Below I got a booklet from Japan about my Art-In-Residence – it’s interesting to see the Japanese perspective on it. But first: This evening I’ll give a presentation about my Japan Art in Residence at the Mediamatic in Amsterdam. The event is called Ignite 28 and features 12 speakers with each 5 minutes of time.

They serve a nicely priced Dinner (a rare find in Amsterdam) at 19:30 (Arroz con pato, Roti, and stuffed Eggplant), wit the presentations starting at 21:00 o’clock. The entrance is 6 Euro via the website. It’s about 10 bus minutes from Amsterdam Central Station (VOC–kade 10, 1018 LG Amsterdam).

As I will concentrate on the cultural differences I noticed in Japan, it fits very nice that the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration (KCCC) made a brochure about the stay. It looks very nice with pictures of the exhibition. You can download the pdf on their website (safety copy here).

Page from the booklet by from Japan.
On the left it’s us artists giving the presentation in Kyoto Arts Center.

I found some of the texts very interesting. Here is one part that I especially liked:

The Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration together with
the Kyoto Art Center has been supporting an artist in residence
program that welcomes artists from within Japan and abroad.
During their stay in a Kyo-machiya, all of the participants who
came from the Netherlands this year were able to explore every
corner of Kyoto with a rich sensibility.
The behavior of the power poles, overhead lines and signboards that
sketch out the aerial landscape in relation to the traditional homes
were recognized as a unique signature expression of the city.
The explorations of the artists gave an opportunity for local
residents they interacted with to realize interesting aspects in the
everyday stereotypes of their own culture that they had overlooked
or dismissed.
As citizens of the world we believe in the advancement of this kind
of exchange.

Hiroshi Mimura
President of the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration

These artworks and installations went through so many lenses – from observing the location, to creating, to the artworks being observed, and then again commented. And in every step something fresh and interesting is added. Apart from here learning what caught the attention of the Japanese in the artworks, you can notice an unusual use of words and relationships, that is not always easy to understand from a western perspective. More on that in some planned blog posts, and of course the presentation tonight.