【TOKAS Hongo】Announcement of successful candidates for OPEN SITE 2019-2020
OPEN SITE is a program aimed at creating a platform that brings together a full range of projects seeking to create new forms of expression across all genres, open to society. In this fourth season, we had 202 applications from Japan and overseas, and 9 projects were selected after rigorous review. These projects will be implemented including the TOKAS recommendation program and educational programs from November 2019 to February 2020.
Execution Projects
Exhibition
Part 1｜November 23 (Sat) – December 22 (Sun), 2019
Name YOF（OHARA Takayoshi + FURUSAWA Ryu + YANAGAWA Tomoyuki）
Title 2D Painting
Name UNNO Rintaro
Title Counterattack by Land / Curious Obsession
Part 2｜January 11 (Sat) – February 9 (Sun), 2020
Name IHARADA Haruka
Title Exposing the bush
Name Tess MARTIN
Title Orbit
Performance
Part 1｜December 10 (Tue) – December 15 (Sun), 2019
Name ITOH Kim & Physical Theater Company GERO
Title Voice! Voice! Voice!
Part 2｜January 14 (Tue) – January 19 (Sun), 2020
Name NAGAI Nozomi × MEGURO Yosuke
Title A form of a human telling of things
Part 2｜January 21 (Tue) – January 26 (Sun), 2020
Name baby tooth
Title SCREEN BABY #2
*Date and time will be announced on TOKAS website.
OPEN SITE dot
Part 1｜December 3 (Tue) – December 8 (Sun), 2019
Name Timeline Project : NAGAKURA Yukiko, WATANABE Yasuko
Title WOMEN Artists & History
Part 1｜December 17 (Tue) – December 22 (Sun), 2019
Name abirdwhale | Kakinoki Masato
Title We, Questioning Norms of Love and Sex, and Attempting to Build a Love Relationship with Hongo
*Date and time will be announced on TOKAS website.
TOKAS program
In addition to open call projects, TOKAS holds a recommendation program and educational programs to deliver the appeals of OPEN SITE as an open platform.
[TOKAS recommendation program]
Part 1｜November 30 (Sat.) – December 1 (Sun.), 2019
Name Nuthmique
Title Nuthmique Concert (tentative)
Application Overview
| Application period | March 1 (Fri.) – April 10 (Wed.), 2019 |
|---|---|
| Total number of applications | 202 |
| Jury members | HATANAKA Minoru (Chief Curator, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC]) HISANO Atsuko (Program Director, The Saison Foundation) MOURI Yoshitaka (Sociologist / Professor, Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts) KONDO Yuki (Program Director, Tokyo Arts and Space) |
Jury Member's Reviews
Like its predecessor, the former TOKYO EXPERIMENTAL FESTIVAL, the OPEN SITE open call program approaches art, music, and performance not as simple genres, but rather offers an experimental perspective, embracing artistic expression that presents non-conventional views. What makes such non-conventional views experimental changes with each generation. Each year, numerous project applications serve to paint a picture of that generation’s attitude, and this gives us a glimpse of the experimental spirit of said generation. What I refer to here is nothing like a trend—one would not be able to align with it even if they were to try. As a result, more than finding some thread of consistency woven throughout individual expressions, rather we may be able to glean a stance of defamiliarization regarding our own expression and forms of presentation.
HATANAKA Minoru (Senior Curator, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC])
I was incredibly inspired once again by the many project applications this year. The diverse methods of expression, freshness of perspective, and focus on originality from a group of applicants spanning a vast range of ages and nationalities served to reaffirm that OPEN SITE is invaluable as a “platform for future art by creators from all genres.” The projects that were selected all had lots of personality and presented unique worlds, and I could sense the determination of each to explore its own world. None of the artists limited themselves to any one single genre of art, but instead chose freely from forms and methods of expression and blended them together, making their diverse set of skills and knowledge palpable. It was also encouraging to see that there were many artists active both within Japan and abroad, suggesting that they hoped to take their careers to the next level by participating in the program. It was unfortunate that no one in their twenties was chosen for the Performance Division. I look forward to OPEN SITE gaining more and more influence as it continues to embrace artistic expression “from all genres.”
HISANO Atsuko (Program Director, The Saison Foundation)
There were many fascinating projects once again this year, making the selection process difficult. Unfortunately, many projects I would have liked to see were also among those not selected this time. Those that made the cut were chosen not due to past performance or proposals suggesting what could be expected, but rather, I think, because there was something exciting about whatever they might turn out to be. That is not to imply that the projects which were selected lacked clear purpose or were incomplete. On the contrary, it was the careful and thorough planning and coordination between the curators, directors, artists, and performers that made it possible to anticipate something completely new and fresh from the selected projects. These proposals and presentations are a part of the projects themselves. As a member of the jury, I am delighted to have had the unique privilege of getting to experience them first, and I look forward to their official presentation with great anticipation.
MOURI Yoshitaka (Sociologist / Professor, Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts)
More solo projects were chosen for the Exhibition Division than ever before this year. While this is uncharacteristic of the usual OPEN SITE open call for proposals, the lack of restriction on project form is a distinguishing feature of OPEN SITE and so it can simply be considered a result of such. For the Performance Division, while the genre of each differed, three physical performance projects were selected. It was intriguing to see how the performers active in each respective genre are attempting to establish new methodologies by borrowing from the methods and perspectives of other genres. Audience participation is presumed in the OPEN SITE dot, and I look forward to seeing how the small site at TOKAS Hongo is transformed by the two projects selected for inclusion. There were many fascinating projects among those not selected, but OPEN SITE selects from proposals and it is difficult to consider proposals that present only a concept and do not exhibit concrete content or methodology, or those that are a repeat performance or touring exhibition. Rather, it was those projects attempting something new and which exhibited the possibility of the unexpected that were the target of consideration.
KONDO Yuki (Program Director, Tokyo Arts and Space)
