Director's Message about an art project of Kyodo 20_30
On Beyond Invisible Borders.
Beyond Invisible Borders is an art project, where we reflect on various invisible borders/obstacles in Tokyo, and aim to create a community in which people with different cultural backgrounds can meet on a daily basis.
A place where it is allowed for your identities to freely change their forms based on time periods, places, and social conditions. That is what we call a “community”.
We had started building our team of members and planning our programs since October 2019. And now, we can finally launch our first program of Beyond Invisible Borders: kyodo 20_30.
Background of Beyond Invisible Borders’s first program: kyodo 20_30
Japan is known as a country with a high-context culture, where communications rely highly on their contexts.
This high-context culture can work well for those who share similarities in various contexts including linguistic, cultural, and religious ones. However, oftentimes it doesn’t work well in a society that has people with various different backgrounds.
Japan (especially in Tokyo) already has many people with foreign backgrounds, including international students and foreign workers. And now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that the divide between those foreign residents and the rest of the community will continue to grow. This is where the borders in the community will be problematic more than ever.
Also - isn’t it possible even for communications between Japanese people to function poorly, because we assume that we share the same contexts so much that our differences are “hidden” in a way?
In such a society, how can we explore ways of coexistence? That is the theme of our first program of Beyond Invisible Borders: kyodo 20_30.
What does kyodo 20_30 entail?
kyodo 20_30 aims to consider ways of coexistence by gathering people who are interested in 1) connecting with others with different cultural backgrounds and 2) what Tokyo is going to be like in the future.
As all of you know, due to the mandated social-distancing measures imposed by COVID-19, it has now become very difficult for people to gather at the same time in the same place, which was a prerequisite for various art projects and performing arts, which are my area of expertise. However, this hardship also has reminded us of the importance of these gatherings in people’s lives.
As of August 2020, it is still difficult for us to gather to create something or have discussions.
But even if it’s impossible to gather together the way we used to, I believe that it is possible to consider alternative ways of gathering and connecting with others.
We feel that, when people from various countries with different identities try to create something together, it results in them communicating with each individual with more respect regardless of their nationalities or cultural backgrounds. Our activities aim to rear these soft and flexible relationships within this group of individuals. We believe that these activities will give us experience and knowledge that will help us obtain the freedom and realization that are necessary for our co-existence in the future.
Based on these beliefs, kyodo 20_30 is looking for youth aged 20-30, 1) who have different backgrounds in terms of nationality, language, and culture and 2) who will be responsible for our society in 10 years (in 2030). Based in Kyodo, Setagaya-ku, while taking the invisible walls/obstacles (which is the theme of our project Beyond Invisible Borders) into consideration, we will organize various creations, workshops and lectures with the use of various mediums. And through these activities, we aim to deepen our discussions on and our understanding of our community.
What makes the neighbourhood of Kyodo special?
I’ve lived in Kyodo for almost 20 years. I lived in my hometown Nagoya until I graduated from high school, and I also lived in Sapporo as a university student. But Kyodo is the place I’ve lived for the longest.
When I say, “I live somewhere”, I don’t only mean it in a sense that you live in a physical place. As a theatre worker, I also mean that “a place lives in you” - that is, every essence of the place you live in, also lives in you.
What makes Kyodo special is, it feels oddly comfortable when it lives in you. Even though it is a part of the metropolis Setagaya, Tokyo, it still has restaurants and stores owned by individuals and families in kind of an old-fashioned shopping street. It’s where you live, work, and spend your time every day - Kyodo seemed like the perfect place to build a new community hub.
At this time, we are looking for not only players aged 20-30 but also supporters with no age restrictions. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We are looking forward to reviewing your applications.
Yasuhito Yano, Project Director of Beyond Invisible Borders
Beyond Invisible Borders official Facebook page
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