A Piano Concert in a Space Filled with Images of Kumano’s Rich Natural Landscape – Tomoko Mukaiyama “KUMANO”

Tomoko Mukaiyama presents her new cross disciplinary work KUMANO with music, film and installation from 22 – 23 October 2021 at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater Mini Theater.

Tomoko Mukaiyama is a pianist, artist and artistic director living and working in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, will perform in her work KUMANO. Mukaiyama’s work has produced many works influenced by her hometown Kumano (in Wakayama Prefecture).

Kumano is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in Japan and has been visited by many people since ancient times. Kumano Kodō is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a sacred site and pilgrimage route in the Kii Mountains, which is rich in nature and is considered a special area inhabited by spirits.

A camellia in the grounds of Hananoiwaya Shrine in Kumano, where the Japanese goddess Izanami rests (Photo by Tomoko Mukaiyama)

In this performance, Mukaiyama will unravel her childhood memories of awe at the nature she saw and heard; the relationship between gender and religion in the region; and life, death and rebirth, in collaboration with renowned Dutch film director cinematographer Reinier van Brummelen. She will express the real and the imaginary from an ultra-personal perspective by combining video footage taken in Kumano by herself, photos from her childhood, and piano music. The programme will include works by Robert Schumann and Claude Vivier‘s technically challenging Shiraz. The performance will take place in a space with multiple screens, images, and lights, accompanied by an interplay of acoustic and electronic sounds.

This will be Mukaiyama’s first performance in Aichi in eight years, following her installation/performance at Aichi Triennale 2013 FALLING inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett. We look forward to welcoming you to KUMANO this October.

From “A Live vol.1 – SUPER T Market” held in May 2020 (Photo byTomoko Mukaiyama, Reinier van Brummelen)

Performance Information

Date and time: Friday, 22 October 2021, 19:00 start (doors open at 18:30) / Saturday, 23 October, 14:00 start (doors open at 13:30)*
Performance time: 70 minutes, no intermission
Venue: Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, Mini Theater
Tickets available online (https://www-stage.aac.pref.aichi.jp/event) or call 052-972-0430.

Note by Tomoko Mukaiyama

“I recently realised that whenever I encounter an unknown place or an inexplicable thing, I seek ‘Kumanistic’ elements. The sacred and the profane, beauty and banality, spirituality and vulgarity, the real and the imaginal are chaotically synchronised in Kumano. I invite you on my ultra-personal journey into Kumano through sound and image.” – Tomoko Mukaiyama

Tomoko Mukaiyama (Photo by Takashi Kawashima)

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Contact: Aichi Prefectural Art Theater (Aichi Arts Foundation)
PR & Marketing Group (Takeishi) Planning & Production Group (Fujii)
1-13-2 Higashi-Sakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya City 461-8525

Tel: 052-955-5506

Fax: 052-971-5541

Email: pr@aaf.or.jp

Web: https://www-stage.aac.pref.aichi.jp