Project Uchinokoto in Tokyo / Amsterdam 2014

うちのこと Uchinokoto  -house, family, inside and I-

Outline of Project
We are a group of eight artists and one designer, based in the Netherlands and originally from Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. All of us have relocated our base from where we are originally from.

For the exhibition period in Tokyo, we will move/return our base to Japan temporally, research (rethink) the topic of “Uchi” (home, inside, roots and identities) then express, and represent it interactively in various forms such as lectures, workshops, performance and website. The venue, Akibatamabi21 in 3331 Arts Chiyoda will be publicly open throughout the whole period, events will take place weekly, and the exhibition will be continuously developing. The whole result of project in Tokyo will be presented at CBK Amsterdam between 27 November 2014 and 17 January 2015.

Concept
Every hour, 7500 people move to metropolitan cities in today’s society. The significant development of Internet communications have caused the network society and brought us a solution to the issue of geographical distance between individuals. The network society however has made us overlook one another’s personalities in return for a vast amount of information.

We have learned from living in the multicultural society of the Netherlands, how important it is to know oneself, and to exchange ideas through direct human relationships; something that cannot be conveyed through our contemporary devices. The dialogues we have with people from all kinds of backgrounds show clearly that the geographical roots of an individual, for example Eastern or Western, have a significant impact on defining one’s own identity.

The Japanese word ‘Uchi’ means ‘house’, ‘family’, ‘inside’, and in some regions ‘I’. Each of those is a very influential element in forming the foundation of one’s identity.

After the disaster of March 2011, Japan has been at a turning point. We believe that it caused people to reflect more deeply on their own roots and identities. We would like to investigate how people in present Japan see themselves and also others, what is needed or desired, and then look into what we can do for each other .

 

AKIBA TAMABI21(3331 Arts Chiyoda)Tokyo, Japan

19July – 6 September 2014

CBK Amsterdam Amsterdam, Nederland

27 November 2014 – 7 January 2015

More info at uchinokoto.com/

 

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