Date: Sunday 25/3/2012, 2 pm - 4 pm.
(Please see file below for all details.)
Kathy Hall will perform the Kunqu opera scene,'In Pursuit of the Dream' from 'The Peony Pavilion', with the LJKOA Kunqu Ensemble. There will be English and Chinese surtitles. Then, with the aid of slides, Kathy will take you briefly through the history of Kunqu Opera, role types and special characteristics, and explain the differences between Jingju (Beijing/Peking Opera) and Kunqu opera. The session will end with a Kunqu singing and movements workshop for anyone interested.
This event is part of a series of 6 FREE lecture-demonstrations and workshops to celebrate the 10th Anniversay of LJKOA.

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The effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 were unparalleled, with thousands of people killed, communities washed away, and the ongoing general unease surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear crisis. Whilst the human cost of the disaster is undeniable, the impact has also greatly affected the performing arts, with established dramatists from across the generations, as well as rising new ones, all responding to the events of March 11th in their work.

Nobuko Tanaka, journalist for The Japan Times, and a widely-published specialist in the field of contemporary Japanese theatre and dance, has been invited by the Japan Foundation to explore how the cataclysmic events in March have shaped very recent Japanese contemporary theatre, and to examine some of the new questions which dramatists and playwrights are now tackling. Looking at works by playwrights such as Tomohiro Maekawa and Akio Miyazawa, she will consider the way contemporary theatre is responding to what is Japan's worst crisis since World War II, sharing with us a perspective on the disaster which we would otherwise never encounter.

This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email your name and the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk.

From Pokémon to Hello Kitty, a remarkable quality and range of Japanese subcultures has been sweeping the world, most notably in manga, anime, and more recently computer games. Indeed, the Japanese have long lived with this culture, nurturing a passion for the variety of characters around them.

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Shiro Maeda is the leading figure on the recent Japanese performing arts scene, among the younger generation. Born in the 1970s, he arguably represents the voices of those of the "Lost Decade" in Japan, living through social and economic uncertainty. As an award-winning playwright, his work cannot be detached from such circumstances, but he is most recognized, indeed highly praised, for the way that he deals with the heavy and eternal issues that all of us embrace in lightweight conversation, in a subtly humourous or even absurd manner, instead of pushing them explicitly; this creates a surreal and sometimes chilling world, where he crosses freely the lines of time and space. Being a director and an actor also, his stage always respects the intimate relationship with the audience, offering them "something to share".

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Lunchtime talk with photographer: 21 November 2011, 1:00 - 1:40pm

Exhibition: 21-22 November 2011, 10:00am - 5:00pm

The Japan Foundation hosts a talk by Satoshi Ueda, a young man with a very personal connection to the 3.11 disaster in Tohoku. Although he himself was in Tokyo when the earthquake hit, his hometown of Rikuzen-takata was devastated, and sadly he was to lose his mother that day.

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Five international film makers explore the landscape of the family, self, home and place. They are Marta Michalowska (Poland), Suki Chan (Hong Kong), Emily Richardson (England) and Inger Lise Hansen (Norway), all based in London, and Elina Brotherus (Finland) who lives between Paris and her native Helsinki. Five women who express eloquently and with immense technical skill what it is to come from somewhere else.

THE WAPPING PROJECT
WAPPING HYDRAULIC POWER STATION
WAPPING WALL
LONDON E1W 3SG

00 44 207 680 2080
WWW.THEWAPPINGPROJECT.COM

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Kitsch, otaku (“geek”) and kawaii (cuteness, sometimes super-girly hyper-cuteness) – are all stereotypes frequently attributed to contemporary Japanese culture. It is true to say that Japanese society often embraces such images of itself, and some Japanese artists, such as Takashi Murakami and Kaikai Kiki, respond to, or exploit, these trends, making them even more widespread. Yet is this the whole story? Does this kind of work actually represent the most significant and powerful art being made in Japan today?

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Tsuyoshi Ozawa is an intriguing Japan-grown contemporary artist. His works challenge the establishment and people’s existing systems, as well as perceptions about their daily lives. Yet Ozawa also approaches these issues with both gentle humour and clever irony, quite often throwing his viewers, with great relish, into a maze of the actual and the virtual: for example in works such as his Museum of Soy Sauce Art, a parodic look at Japanese art history, or his long running Vegetable Weapons project.

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Atsuko Tanaka was one of the foremost members of Gutai, a group which focussed on experimental art forms, their manifesto proclaiming a new relationship between the materials and the human spirit. Within this primarily male-orientated group, Tanaka was particularly unconventional and stood out from the other Gutai members, as indeed she did from other international avant-garde artists of her time. This was due not only to her radical and metaphorical expression, but also the relationship between the body of work created especially between 1953 and 1957, and her way of thinking.

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Katsumi Omori is one of the leading Japanese photographers working today. He has developed his career, displaying a distinguished technique and representation, by employing a seemingly straightforward action of documentation. His candid and faithful attitude towards his subjects and his unique sensitivity have won him acclaim both in Japan and overseas, receiving awards including the Excellence Award in the Canon New Cosmos of Photography in 1994.

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