KYOTO Cultural Festival is a festival that considers what culture and art mean to people living in today's society, and hopes to provide an opportunity to create "bloodier" communication.
For this purpose, we have invited 10 extremely hot artists in their teens to 60s from other genres who embody the current era to present a show that captures the "present age" from various perspectives, including music and dance.
We would like to create a time to face the questions of what expression, music, the body, and the stage mean in this age, together with the audience gathered at the festival, while savoring the performances.
There is an event that has inspired us to hold this festival.
It was the news that a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, had been destroyed during the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. I couldn't help but think how shocking it would be if I were to put myself in the shoes of someone who had just lost a theater in Mariupol. Shocking does not even begin to cover it; I felt a sense of crisis. At the same time, I became convinced once again that "a place where people express something and a place to watch it" is a very important place in my life. I am sure this is true for human society as a whole.
At the same time, I have my doubts about the current situation in which the expression of Russian culture is restricted worldwide.
I personally believe that this is nonsense and will not lead to any development or solution, as I believe that art should also be a communication tool.
These problems are deep-rooted, and every time there is an incident, such as a war, they emerge like pus in the society, are discussed, and then forgotten again.
I feel as if we are being confronted with the weakness of how ambiguously we have been living our lives in terms of what we should believe and what we should say.
It is precisely because "now" we are inundated with information that may or may not be true that I want to cherish the connections and dialogues with people that are not mediated by news reports or social networking services, and the experiences that can only be had at that time and place.
Through art, we are sure to be able to cultivate and nurture our own standards of judgment for viewing various things.
No one can judge black and white. That is why each one of us must be objective and carefully choose what is in front of us.
And each one of us should have more confidence and pride in the sense that we have judged for ourselves.
I believe that we can move forward only when we respect those pride in each other, but also when we bump into each other, coexist with each other, and create such communication.
After experiencing the performance at kokoka, we are planning to move to the riverbank of Kamogawa River in the evening to talk with everyone. If you can spare the time, please join us.
We are also planning to come up with a variety of interesting events that will be derived from this festival, so please check back for the latest information!
In conjunction with the festival, we are launching the "KYOTO Cultural Festival Trust," a funding program designed to help us envision and implement activities that will allow Kyoto and Japan to continue communicating with artists in Japan and abroad through the festival.
Initially, I thought of starting a funding program to seek a means of communication through art, either by rebuilding the theater or by some other means, while connecting and communicating directly with the artists associated with the theater in Mariupoli, the city that inspired the festival. We thought of launching a funding program to seek a means of communication through art.
However, in discussions with various people in the course of this festival, we decided to focus this funding not only on one country or region, but also to seek communication among artists who continue to work under difficult circumstances.
"KYOTO Cultural Festival Trust" is not a fundraising or foundation for public benefit, but rather a funding program to create continuous communication through culture and art between the festival's representative, Laughs Ogura, and the artists who support the festival's activities.
After the festival, we will exchange opinions with those who support this activity and decide how to use the funds raised through this funding (at this stage, we are considering the idea of holding the "Cultural Festival" outside of Kyoto. We are also hoping to create further ripple effects by disseminating the festival through online video and other media). The festival will be a reflection of the times.
The festival will be a "process" rather than an "answer" that reflects the times. It is not intended to be anti-war or to support any one country.
We hope that through culture and art, people living in the present time will seriously confront their own values once again, and that more "blood-centered" communication will be born.
SMILE
Emi Ogura
〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
KYOTO Cultural Festival
Friday , 12th August , 2022
OPEN 14:30
SHOW START 15:00
END 19:00
[Venue]
kokoka Kyoto International Community House
[KYOTO Cultural Festival Homepage]
https://smileemi.wixsite.com/smile/kyoto-cultulal-festival
[Tickets]
[Artists]
yn awr (takayuki kura, nouseskou)
/Dance
ryotaro×GAKUTA YASUI
/Accordion ×Dance
IPPEI YONEZAWA
/Tap Dance
EIICHI KIMURA
/Dance
GODA planning office
Yuki Goda , Kyoko Nomura
/Dance
MUSICA MOSCHATA
Kosuke Shimizu ,Daiho Soga ,Yuko Ikoma
/Music
Makoto Ishizaka Quintet
Hiroyuki Nakata ,Emiri Sato,
Shingo Kano ,Kei Morishita,
Makoto Ishizaka
/JAZZ
FUCHIGAMI TO FUNATO
Junko Fuchigami, Funato Hiroshi
/Music
toru yamanaka
/DJ
EMI OGURA+RYO OKAMOTO
/Music
[Staffs]
Hiromu Yoshimine
/Advisor
Tomohiko Watarikawa
/Stage Director
WATARIKAWA GUMI
/Lightings
Shou Takiguchi
/Sound
yu
/Flyer Design
ciudad.
/Planning Assistant
Moemi Nagi
/Production Cooperation
Hitoshi Nakanishi ,Ciho Utugi ,
Kanon Harada ,Momoko Watanabe ,
Kazuma Suga , Shun Ishihara ,
Yakushadenai , Shinjiro Ohga
/Event Support Team
Host by SMILE
Emi Ogura