Research
Kansai Studies
Kansai Studies is a research program about the Kansai region, where the festival is located. Participants excavate the “raw gems” that enrich future artistic expression through artist-driven fieldwork about local cultures and environments. The first term (2020-2022) featured architect group dot architects and director Nagara Wada as research members, and focused on the everyday themes of “water,” “food,” and “circulation.” As a culmination of their three years of research, they staged a theater performance at Kyoto Experiment 2022.
2023 marks the beginning of the second term. Selected through an open call, five team members are now doing research along their chosen themes. The unique topics span from street art to ancestral worship to modern and contemporary poetry. We’re excited to witness the chemical reactions that occur as they work concurrently and share their processes among team members. The various events, discoveries, and ideas that come up during their research are documented as texts and videos, which are continually uploaded and archived on the project website. During the festival’s run, we host a public event that also serves as a research progress report.
[2023 Term Research Members / Research Themes]
Tatsunori Imamura (Choreographer / Dancer) “Street Gardening and Graffiti”
Ryuichi Tani (Poet / Playwright / Cultural Worker) “Finding Places Which are Not Yet Poems”
Tara Nosaki (Novelist / Zine Creator) “Memories of Agricultural Cattle in Various Regions”
Eriko Mukai (Artist) “Research on Reclaimed Land in Kansai”
Junya Yamada (Director) “Research on the Culture of Memorials and Monuments for the Dead”
9.30 (Sat)-10.22 (Sun)
During the festival‛s run, we host a public event that also serves as a research progress report.
Further information will be announced later.