Organizers
2024/5/29(水) 18:30〜20:45
【Finish】Special Symposium”The World, Not According to Art.”
Koganecho Bazaar 2024 Special Symposium will be held on May 29th, Wednesday.
The theme of Koganecho Bazaar 2024 is ”The World, Not According to Art.”
This theme reflects the current thinking of Shingo Yamano (Director of Koganecho Bazaar), who has been practicing “urban development through art” with the local community and artists in Koganecho, while at the same time leaving room for a variety of interpretations from others.
This symposium invites four speakers, Tsuyoshi Ozawa (artist), Chiaki Soma (art producer), Elena Aframova (artist and curator), and Nidya Kusmaya (Koganecho Bazaar 2024 participant artist).
The speakers will present their views on this year’s theme, starting with a text written by Shingo Yamano, followed by a general discussion. A question-and-answer session will be held in the latter half of the session to provide an opportunity for the entire audience to deepen the discussion.
Date｜May 29(Wed) 18:30~20:30
Venue｜Site-D Community Space Beneath the Railways
*Consecutive interpretation
*There is no advance reservation, but attendees may be limited as necessary.
*Online streaming available on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/live/8PmfHHE9B7Q)
Shingo Yamano
Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1950, he has been the director of the IAF Art Laboratory since 1978, and has been planning exhibitions, etc. He became the director of the Museum City Project in 1990, and has produced “Museum City Tenjin,” an art exhibition using the entire city every other year since 1990. In 2005, he became the curator of the Yokohama Triennale, in 2008 the director of the “Koganecho Bazaar”, and in 2009 the director of the Koganecho Area Management Center.
Tsuyoshi Ozawa
Artist | Born in 1965 in Tokyo. Lives in Chiba．
As a student at Tokyo University of the Arts, Ozawa began his Jizoing series in which he photographs Jizo figures he created, situated in different environments. In 1993, he began his Nasubi Gallery series of portable, miniature galleries made from milk boxes, and Consultation Art. In 1999, he produced his Museum of Soy Sauce Art which is remakes of masterpieces from Japanese art history painted with soy sauce, and in 2001, began his Vegetable Weapon series which are photographic portraits of young women holding weapons made of vegetables. Ozawa held his first solo museum exhibition “Answer with Yes and No!” at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo in 2004, followed by “The Invisible Runner Strides on” (2009) held at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, “Imperfection – Parallel Art History” (2018) held at the Chiba City Museum of Art. In 2013, he made his debut as a stage and artistic director for “Prolog?”, a play by Elfriede Jelinek. The recent “The Return of …” series feature a well-known historical figure in a fictionalized story combining paintings, video and music.
Chiaki Soma
Chiaki Soma is curator and art producer for numerous projects that transcend the boundaries of performing arts, visual arts, socially engaged art, digital arts using VR/AR technology both in Japan and abroad.
She was the first Program Director of Festival/Tokyo, Japan’s leading performing arts festival from 2009-2013. She founded the Art Collective NPO Arts Commons Tokyo in 2014, and currently serves as its representative director. In 2017, she founded an independent interdisciplinary art festival, Theater Commons Tokyo, and curates eight editions from 2017-2024 as artistic director. She was invited as curator to the Aichi Triennale 2019 as well as 2022 to build an interdisciplinary program beyond the borders of performing arts and visual arts. She also directed the Theater der Welt 2023 as the first non-western female curator.
From April 2021, she is serving as an Associate Professor, Global Art Practice, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan.
Elena Aframova
Born and raised in Ukraine, Elena Aframova is an Israeli artist and curator, long term residing in Japan. She holds an MA in Educational Counseling from Haifa University (2000) and completed a filmmaking program at TOEI Kyoto Studio via the NY Film Academy (2010). Recently, she curated works by Ukrainian artist Nadia Olefir “Garden of People” at her studio, THE ROOM, and an ongoing duo exhibition “Wake up to a New Space” with Iranian/French/German artist Ariane Mercier-Beau. Her curatorial focus centers on facilitating dialogues around the construct of cultural identity, community interactions, and the human experience, creating spaces where diverse perspectives converge and intersect.
Nidiya Kusmaya
Born in Indonesia in 1991 and currently based in Bandung. Nidiya Kusmaya is an artist focusing on colorant materials and their mesmerizing presence in natural pigment colorants and patterns. Graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Art and Design, she furthered her studies, combining art and biology to master natural and bio-based materials for her artworks. Kusmaya’s artistic journey explores the profound relationship between colors, nature, and human life, resulting in awe-inspiring works that transcend traditional boundaries and delve into the essence of our existence.
