Video presentations of the 2020 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship projects are available on YouTube.
Short Documentary: A SENSE OF PLACE (Project)
Fellow artist Jesse Schlesinger and chef Masayo Funakoshi collaborated in California, United States to explore sustainability through the lens of food and agriculture. The ongoing pandemic forced the artists to make significant changes to their project, which eventually led them to re-examine the essence of the artistic experience they create while serving dishes.
Music Video :KATA (Special Edition) (Project)
This collaborative project combines Japanese martial arts, one of the earliest art forms, with music, video, motion-sensor technologies, and other digital media. Gene Coleman and his team use digital technologies to translate martial arts movements and performers’ brainwaves into sounds, which then form a landscape over which musicians play. Since the originally scheduled performance in Tokyo was canceled due to the pandemic, the team created a short film specially edited for this occasion. Enjoy it as well as the interview video in which the team talks about the backstory of the production.
Public Art Project: United By Emotions (Project)
Ben Volta, Cho Kuwakado, and Yasuyuki Sakura created a public art piece with children from Japan and the United States. Inspired by Olympic Athletes and the energy expressed in a creative movement in sports – youth in Philadelphia and in Oita were asked to think about what their energy and emotions would look like if it was unleashed as a beautiful and creative line that wraps around a circle to create a ring. The collaboration has taken many forms including an interior sculptural installation and mosaic mural in Saiki and Philadelphia. The large mural is currently exhibited at the Creative Museum “AkeruE” in Panasonic Center Tokyo until March 2022.
Artists Talk: Journey Itself Home (Project)
A poetic act of radical caring to mark the 10th anniversary of the 311 Fukushima Disaster – Oakland-based artists marksearch (Sue Mark & Bruce Douglas) in collaboration with Tokyo-based artists Hiroyuki Abe and Natsuka Endo, developed a virtual process to engage with young adults in the Tohoku region when it was not safe to travel. Using a trusted relational network, they recorded stories about safety, strength, and hopes for the future. From these recorded voices, the artists have created sonic haiku that is amplified through a trio of interactive, mobile sound monuments in the shape of tsunami stones. The artists talked about their projects prior to their final exhibition at the Setagaya Art Museum in July 2021.
2020-21 Highlights: Street Dance and Japanese Contemporary (Project)
In 2019, Cameron McKinney and Toru Shimazaki formed a partnership to collaborate on an original contemporary dance work for the 2020 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program. The dance piece will incorporate personal stories of Japanese/American dancers and portray the bonds of friendship and commonality of cultures.