PARASOPHIA 京都国際現代芸術祭2015

* This event has already taken place. Read report


Since February 2014, Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 has presented various events as part of our Access Program, which is meant to increase accessibility to Parasophia by communicating the ideas and principles behind the exhibition in 2015. As an extension of the Access Program, Parasophia is now presenting the Community Program, where Parasophia reaches out to specific communities, beginning with the geographic community of Nishijin, a district in Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto that is known as a traditional weaving district (Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nishijin). Our first Community Program event is a panel discussion at the former Nishijin Elementary School, at the heart of the Nishijin district, featuring the artist Aki Sasamoto, who is scheduled to be announced as one of the artists participating in Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015, and Futoshi Miyagi, an artist who is currently exhibiting in Kyoto.
Aki Sasamoto is based in New York. She has made many works that involve the interplay between performances and installations, in response to a variety of spaces that are not limited to museums of art. On this occasion, Sasamoto will immerse herself in the city of Kyoto and its local community as research toward her work for Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015.
In this panel discussion, Sasamoto will be speaking with the photographer Futoshi Miyagi, who is currently showing his work in a solo exhibition that opened on June 14 at Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA and the Horikawa Housing Complex, located in the southern end of the Nishijin district. Sasamoto and Miyagi will talk about how they have forged/plan to forge connections with the city of Kyoto. Since Miyagi has also spent a long period of time studying abroad in New York, it is likely that the artists will also discuss the relationship between their second hometown and art.
Additionally, the two artists will be joined by two moderators: Toru Koyamada, an artist whose practice is based on his contemplation of the possibilities held by “common spaces,” and Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA curator Hirokazu Tokuyama, who co-organized the art project “Artist Workshop @KCUA 2013” (2013–14), presented in the Horikawa Housing Complex by the Kyoto City University of Arts. Our speakers will engage in a conversation about art and “common spaces” in Nishijin, a place that gives us a glimpse of the historical changes in the urban structure of Kyoto.
This panel discussion will be presented in collaboration with Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA.

Aki Sasamoto (笹本晃)
b. 1980 in Yokohama, Japan; based in New York. Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 participating artist. Read more: Aki Sasamoto

Futoshi Miyagi (ミヤギフトシ)
Artist. Born 1981 in Okinawa, Japan; based in Tokyo. Miyagi moved to the US when he was 20 years old, and began his career as an artist while working at Printed Matter in New York. His works are based on his confrontations with his own identity, expressing themes such as race, nationality, and sexuality through many different forms. His first solo exhibition in the Kansai region, American Boyfriend: Bodies of Water, opened at Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA Gallery A and the Horikawa Housing Complex (Nishihorikawa St. and Kamichojamachi St., Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto) on June 14. Website: fmiyagi.com

Moderator: Toru Koyamada (小山田徹)
Artist; Professor, Kyoto City University of Arts. Born 1961 in Kagoshima, Japan; based in Kyoto. Graduated from the nihonga course at the Kyoto City University of Arts. Formed the performance group “Dumb Type” with a group of friends in 1984. Alongside his activities with Dumb Type, Koyamada also developed various “common spaces” in Kyoto, playing an important role in opening the “Art-Scape” community center in 1992; in running the “Weekend Cafe” from 1994 to 1996; and in starting up the community café “Bazaar Cafe” in 1998. In recent years, he has taken part in the revitalization of the local community in Onagawa, Miyagi—a town that was heavily damaged in the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011—through his participation in the “Taiwa Kobo” (literally, dialogue workshop) group that he formed with members including local residents and architects.

Moderator: Hirokazu Tokuyama (徳山拓一)
Curator, Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA. Born 1980 in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan; based in Kyoto.  Lecturer, Kyoto City University of Arts. Organized “Work in Memory: Workshop by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Uthis Haemamool” as part of the “Artist Workshop @KCUA 2013” art project in the Horikawa Housing Complex (2013–14). More information about “Artist Workshop @KCUA 2013”: gallery-akcua.org/WORK-IN-MEMORY (in Japanese only)