A Message from the Directors 2024

In 2024, Kyoto Experiment marks its fifteenth edition. The fact that a performing arts festival of this scale has continued for so long is a testament to the many different people working for its survival. It’s only natural that we feel grateful for this, yet “our” festival ultimately belongs not to us, but to all those who have made these efforts for Kyoto Experiment. We recognize that this festival is an asset shared with you all and will strive day by day to ensure it continues to thrive.

ētto ētto

Over the past few years, we have chosen a phrase that we hope acts as a clue to discovering new perspectives on the festival. This year, we propose ētto ētto (an everyday Japanese expression meaning “um” or “er” in English) as a lens through which to explore the program if you wish. An extra pair of glasses you may choose to wear!

On first hearing ētto ētto, it might have slightly negative connotations. Perhaps it signals someone is unsure, unconfident, or even uncomfortable. Despite this, ētto ētto is useful in conversation for both speakers and listeners. It is an example of something called a filler or discourse marker. Fillers have no inherent meaning, but they signal something to the interlocutor. Ētto ētto can be the sound of a person processing information, trying to recall a memory, or pondering something they are unsure about, and at the same time, sharing this with their conversation partner. It is an empty space without meaning. A space for negotiation and of not knowing.

This year’s festival features a lineup of works that pose various questions about negotiating the space between the individual and the collective, the self and the other, as well as how we shape numerous different histories and memories (personal, cultural, and political) and the act of reconstructing these (or choosing not to) in dialogue with the past. We hope ētto ētto opens up some alternative paths and ways of experiencing these works.

The 2024 Lineup

This year we present fourteen works in our Shows program. Of these, five artists and six works are presented in collaboration with the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival, which takes place in Kyoto and Saitama. Kyoto Experiment’s partnership with Dance Reflections began in 2022 and has developed with a focus on the shift in dance from postmodern to contemporary. This time, the program examines the historical legacy of dance from a broader perspective, including folk dance and the origins of modern dance, while also thinking about the present in which we live now and the future. Through these six works, we hope you can consider an ētto that traces history and an ētto that considers the future.

The theme of transmission is also dealt with in two works that are both collaborations between pairs of artists. These works refer to stories and cultures that have been passed down through generations and invite the audience to partake in a shared experience. A new work by Nanako Matsumoto and Anchi Lin (Ciwas Tahos in the language of the Atayal, an indigenous Taiwanese people in which Lin has roots) depicts an encounter between Japanese folk tales and Atayal oral stories that transcends time and space. Tianzhuo Chen and Siko Setyanto create a collective ritual, inspired by the traditional whaling practiced in the village of Lamalera in Lembata, Indonesia, that invites participants to reflect on the relationship between the environment and humans, who have depended on the sea for their survival.

Walking the line between text and body, Shinichi Anasako and Pijin Neji depict the uncharted path from life to death in their new work. If ētto is a word that fills the gap between two things, then in this work we hope to consider the back and forth between text and body while filling the spaces with ētto. The addition of electronic musician Tentenko is sure to further amplify this. Yasuko Yokoshi also takes up the challenge of the relationship between text and body through staging a play by Yoshiro Yoda Hatori through a dance-like approach. Yokoshi’s response to Hatori’s text, deemed impossible to perform, not only raises the question of what it means to direct a play, but also brings to light perspectives on Japan’s modern history.

Melati Suryodarmo quietly yet radically depicts gestures of resistance against norms and restrictions set by society. We present two of her projects, a performance and an exhibition. In the performance, women dressed in uniform-like white clothing soak their bodies in blue water, as if immersing themselves in the original sin that was imposed on them. The exhibition features a recent video work that deals with collective violence and fear as well as an installation that traces memories of the body as a vessel. The installation is made up of video recordings from different years that show the artist’s own body, an Asian woman, dancing on an unstable and typically Western substance, butter. Jaha Koo, whose previous works have looked at the history found close to people’s daily lives as opposed to History with a capital H, presents a new piece in which we see a modest resistance to Korean food being exported as a national project. We invite you to gather at the pojangmacha (food stall) that appears in the theater and experience what lies beyond the memory of taste that connects the past, present, and future. Amir Reza Koohestani, making his second appearance at the festival, presents a work based on various true stories about running and politics. That walking or running in itself can be a gesture of resistance is something that is also familiar to us in Japan. We hope that through these works, we can also consider ētto as various gestures of resistance.

Now in its fifth year, we have invited three new researchers to take part in Kansai Studies and examine various topics. The researchers are conducting fieldwork in Kyoto and the Kansai region, each with their own unique focus: observing pigeons in the city, the spatiality of club culture and parties, and the locations and narratives of the zoo. The discoveries made here will surely also play a part in shaping the Kyoto Experiments to come.

Super Knowledge for the Future [SKF] is a series of talks and workshops with various experts, using ētto ētto as a starting point. We hope it provides opportunities to consider ētto ētto from different perspectives and entry points than the works in the Shows program.

Our Supporters System and the Future

The KEX Supporters system, established last year, can be considered a platform for people to participate in the festival in a way that is different from simply watching a work. Individual donations, which are different from contributions from the Executive Committee and public subsidies that have largely made up the budget of Kyoto Experiment so far, have been a huge source of encouragement for the festival. Direct communication with our supporters is an important component in shaping the festival, and we look forward to continuing and sharing all kinds of further conversations in the future.

In the midst of major changes both at home and abroad, as well as in the festival’s financial situation, we have continued to consider over the past five years what kind of programming an international performing arts festival should offer, and how we can run the festival flexibly without losing its experimental playfulness. We hope to continue to think about this together with the artists who make the festival what it is, the audience who create another element of the festival through attending, and all our supporters. First of all, we look forward to seeing you at this year’s Kyoto Experiment!

Yoko Kawasaki, Yuya Tsukahara, Juliet Knapp
Co-directors, Kyoto Experiment