunishi.net) lives in Berlin. He showed at ARATANIURANO (www.arataniurano.com). His installation art turns public items like light posts  or monumental sculptures in a park into elements that belong to a private space. he does so by building a space around the object and closing it in with an intimate environment, mostly a mundane one, like a living room, or a kitchen. I met Tatzu at TWS where he carried his A3 catalogue of his latest work with him, and at the opening of his show. He had a street lamp installed so it would move through two of the gallery walls. The center piece was more of a mock instalation of his big pieces that he does in specific city areas, parks and other public spaces. (PS: He was surrounded by female fans and talked in a loud and exhilarated voice when we exchange our personal data.) 

Naoko Shiokawa was showing a series of photos from her own past in the Hongo exhibition space. She transformed them into monochrome images, blew them up and printed them on fabric. Then she sewed black pearls on the white parts and white pearls on the black parts, turning these memories into blurry images of uncertain moments of the past. The technique is more striking then the effect on site.

Soya Arakawa, socially engaged art (www.tacolv.com), we briefly talked at an opening at the French Embassy.

Ken Hamaguchi, whom I got to know through my friend Maki Sasaki. He depicts the stereotypical blond ind traditional Japanese bondage. His paintings appear inspired and tacky at the same time. Ken pointed out two books to me, both edited by Yuki Yamaguchi, an art lover who is invested in the collecting and presenting of contemporary Japanese art to a wider audience. The books Ken handed over to me carry the enthusing itles "A Guide to contemporary Japanese Art" and "The Power of contemporary Japanese Art". I believe that she is one of the rare people who put out such books in English. 

Elisabeth, magegf@yahoo.com moved away to London.

Toru Kuwakubo (http://www.galeriedavidegallo.com/index.php?id=exhibition_kuwakubo, kuwakubo@yahoo.co.jp) is a painter that is capable of sharing his wonderful world of sarcastic, sad, entertaining scenes where people busy themselves standing in the outside, a landscape with often mundane actions. The pure solidity and sincerity of the scenes and the unique arrangament of layers makes his paintings like the "Men with the white boxes", or "Dig, dig, dig" spread a unique mix of humor, sadness and senseless endeavor. 

Yoshiaki Kaihatsu (http://www.yoshiakikaihatsu.com/) Performance

Jun Kitagawa  (www.kitagawajun.com)

    

Jun Kitagawa  (www.kitagawajun.com)

Jun Kitagawa  (www.kitagawajun.com)

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, www.mot-art-museum.jp: Ryoji Ikeda +/- (the infinite between 0 and 1) escaped my interest. It seemed that size mattered a bit too much fo rthis work in order to be captivating, and once blown up in that dimension, which it well might deserve, the work became decoration.  A wallpaper of changing numbers and current data that should impress us by the pure fact that all this information is the expression of the "now", of something that is or happens at that very moment when we stand in front of it, and is brought to our awareness as impenetrable data mesmerizing due to its enormous abundance. Some rooms we could only enter with our shoes taken off. 

We didn't make it, I don't remember whether Ryosuke Hara cancelled on me, or I on him, unfortunately. 

Instead I met with the German artist Bodo Korsig (http://www.korsig.com/) several times and went to his show at Makii Masaru Fine Arts, where I met Kaori Satou, the gallery manager.

I talked to the  Sawako Fukai, the manager of G/P Gallery, they very actively promote photography and regularly organize public portfolio reviews for curators. 

Leo Kadele, http://leokadele.googlepages.com, www.maxartfest.com, director, is an artist from Croatia who tested the Japanese public with his playful and positively confrontative performances.

Yoshioki Kaihatsu

Ryota Katsukura, photographer, I met this talented artist at the portfolio review at TWS Hongo. A lot of fantastic portfolios were laid out in a much too small and scorching space. The ambiance was exhilarated and when I got there the students and artists where starting to open a few bottles shaking off the day's nervousness.

The artist Shinji Ohmaki whose work I have studied carefully in many catalogues, I did not meet. The same accounts for Meo Saito whose work is most impressive, an mind-blowing testament to the Japan of the past and the present. Told in a contemporary painting style and framed by intelligent as well as most delicate means of form  – producing a sheer unbearable beauty of content and wisdom. The preparation per painting of her "Wreath"-series takes her over a month per piece, applying over twenty layers of pigment, carbonic acid and glue to the fabric. Her paintings are so painstakingly executed that her work has been blown up for teh show at NACT. 

I saw their work but missed to meet them in person due to my being sick at the Open Studios event: Daisuke Fukunaga, Soshiro Matsunaga, Masaya Chiba, Yosuke Amemiya

Kyoko Jimbo, curator, Tokyo Metropolitain Museum of Photography.

One of the most surprising and uplifting encounters was my meeting with Mr. Taro Amano, Chief curator at Yokohama Art Museum, and Ms. Eriko Osaka, director at the Yokohama Museum of Art. They both showed a great interest in my experience as the director of the Kunsthalle Luzern and the chance to network. Ms. Osaka was off to the Venice Biennale the next day. There and back in 3 days, I believe. Yokohama Museum of Art was founded in 1989, is located in the futuristic Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama city next to the Yokohama Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan. The also co-curate the Yokohama Triennale.

Taro took me to the exciting BankArt (www.bankart1929.com) venue where i met the director, Osamu Ikeda, who showed me around in these loft premises at the harbor of Yokohama. A very trendy and attractive spot entailing a restaurant and outside bar and performance area. The place also hosts a school:

The unique aspect of BankART’s school is not simply 

the course offerings so much as its status as an 

accredited educational institution, albeit a small one. 

Eight units accumulated over a two-month period earn 

one credit. Classes meet daily Monday thru Saturday in 

small groups of no more than twenty people. Featuring 

more advanced classes at the lifelong learning and 

graduate levels, the school aspires to serve as a 

modern-day “temple school,” or terakoya, a Buddhist 

educational facility popular in the Edo period (1603- 

1868) that encouraged high standards and diverse 

learning. To date, BankART has offered 80 courses to 

over 1000 students taught by 241 instructors and guest 

lecturers. Collaboration among students and between 

teachers and students is a vital dimension of the 

program. In a seminar on art criticism, for example, 

students produce independent works of criticism, and 

in a photography course, they hold a group exhibition. 

The classes foster teamwork, and even after these 

classes come to an end, relationships and artistic 

exchange continue. 

I met with Peter Nelson, responsible for Cultural and Public affairs at the Swiss Embassy, who was just about to leave his position for Washington. He told me how different it was in Japan from Switzerland to set up an exhibition coming from abroad and finding the venue and means for it. Relation building is key, one has to meet people over and over, to get a sense whom one has to talk to to make things happen and who is just there to get a sense of who you are. There are only a few residence places in Japan too, the general interest in collaborations with foreign institutes varies a lot. The Swiss Embassy is critically involved in suggesting creators-in-residence to TWS, as well as networking between Switzerland and Japan in general, or Tokyo specifically. 

I met Yayoi Motohashi-Mäki-Mantila, curator at the National Art Center Tokyo (http://www.nact.jp/english/index.html), in one of the spacious office hallways. We had tea and discussed the goals and desires of the National Art Center Tokyo comparing it to the Kunsthalle Luzern and other places abroad. Yayoi and I both were pregnant when we met, she was about to go into mother leave only about two days later to return only after a year. I was impressed and envy her, thinking of the meagre 14 weeks of mothers' leave I was looking into. 

My heartfelt thanks go out to Yusaku Imamura, Director/Counselor on Special Issues to the Governor Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Kayoko Iemura, Director of Arts Program and Residency Division – thanks for having me at your intriguing institute. Miwa Takamura, Arts Program Section, Yoshie Irie, Arts Program Section, and Miyoko Hoshino, Chief of Residency Program Curatorial Section, Azumi Akai, Curatorial Program, and the artist who work for TWS temporarily, I forgot his name – thanks for all the great guidance and tips that enriched my stay at TWS. And thanks to Taro for a wonderful spontaneous trip, and Hansjürg, the person who set this entire undertaking in motion. Atsushi Satake, hope to see you again, some time. 

-------------------------------------------

Tokyo Wonder Site, Some Correspondence, April/May 2009

Dear Lillian,

5pm sounds find with me.

When you get to the museum, please contact any information desk to call me.

Then we can decide where we will have a coffee.

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday!

Best wishes,

Yayoi Motohashi

motohashi@nact.jp

Hi Lilly,

Thank you for your email.

I'm sorry I haven't read your email and actually I didn't have enough time to talk with you at the Vincent and Jonas' presentation.

I was a curator of a local museum in Japan before but in TWS, I'm in charge of educational program now.

Yoshi will arrange a meeting with our program director Kayoko who make all of the decision of TWS Program.

I recommend you to ask her about the show of artists from Switzerland.

(Have you already had any ideas about the show?)

And Miyo in Shibuya will help you a lot because she is one of the oldest staff in TWS and has been working with many artists for 3 and half years.

Of course I hope I'd like to help you as much as possible. 

I saw the website of your Museum and your profile's page and internationalcoffeeshop looks quite interesting for me!

I'd like you to talk about it during your stay.

Best,

xx

Dear Lillian,

We received a message to you from Ms. Ito, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

Your camera you've left in the Museum is found.

You could pick it up at the information counter in the Museum.

Best,

x

-----------------------------------------

トーキョーワンダーサイト / Tokyo Wonder Site

Institute of Contemporary Art and

International Cultural Exchange, Tokyo

150-0001

東京都渋谷区神宮前5-53-67

コスモス青山SOUTH棟3F

-----------------------------------------

COSMOS Aoyama SOUTH 3F

5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku

Tokyo 150-0001

TEL +81-(0)3-5766-3732

FAX +81-(0)3-5766-3742

E-mail: xx

URL: http://www.tokyo-ws.org

Dear All,

I am participating in a show at Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya starting from today.

Hope to see you there!

Best,

Kyoko

Kyoko Ebata

4-15-1 Machiya Arakawa-ku

Tokyo116-0001 Japan

mobile: 090.4426.5174

Email: kyoko.ebata@nifty.com

http://kyokoebata.blogspot.com/

------

France / Japan: University Exchange Project DOUBLE VISION

Date：

    2010.01.22(Fri) –2010.02.28(Sun)

Closed：

    Mondays

Time：

    11:00-19:00

Admission：

    Free

Venue：

    TWS Shibuya

Artist：

Reference Show Artists: Guy Ben-Ner, Kyoko Ebata, Aurelien Froment, Nobuhiro F

ukui, Jerome Joy, Koki Tanaka

Reference Show: January 22 (Fri.) → February 28 (Sun.)

Opening Reception: January 22, 2010 (Fri.) 19:00-21:00

Participating Students and Researchers:

Masaki Fujihata, Yu Araki, Wataru Itoh, Min H. Kang, Yuichiro Tamura, Maiko Uc

himura

Christophe Charles, Eri Ito, Yukako Kaiwa, Leona Misu, Satoko ShibataChri

stiane Cavallin-Carlut, Philippe Oudard, Sandy, Amerio, Romain Baro, Benoit Br

oisat, Sophia Burke, Samuel Dermigny, Guillaume Fouchaux, Guillaume Mazauric,

Jeremy Woillard

This project will be jointly conducted by Japanese and French university stude

nts and researchers through the cooperation of Tokyo University of Arts, Musashino Art University and ecole superieure des beaux-arts de Nantes.The program will be divided into three major parts. In the first term, participants, including spectators, will take part in a reference show that serves the purpose of sharing the program's central theme. During the second term the participants

will take part in lectures and workshops in which students and researchers con

duct research together. The program will then culminate in the third term, whe

n the students will hold a final show to exhibit the fruit of their efforts. T

he project will then continue on in March in the French city of Nantes.

for more information

http://www.tokyo-ws.org/english/shibuya/index.html

Dear Lillian,

Hi, Lillian. Hope you're feeling fine. 

We would like to shoot your 3 minutes’ interview tomorrow, the 16th of May, after the Open Studio.

In the three minutes interview, we will ask you the following questions;

 -Your activities during your stay in Tokyo

-Your impression about Tokyo, and how your stay has affected on your works

-Your passion about your works

-Your future activities

Every artists has done this interview before they left, so it would be grateful if you could cooperate us for this.

Thank you very much!!

 Best,

x

 Hi, Lillian

You will have a beamer at the talk (Room #308),

but not in your studio (Studio #302).

Are you going to use your own computer for your presentation?

If you want to use our PC, please bring the data in advance.

We’ll print out 40 papers for your bio.

Thanks,

x

From: xx
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 2:44 PM
To: takamura@tokyo-ws.org
Subject: Fw:Techs

------Original Message------
送信元："Lillian Fellmann - Kunsthalle Luzern"
送信先：
ＣＣ：
件名：Techs
送信日時：2009年05月15日 14:23:51(+0900)

Hi Yoshie, 

I guess I am very late with this but of course I'd need a beamer to do my presentation on Saturday. 

Thank you, 

Lilly

Hello, again!

Tomorrow, Yosuke Amemiya will come to see you around 2:30 – 3:00 pm.

He is on the list of Imamura, but he cannot come for the other days.

He knows that it won’t be a proper meeting, but he will bring his portfolio.

Please wait him in your studio.

Thank you!

xx

Hello, Lilly

I am not sure if you are already informed, but we will have 4 Japanese creators in our residency from 15^th of May.

They are 3 visual artists and 1 music performer.  They will also join the Open Studio on 16^th.

Their names are: Haruka Kojin, Yu Kuwabara, Hanako Murakami and Takayuki Yamamoto

Best,

xx

Hi, Lilly

I have talked with Aiko, and she said that it is difficult to come to Aoyama on Friday due to the de-installation and other appointments.

She will be away from Saturday, so tomorrow will be the only day that you can meet her.

She will be in the museum all day. Please let me know if you would like to meet her there.

Thanks,

xx

Hi, Lilly

Zenshi is moving and closing for a while.

There is no news about the new place.

Thanks,

xx

トーキョーワンダーサイト Tokyo Wonder Site

事業課｜事業係　Arts Program Section

xx

Hi, Lilly

Mr. Taro Amano, the curator at Yokohama Museum will see you on Monday at 15:00.

Please visit their reception at the entrance.

Thanks,

xx

トーキョーワンダーサイト Tokyo Wonder Site

事業課｜事業係　Arts Program Section

takamura@tokyo-ws.org

Hi, lilly

Ok, let’s do that at room 405.  Serving tea sounds nice!  I’ll bring Miki up when she comes.

Aiko will come 12:50, instead of 11:50.

I’ll see you later.

Best,

xx

8th, Friday (Room 309)
11:00-11:45	Miki Kubota
11:50-12:35	Aiko Miyanaga
13:40-14:25
14:30-15:15	Keisuke Kondo
15:20-16:05	Mayuko Yoshida
16:30-17:15	Kyoko Ebata
11th, Monday
15:00	Mr. Taro Amano, Yokohama Museum
13th, Wednesday (Room 302)
10:00-10:45
10:50-11:35
11:40-12:25
12:30-13:15	Koichi Tabata
13:20-13:05
14:30-15:15	Toru Kuwakubo
15:20-16:05	Yoshiaki Kaihatsu
16:10-16:55	Takashi Kuribayashi
17:00-17:45	Ryosuke Hara (TBC)
16th, Saturday (Open House)
Yosuke Amemiya	Shinji Ohmaki
Daisuke Fukunaga	Soshiro Matsunaga
Masaya Chiba

Dear Lillian

Good to hear that you've got some support.

I was a bit worried.

Good luck to your research!

best

xx

----- Original Message -----

From: Lillian Fellmann - Kunsthalle Luzern

To: xxSent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 1:23 PM

Subject: Artists

Dear xx,

it was nice to see you again yesterday.

With reagrds to the artist that I am most interested I would say it's drawing, installation, photography as well as perforamnce.

It's a wide field, I am aware of that. But it is most important for me to get to know a lot of work and not narrow my eperience of the Tokio art scene down already.

I got a good 10 artists already whose work interests me a lot. Yoshie is helping me to arrange studio visits with some of them.

I also got in touch with some galleries that are intereste din settingme up with their artists.

Thank you for your help,

Lilly

Have you received my last mail with the explanation about Dalmacia and questions regarding your audio project?

If not I ll send again.

If you received photo of me at the beach, that is really look of the sea at my grandma place, it is full of tourists of course.

Have you decide when to go in Dalmacia or Istria, maybe I can help you better if I know.

Hugs, Leo

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Lillian Fellmann - Kunsthalle Luzern <lillian.fellmann@kunsthalleluzern.ch> wrote:

What happened?

On Jun 23, 2009, at 10:06 AM, Leo Katunaric wrote:

Work hard in Tokyo or you will end like me, at this sad and solitude place far far away. Hugs, Leo

leokadele@gmail.com

Hello, Lilly

Ok,. so I will tell the curator at Yokohama Museum about your visit.

I am also sending you the list of the meeting that I booked so far. 

I chose 3 days, due to our office hours.

Aiko Miyanaga said that because the exhibition in the museum is closing tomorrow, she will be there, but it is difficult set up the proper meeting.

She suggested that you can go and see her briefly in the museum, if you like, and set up the meeting at Mizuma Gallery to talk with her in the exhibition space on Thursday or Friday

Koichi Tabata also suggested showing his work at gallery Koganagi, because his work is difficult to see the detail on portfolio.  His recent works are now at the gallery for Basel Art Fair.

I added Chikara Matsumoto and Kyoko Ebata from our past exhibited artists.

Please let me know how you think.

Thanks,

xx

Chère Madame Kawamata

Nous avons reçu une demande de financement de la directrice artistique de la Kunsthalle à Lucerne. Nous lui avons promis de vous transmettre sa lettre, ainsi que la lettre d'invitation de l'institut d'arts contemporaires Tokyo Wonder Site. Si vous connaissez une fondation ou des fondations qui pourrai(en)t offrir un subside, nous vous serions reconnaissants de contacter Madame Lillian Fellmann.

Tout en vous remerciant de votre soutien, nous vous prions d'agréer, Chère Madame Kawamata, nos salutations les meilleures.

Verena Kupper
Conférence des Recteurs des Universités Suisses CRUS
Service des bourses, Case postale 607, CH-3000 Berne 9
Tél. +41 (0)31 / 306 60 46 / Fax +41 (0)31 / 306 60 20
Homepage: http://www.crus.ch
Service des bourses: http://www.bourses-pour-etranger.ch

Dear Lilly,

Thank you very much for your kind email!

I really enjoyed to meeting with you!

And the baby inside my stomach was so excited when we were talking.

Good luck and enjoy your stay in Tokyo.

I will let you know when I know more about my trip to Europe.

Let's keep in touch!

Best wishes,

Yayoi

Lillian Fellmann - Kunsthalle Luzern さんは書きました:

Dear Yayoi, 

I hope you're having a great last day at the Museum. 

I am sorry but I couldn't make it back to the NACT. 

Happy last weeks of the pregnancy and I hope to see you in summer!

Really enjoyed meeting you. 

My best to you, 

Lilly

Dear Lilly

How are you doing?

I need to speak with you regarding the translation.

I have just found out that I cannot be at your meetings next week.

Unfortunately we cannot offer you anybody because the research residency program that you are participating can be provided the limited supports by TWS.

Would you mind hiring somebody by yourself for Wednesday and Thursday?

I think average price will be about \8,000 per day including the travel costs.

Please let me know your thoughts, and I can help to find someone.

I appreciate your kind understanding and look forward to hearing from you very soon.

All the best,

xx

PS I will be off on Sunday and Monday but will check my email.

Dear Lilly,

Sorry that I was so in rush yesterday.

I was wondering if we could have lunch tomorrow near the ASAKUSABASHI Station as a last meal ! and I could show you my exhibition. If you never have been there it is really great. It is old Tokyo.

Would be great to see you.

Next day I am leaving!

All my best

Bodo

Send me a message to :bodo@softbank.ne.jp or call me + 09085662699 =

From:   t2neumann@gmx.de

Subject: NACT

Date: April 28, 2009 5:44:33 AM GMT+02:00

To:   lillian.fellmann@kunsthalleluzern.ch

Hallo Lillian,

wir waren gestern zusammen in der Luxemburgischen Botschaft bei der Ausstellung. Eine gute Bekannte ist Kuratorin im NACT in Roppongi und ist ziemlich interessiert und aufgeschlossen. Vielleicht kannst du von ihr noch mehr über die Kunst in Tokyo erfahren. Hier ist ihre email. Yayoi Motohashi. Sie spricht gut englisch und ich habe sie schon vorgewarnt, dass du sie eventuell kontaktierst. Bis Anfang Mai läuft im NACT noch eine Ausstellung von japanischen Künstlern  - "Artistfile".

motohashi@nact.jp

Beste Grüsse

Thomas

http://artnews.org/artist.php?i=1655

From:   gatt@qf7.so-net.ne.jp

Subject: from Daisuke Nagaoka

Date: September 27, 2009 1:14:12 AM GMT+02:00

To:   Lillian.fellmann@kunsthalleluzern.ch

Dear Lillian,

How are you?

I Hope you are well.

I send my work images before a month.

Did you get it?

Now I am staying in Paris for my show.

I send information about that.

If come to Paris during exhibition day,

please see my show.

Anyway, I bought DVD "MACAO" in Paris.

This film made by Clemens Klopfenstein who is a Swiss film maker.

This is one of my favorite.

See you soon & best regard,

Daisuke Nagaoka

gatt@qf7.so-net.ne.jp

Asano Residence #201

Todoroki 2-29-7, Setagaya-ku,Tokyo

zip158-0082

Japan

Dear Lilliann,

I have just discovered mistake in your email adress at my pc, cause of five mails undelivered to you!

Anyway, how was your trip, are you and baby well?

It was really nice to meet you here in Tokyo. I had very hectic time, they invite me to come back and do large scale project.

In Januar we will start to work on another project here, as coproduction between Japan and Europe.

As you see I was not lazy here.

Hope you are well, looking foreward to hear from you.

Leo

http://LEOKADELE.GOOGLEPAGES.COM

A new video installation by

 Daisuke Nagaoka

22/09-24/10 2009

Vernissage : mardi 22/09 6-9pm

Galerie Yukiko Kawase

4, rue Auguste Barbier 75011 Paris

Métro: Goncourt/République/Parmentier

http://yukikokawase.free.fr/index.htm

For this season-opening exhibition, Yukiko Kawase brings "Livres Illisbles (unreadable books)",

a new work by Daisuke Nagaoka who combines video, sculpture, works on paper,

and large-scale charcoal wall drawing to weave fantasy, memory,

and drama in the mysteriously landscaped site-specific installation.

The viewers encounter the exhibition’s centrepiece,

a large chunk of charcoal made out of a fallen tree in a mountain in Osaka.

Using the charcoal chips of the dead tree, the artist draws its phantom directly on the wall.

A DVD titled “Livres Illisibles (unreadable books)” is the 5th of the series of Nagaoka’s well known “pencil drawing” video.

A man encounters a fallen tree which captures him through a magic door.

Inside the trunk, he writes down a book while he observes own life until finally disappearing into the book.

These will be joined with a quasi-psychedelic wall-sized paper cut out pencil drawing

as well as a series of small impromptu works on paper. Altogether, shows the artist’s own personal memento.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Daisuke Nagaoka: born in 1973 in Yamagata,

Japan, currently lives and works in Tokyo.

He is graduated from Nippon University and acquired M.A. at Wimbledon School of Art in London,

His numerous solo/group exhibitions include "the 12th Biennial of Moving images, Geneva",

"Jardin Secret, Yukiko kawase Paris", "Awesome Residence, Tokyo Wonder Site",

“Ambiguous Garden, Ring Wondering, hpgrp Gallery Tokyo”.

We thank Tesaki Manufacturing Corporation, Osakafor its helps in charcoal making., gori Suzuki, Manabu Tokino

For more information, contact: Yukiko Kawase +33(1)40440132,

yukikokawase@msn.com

http://yukikokawase.free.fr

From:   miki@rhythm.ocn.ne.jp

Subject: Report of my current show

Date: June 24, 2009 7:28:08 PM GMT+02:00

To:   undisclosed-recipients:;

Dear All Friends,

I am please to send you some images of current my exhibition at hpgrp gallery Tokyo. http://www.hpfrance.com/En/Art/

Please see them if you like.

This time I am showing not only my usual works by sanding, but also new series.

About new series "Swelling-the boil of the floor";

In this series, I took pictures of Close-up shot of inside and outside of furniture, and I ordered A4 size flyers printed these on each side.

I crushed this in my hands and attached on the furniture which was taken photo, with the tape and the stapler, as if I tallow this.

Thank you very much.

Best wishes to all of my friends.

MIki Kubota

I am planning to move into an old Japanese house with garden where my grand parents used to live. The house is 5 minutes from Kunitachi Station, close to Hitotsubashi University and Kinokuniya Super Market. It is very old house, so I am thinking to renovate it.  I am looking for a house mate who would like to renovate the house and garden together. I am thinking of a plan to make an installation work  in the garden.

Address: 1-16-30 Higashi, Kunitachi-shi Tokyo

5 min from Kunitachi Station South Exit.

100 sqm,  10-tatami room/6-tatami-room/Dining Room/Kitchen/Bathroom + 6-tatami annex with wild garden and well and nice trees

Possible to move in from mid December 2009

6-tatami room + shared area

70,000 yen (exl. utility bills) + Key Money 1 month

*To be discussed for the usage of the house. Possible to use for offices and studios. Archtects and handy-people are welcome.

The owner: Kyoko Ebata / artist

4-15-1 Machiya, Arakawa-ku

Tokyo 116-0001 Japan

mobile: 090.4426.5174

Email: kyoko.ebata@nifty.com

http://kyokoebata.blogspot.com/

Hi, Lillian

I haven't tried any other curators because I don't know your schedule fully.

I will not be at the office on Tuesday, but I will write them an email to introduce you and ask them to reply to you directly to make an appointment.

Regarding the translator, I have talked with Kyoko and she accepts to come on Wednesday.  Please pay her directly 8,000 yen.

I would also arrange Hikaru Miyagawa, whom you met on Saturday, for Thursday, because she was also quite interested in working for you and arranged her schedule for you.  She is an artist who left the art school in France, so I am pretty sure that her Friench is good enough.  Also, she curated the exhibition in this spring at TWS Hongo as a part of the emerging artist support program.  (Please have a look at the website for detail.)

http://www.tokyo-ws.org/english/archive/2009/03/emerging-artist-support-program-2008-wonder-bang.shtml

http://www.undicidecimi.it/wonderbang/p.htm

I hope you'll have a good meeting at Yokohama museum.

Best,

xx