Kyoto Experiment 2023 Kansai Studies Researchers Open Call

Kansai Studies is a research program that started at Kyoto Experiment in 2020. Over the first three years of the program various topics related to the Kansai region, covering culture, artistic expression, and daily life, have been chosen and researched from the perspective of artists. During these three years theater director Nagara Wada and architect unit dot architects participated as the main research members. In the first year we researched the water that flows from Lake Biwa to Osaka Bay, and in the second year the food culture of the Kansai region, focusing on okonomiyaki (a type of savory pancake) and researching it from various angles such as the distribution of the ingredients it is made up of, recipe variations, and different shop namings. In the third year, we further researched these topics and created and presented a theater piece.

As part of Kansai Studies we also set up a website to post articles and reports in order to share our research process more widely. We hope that our audiences and artists visiting the Kansai region can refer to this website and we can use it to share knowledge about the region on which the festival stands while also reaffirming the relationship that exists between an artist’s work and their locality, as well as the history and climate of this locality and its uniqueness. Through Kansai Studies we are always hoping to delve deeper into the region and discover things that even the people of Kansai do not yet know.

From this year, 2023, in order to open up and discover new directions for our Kansai Studies research we are looking for researchers to join us! We hope to renew our research efforts with artists based in the Kansai region who have their own broad perspectives. Please consider joining us for Kansai Studies, one of the core programs of our international performing arts festival held here in Kyoto.

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

Kansai Studies Website
https://kansai-studies.com/

☞Overview
Researchers: Approx 5 will be selected.

Applicants: Anyone engaged in any form or genre of artistic expression in the Kansai region.

Research Content: Researchers will be required to conduct research in various ways, including fieldwork and interviews on topics of their interest related to culture, artistic expression and daily life in the Kansai region from both macro and micro perspectives.

Research Format: Researchers will be required to share their research process mainly on the Kansai Studies website in the form of text, photos, videos, or any other media in which the researcher specializes (word count/ quantity to be discussed depending on the content). Talks and public research sessions may also be held during Kyoto Experiment 2023 (September 30th-October 22nd, 2023).

Research Period: From June 2023 to March 2024, meetings will be held once a month and articles on the website will be updated once a month. (Extending the research period is also possible after discussion).

Research Budget: Dependent on content, to be decided after discussion (generally the budget can cover transportation expenses for research, honorarium fees for interviewing etc, subject to an upper limit).

Conditions: Invitation to see all Shows at Kyoto Experiment 2023. Please note we are unable to offer any honorarium or remuneration.

☞How to Apply
・CV (any format) including your name and contact details.
・Please provide information on your past work and activities (any format, including documents and video links).
・Please explain in 200 words or less what you would like to research and any ideas you have for how to share your research, primarily on a website.

Application Deadline: please submit the above in a document no more than 10mb to the below email by 23:59, Tuesday May 9th, 2023.

Email: office@kyoto-ex.jp