The KUMA Foundation is pleased to announce the fourth exhibition in the series KUMA experiment 2024-25, showcasing the achievements of 45 creators from the 8th class of the foundation’s scholarship program. The exhibition, titled “When the Mouth Opens, Air Escapes,” will be held at the KUMA Foundation Gallery in Roppongi from Saturday, December 14, to Sunday, December 22, 2024.
The exhibition features five creators working at the forefront of their respective fields: • Haruto Kamijo, who generates new possibilities through the lens of engineering. • Koki Sakakihara, striving to create music that will top the charts. • Ryuji Koyasu, envisioning a world where AI robots seamlessly integrate into self-sufficient lifestyles. • Sorao Sakimura, whose unique animations blend hand-drawn techniques, 3D CG, and live-action. • Monami Yabe, sculpting memories into art from raw logs.
These emerging talents, each exploring different realms of creativity, come together to present their visions for the future.
Statement
We breathe. Did we do it well? We speak. Did we do it well? We trace our memories. Did we do it well?
Yet, When the mouth opens, air escapes.
We, the five creators, have each pursued our own unique paths: crafting irreplaceable music, capturing visions through animation and film, sculpting memories and sensations, exploring vernacular rice-farming robots, and shaping forms through geometry and mechanics.
Our paths intersect here, in this space. Through our work, we speak of what is real, of what is alive.
When the mouth opens, air escapes. It mingles with the air of this place.
With the aim of fostering young artists and revitalising cities and regions through culture, A-TOM ART AWARD 2024 held an open call for art works from student artists working in the field of contemporary art from all over the country. In this seventh edition, the theme is ‘Value’. Four winners were selected through a preliminary screening of artwork data and a final screening based on presentations. A group exhibition of the winners will be held in December 2024.
株式会社アトムは、若手アーティストの育成を図るとともに、文化を通じた都市・地域の活性化を目指し、芸術を学ぶ全国の学生から作品を募集するA-TOM ART AWARD 2024を開催いたします。 第7回目となる今回は、テーマを「価値」とし、全国の現代美術の分野で活動する学生アーティストを対象にアート作品を公募します。作品データによる一次審査、プレゼンテーションによる最終審査にて4名の受賞者を決定し、2024年12月に受賞者によるグループ展を開催いたします。
In what ways can not only works of art but exhibitions as a whole break free from institutional display? Can we make the instrument of advertisement into another site of exhibition? Going even further, can we activate the entire exhibition by physically moving it around a city? In order to bring the intended mobile nature of the exhibition into reality, we must disengage from the system, directly act on the city itself, and decentralize from the traditional hierarchy applied to institutional spaces. When the protection afforded by the white cube no longer applies, the private sphere providing relatively high levels of freedom to the artist and curators, we must negotiate the rules and regulations governing the city’s public spaces.
What defines the public? In “Public Space in a Private Time,” Vito Acconci argues that the term “public space” is a warning that the rest of the city isn’ t public. He defined public space as a place within the city yet simultaneously isolated from it. Moreover, the making of a public space demands the formation of trust in an institution whose authority cannot be questioned. It is a “reality” that acts as an undebatable belief system that serves particular bodies and punishes those who disobey the system. We have decided to test the limits of this system by using a truck intended for advertisement purposes to display art works while moving freely around the Tokyo metropolitan area and its surroundings. After the curation of this project was launched, on June 30, 2024, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s environmental ordinance was revised and enforced, and ad trucks are no longer allowed to run in Tokyo at all while displaying LEDs. However, once outside of the metropolis, displaying images is permitted. Thus, all participants in the system were required to either resign or adapt.
In urban public spaces, artists act as subjective anthropologists, reporters, and analysts, observing and reacting to people and urban policy through their own experiences. The artist serves as a channel for understanding the experiences of others, and their work serves as a metaphor for comprehending urban spaces and their governance. In seeking to become catalysts for change, artists reposition themselves as citizen activists, building a stronger consensus on the implemented public and political agenda. Moreover, in the design of movements for the exhibition, each stop on the route has been decided by the boundaries and limitations of the city. Respecting and co-existing with the rules, we find arbitrary leeway where a deeper level of experiential engagement can be achieved. The exhibition encourages the audience to reconceptualize urban space, to become aware of the overhanging regulations, and to confront the social system or find the loopholes hidden within.
After graduating high school in Antakya, a small town in Turkey, Lilith Bardakçı had the opportunity to study at Bogazici University’s Foreign Language Education Department. Bogazici University, renowned for its egalitarian culture, fostered their academic growth and played a pivotal role in their self-discovery. As a trans non-binary individual, they actively engaged with the LGBTI+ Studies Club at the university, assuming leadership roles as vice president and president. Recently, Lilith Bardakçı, an M.A. student at Boğaziçi University’s Linguistics Department, examines language’s connection to gender, sexuality and identities. As an LGBTI+ activist, Lilith explores Lubunca, a language phenomenon shedding light on identity, societal and cultural constructions. As Lilith continues expanding the boundaries of linguistic inquiry, they remain committed to promoting diversity, inclusivity and equity within academic discourse.
Lubunca: A Queer Anti-Language discusses the multifaceted world of Lubunca. Having been defined in multiple ways—as a slang spoken by some gay men and trans women, a jargon used by sex workers, a gay slang, a queer slang variety, and an LGBTQ slang variety — Lubunca embodies the vibrant identity and resistance within Turkey’s queer community. Lilith Bardakçı terms it an anti-language spoken by Lubunyas, as it reveals a resilient reality distinct from the hegemonic societal norms. The term ‘Lubunya’ extends beyond categories like gay, lesbian, or trans, representing queer individuals who live beyond conventional Turkish societal structures and embrace non-normative lifestyles.
Bardakçı will unveil the etymological roots and historical context of Lubunca, as well as discussing its sociolinguistic functions and its role as a tool for secrecy and solidarity. Key insights reveal Lubunca’s critical role in facilitating discreet communication among queer individuals about sensitive issues, thus protecting the community from societal and legal repercussions. As noted by Nicholas Kontovas, Beyoğlu (Istanbul, Turkey), the birthplace of Lubunca, was a hub for many gay and transgender sex workers, along with non- Muslim minorities like the Romani. Lubunca allowed these groups to unite in resistance against Turkish law enforcement. Today, it continues to exclude non- members while discussing sexual and criminal matters. Lubunca also serves as a dynamic instrument for gender performance, empowering LGBTI+ activists and YouTubers to enhance their visibility and assert their identities in public and media spaces. Delving deeper, the talk will examine how Lubunca constructs an alternative reality for its speakers. As Bardakçı suggests, in line with Halliday’s concept of anti-languages, Lubunca relexicalizes Turkish to create and sustain an anti-society where conventional ideas of sex, gender, sexuality, crime, and social hierarchy are redefined. Ülker Street Culture exemplifies this resilient reality, similar to the ‘second-life’ described by Adam Podgorecki.
In this session, Bardakçı will offer an in-depth definition of Lubunca, framing it as an anti-language that not only ensures secrecy but also facilitates the expression and preservation of a distinct queer identity and reality. It peels back the layers of Lubunca and discovers its profound impact on Turkey’s queer community. Additionally, a workshop will be held, providing an interactive and playful way to explore and co-learn how perceptions of gender and sexuality among Lubunyas have evolved over time and how this evolution has influenced the development of Lubunca.
Often time in the art world, the end results overpowered the desire for knowledge exchange and curiosity towards the creation of a field of practice. Through the collaborative learning process, (O)Kamemochi tries to find ways to avoid compartmentalisation. Embracing each other means embracing the different interests of each member to develop a deeper understanding of our commons. The co-learning program was born out of our casual discussion and self-organised into multiple co-learning sessions on various topics surrounding our overarching curiosity towards practising care through communication. We hope our dedication to inclusive co-learning sessions can multiply and enrich artistic, fragile, and experimental practice through dialoguing with others around new imagination generated, and set directions towards the worlds we want to inhabit.
Art management｜アートマネジメント：Alissa Osada-Phornsiri (長田ポンシリ・アリサ)
Coordination｜コーディネート：Gamze Baktir, Jini
Text Translation｜テキスト翻訳：Osman Serhat Orta, Jini
サポーティング亀たち / Supporting Turtles
主催 / Organised by：(O)Kamemochi
共催 / Co-organised by： 東京藝術大学大学院美術研究科グローバルアートプラクティス専攻李美那研究室 Mina Lee Lab. Global Art Practice, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
“Sorry, this is (not) for you.” is an exhibition presenting an imaginary pawnshop where belongings with personal value are exchanged for essential items at extorting rates. The exhibition poses the question to the viewer: What things/attachments/stories are you willing to give up to preserve your life? Historically, colonialism and capitalism has enacted power as pawnbrokers, dictating what “acceptable” means and forcing marginalized communities and individuals out of respectable trades and positions in society. Outside of the mainstream, the marginalized are both associated with and victimized by the contemptible space they unwillingly occupy. In the pawnshop, both the clerks and the customers are victims of the same system yet are forced to play by its rules. Like the transparently omitted negation in the brackets of the title, the imaginary space of the pawnshop promises to fulfill the individual’s desires while arrogantly ignoring their needs. The exhibition illuminates women’s lives within those constraints, contaminated by society, economy, and history. The viewer is left to wander in the myriad of textual options, each of them simultaneously hiding and bearing the weight of female stories deemed unfaithful and contemptible by society.
After three years, artist Chen Wei-Ting returns with his solo exhibition “Paramita” at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, running from November 9 to December 29, curated by Tseng Hsueh-Yen. This exhibition gathers Chen’s key works from the past decade, spanning his artistic journey between Taiwan and Japan. It features handwritten poetry, paintings, sculptures, and multimedia works, reflecting his profound exploration of themes such as life, growth, and existence.
Students begin the first year with a course called GAP Practice which incorporates studio practice based around Toride, art fabrication in the ‘Common Workshop’*, and field work.
This is guided through lectures and practice-based instruction particularly through experimental workshops on expanded drawing, interdisciplinary dialogue, material exploration such as with sound and ceramic, and installation art, with the intention of supporting the generation of students’ own methodologies for art-making.
GAP encourage students to tailor their own work-environment, to develop methods for realizing works that are conceptually-based or process-led, and to gain fundamental skills to enable them to install artworks in an exhibition setting.
(*The ‘Common Workshop’ offers access to and instruction in the use of the university’s extensive metal, wood and stone workshops, enabling the development of work with diverse materials and processes.)
This exhibition will be the presentation of the GAP Practice course for Master 1 students during Toride Geisai period. Venues will separated in different GAP facilities and Toride campus common space.
I am going to experiment at my stand stall (YATAI) and see what I can or cannot exchange with offering homemade honey lemon soda.
There is another stand stall next to mine with a “For Rent” sign board. Perhaps someone will show up to start something next to mine, or maybe not. What will people on the street think when they see a For-Rent space appearing in the public?
The starting point for this activity was a beekeeper I met on Oki, a remote island in Shimane Prefecture, whose way of life attracted me, and I wanted to spread his activities.
In October, I will open a stand stall at the entrance of SHIMOKITA COLLEGE near Shimokitazawa Station. We would be happy if you could stop by and create a cozy time together.
Takumi Uchida, a master’s student in GAP, will release his first book, Futoko Quest, on October 2, published by Asuka Shinsha. This autobiographical essay chronicles his life growing up through homeschooling, detailing his journey from encountering music to becoming a composer. In a time when 460,000 school-aged children are not attending school and exploring diverse educational paths, this book serves as an archive of one possible way of living, offering a new perspective on navigating such challenges.
