21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Kuniko Donen, Olafur Eliasson, Formafantasma, AKI INOMATA, Eva Jospin, Kapwani Kiwanga, Stefano Mancuso, Otobong Nkanga, PNAT, Rediscover project, Tine Solkær Reingaard, Adrián Villar Rojas, Koichi Sato + Hideki Umezawa, Daichiro Shinjo, Shusei Toko, Søren Solkær, YANTOR

Artists such as those on Amazon:
Efacio Álvarez, Jaider Esbell, Floriberta Fermín, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Clemente Juliuz, Esteban Klassen, Ibã Huni Kuin, Acelino Huni Kuin, Bane Huni Kuin, Yaka Huni Kuin, Osvaldo Pitoe, Ehuana Yaíra, Joseca Yanomami

Artists such as those on Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples:
Art Thompson, Hupquatchew (Ron Hamilton), Richard Hunt, Simon Lucas, Tim Paul, Sean Whonnock（Ha'alux）

Artists such as those on Inuit:
Aningnerk, Sorosilutu Ashoona, Avaalaqiaq Avalakiak, Iksiraq, Thomassie Irqumia, N. Kangeryuaq, Keeleemeeoomee, Kookeeyout, Josie Nappatuk, Jessie Oonark, Josie P. Papialuk, Pitseolak, Oshoociak Pudlat, Pudlo Pudlat, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Ikayukta Tunnillie, Ukpatiku

Artists such as those on East Africa:
Kalembo, Noeli, Peter

Project:
Anima Rave:Dancing at the Crossroads of Being: The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
(Uehiro Research Center for Japan Enviromental Studies) ,Fuminori Nosaku, Mio Tsuneyama,Takeshi Yasura,Kenichi Sawazaki,Garage,Mamoru Fujieda

Workshops & research:
Maya Minder

Indigenous artists who live in the Amazon

The life and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region have historically been the result of a symbiotic relationship with the complex ecosystems that surround them. Agroforestry, which refers to a symbiotic relationship of mutual support between agriculture and the forest, and the dispersal of the population to maintain communities on a particular scale, were both forms of wisdom that nourished and cultivated the forest. The advent of Portuguese colonial rule in Brazil in the early 16th century, however, marked the beginning of a history of systematic exclusion, expulsion, and exploitation of their lands, all of which continue to this day. As an oral culture with no written language, pictorial expression did not originally exist in the lives of these indigenous people. Through the paintings brought by the missionaries, they began to engage in the work of ensuring that their cultural heritage was passed down, asserting their cultural and political identity, and to make a living by selling their paintings. These works, which use felt-tip and ballpoint pens to create intricate images on paper, express a sense of exchange and connection with the forest and their surroundings. The shamans who connect these things to each other are also important subjects. These people have no word for “nature.” They believe that all things are “human,” each with its own perspective. This cosmology based on a kind of multi-humanity maintains the poetic quality and purity of tension in the work.

Hideki Umezawa+Koichi Sato

Hideki Umezawa (born 1986) + Koichi Sato (born 1990)
Echoes from Clouds is a collaboration between Umezawa, who creates sounds and objects based on his　interest in the sensory perception of the environment and the complexity of natural phenomena, and　Sato, who conducts research and fieldwork on the relationship between the natural environment and　industry and consumer society, creating works that combine video, sound, and scent in complex ways.
This work is an installation composed of video, sound, and scent. While its main focus is on the “relationship between the city and nature” connected by water, it also depicts the potentially unsettling elements in the social and natural environments that lie behind it. The setting unfolds in tandem with the flow of water from the mountains to the city, but along the way, buried forests submerged by river flooding and rising sea levels, as well as recurring fog, evoke a sense of uncertainty and dread. The same is true of the sounds from Umezawa’s field recordings, which gradually diverge from the images onscreen. Sato collaborated with the Shiseido Company to develop a fragrance named “Mist from artificial lake,” inspired by the image of “disinfected cold water.” This is urban water that is disinfected and artificialized as it makes its way to the city, through such means as water purification plants and artificial lakes. The fragrance that pervades the exhibition space prompts us to think about what “natural” water means to us.

[ Project ]
Anima Rave: Dancing at the Crossroads of Being
Inanimate objects, plants, animals, and all other forms of existence different from humans, complement each other because of these differences, weaving together a single web of life. Kinji Imanishi (1902-1992), a pioneer of primate studies in Japan, argued that life was a series of structures that are differentiated from and emerge out of a single being. A deep understanding of the environmental issues we face can be obtained not through confrontations between human beings and nature, but rather a dialogue between all “anima” that move “between” nature and human beings, including plants, animals, microorganisms, materials at the atomic level, and minerals and corals that have existed for a long time, as well as forms of communication (response, exchange, and generation) that do not involve words. This project, in which the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa collaborates with the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) through the medium of art, is an experiment in building empathetic relationships using the bodies that emerge “between” different forms of existence. Just like artists, researchers go out into the field equipped with a keen sensitivity. Many of the insights and impressions they gain from their work cannot be fully conveyed in the form of an essay. This project seeks to express and share the joy and excitement of the explorations of these researchers, in the form of art that transcends language. Rather than seeing the global environment as mere knowledge, we feel a connection to all forms of existence that live within it, and have been exploring creative methods at the intersection of the perspectives of researchers, artists, architects, and curators. By taking three keywords from a number of RIHN projects — earth/island and water/coral — we will develop works that confirm our coexistence with diverse anima and the dialogue that emerges from them in a transformative and improgrammable way over the duration of this exhibition. Let us give ourselves over to the resonances and frenzy of life, and dance together in a place where these existences intersect.

Introduction to the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) is a national research institute established in 2001 in Kyoto, Japan. The RIHN seeks to fundamentally rethink global environmental problems in terms of human-cultural issues, in the broad sense of the relationship between humanity and nature, through a fusion of research across the humanities and sciences. Researchers do not remain in their laboratories: they go out into the field all over the world to work with people in society, uncovering issues and finding new frameworks and solutions. The RIHN promotes research projects that are proposed through an international call for proposals and implemented as three- to five-year research projects. So far, 43 research projects have been completed, and 9 are currently underway.

Anima Rave / Credits
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) Juichi Yamagiwa, Kenichi Abe, Narumi Yoshikawa
Researcher:
Organic Matter Circulation Project: Shuichi Oyama
Sustai-N-able Project: Kentaro Hayashi
LINKAGE Project: Ryuichi Shinjo, Soyo Takahashi, Yoshiaki Kubo, Jun Yasumoto
SceNE Project: Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Atsuko Yamazaki, Nako Shigesa
Artist: Takeshi Yasura, Kenichi Sawazaki, Mamoru Fujieda, Garage
Architect: Fuminori Nosaku, Mio Tsuneyama
Curator: Yuko Hasegawa, Jin Motohashi
With Support From: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (Uehiro Research Center),
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

[ Workshops ]
Maya Minder