The Japan Foundation Asia Center will present a series of online dialogues between artists and cultural specialists from Japan and Southeast Asia titled "Asia Center Crosstalk: Cultural Journeys toward Post-COVID-19."
The dialogues will be available for free viewing on the JF's official YouTube channel. While cross-border exchange remains restricted due to Covid-19, the series invites individuals active in various cultural fields, ranging from the traditional arts to contemporary art, to meet and talk online.
Covid-19 has impacted the arts and culture of every country differently, and artists and cultural experts are working under these new conditions, each with their own creative methods. The ten dialogues in this series all intriguingly detail how their creative endeavors shape the world beyond the pandemic. Participants discuss a broad range of topics, including the challenges of carrying out projects and creating a legacy of arts and culture. They also touch on how they re-examine their works and society and share new ideas and goals. Each dialogue is prefaced with an introduction to the participants' works and interviews filmed in their respective countries, making it an engaging and learning experience for viewers regardless of their familiarity with the participants.
Outline
Organizer: The Japan Foundation Asia Center
Streaming: The Japan Foundation YouTube channel
Number of videos: 10 videos (each approximately 30 min. long)
Fields of topic: Performance, Contemporary Dance, Sustainable Design, Crafts, Contemporary Art, Traditional Performing Arts, Festival and Community, Orchestra, Architecture
Video production: Ennet, Inc.
Contents and guests
Performance 〈Laos and Japan〉
Lattanakone Insisiengmay (Director / Actor)
SHIRAGA Momoko (Choreographer / Director / Dancer)
Moderator: SENTOKU Miho (Coordinator for cultural events)
We invite performing artists from Japan and Laos who seek expression in dance and in object theater respectively. The two artists, both engaged in the theme of "object and body," discuss their viewpoints and the meaning of their works in the larger context of performing arts.
Contemporary Dance 〈Malaysia and Japan〉
Marion D'Cruz (Dancer / Choreographer / Producer / Educator)
MORIYAMA Kaiji (Dancer / Choreographer / Director)
Moderator: NORIKOSHI Takao (Novelist / Dance critic)
Contemporary dancers from Malaysia and Japan will exchange views on issues pertaining to dance in their own countries and abroad, as well as differences between the countries. They will also discuss the future of dance.
Sustainable Design 〈Indonesia and Japan〉
Annisa Wibi (Co-Founder and COO, MYCL (Mycotech Lab))
MIZUNO Daijiro (Design researcher)
Moderator: YAMAZAKI Ryo (Community designer)
To address today's challenge of mass production and consumption, we invite specialists who are researching and developing reusable textile material in the fashion industry to explore new ideas of sustainable design.
Crafts 〈Thailand and Japan〉
Chutayaves Sinthuphan (Director, Creative Economy Agency Khon Kaen)
FURUYA Mayumi (Curator, The Japan Folk Crafts Museum)
Moderator: USHIROSHOJI Masahiro (Art historian / Director, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art)
From the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and TCDC (Thailand Creative and Design Centre), which feature industrial design, we invite specialists who study and promote crafts and folk art from their country. Together we will explore the historical backgrounds, today's challenges, and the ideals of crafts in each country.
Contemporary Art 〈Singapore, Philippines and Japan〉
Ho Rui An (Artist / Writer)
Eisa Jocson (Artist / Choreographer / Dancer)
KATO Tsubasa (Artist)
Moderator: HASHIMOTO Azusa (Curator, The National Museum of Art, Osaka)
We invite artists who use their own bodies as a medium, such as in lectures and dances, and choose community groups as a means of artistic expression. They will share their thoughts on the unique physicality of their works, differences in expressions in video works, and projects that focus on a country or region.
Traditional Performing Arts: 1 〈Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan〉
Tran Quy Quoc (Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre Puppeteer)
Kamrul Hussin (Wayang Kulit Puppeteer / Musician)
YOSHIDA Minoshiro (Bunraku Puppeteer)
Moderator: TABATA Noriko (CEO, Adventure Japan Co., Ltd)
A three-way conversation between performers of Vietnamese water puppetry, Malaysian wayang kulit, and Japanese bunraku. They discuss what it means to choose a traditional art as one's vocation and to pass down a culture rich in history to the next generation, introducing their art along the way.
Traditional Performing Arts: 2 〈Cambodia and Japan〉
Chien Sophan (Sbek Thom Ty Chean's Troupe Director)
Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater, DOISHITA Satoshi (Puppeteer / Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater Secretary General) and YAMAGUCHI Hisahito (Junior Puppeteer)
Moderator: TSUKADA Chiemi (Chair, Foundation Modern Puppet Center / Puppet theater producer)
From the heart of the ancient Angkor civilization in Cambodia and a mountain village at the foot of the sacred peak of Mt. Hakusan in Japan, we invite bearers of traditional arts rich in individuality. They talk frankly about topics such as the surprisingly similar traits found in the footwork of their performances and the difficulties of keeping a tradition alive.
Festival and Community 〈Cambodia and Japan〉
Rithy Lomorpich (Film Director / Festival Producer)
NEGI Ryuichi (microAction Representative / SOUL BEAT ASIA Organizer / STONE'S co,ltd Director)
Moderator: OISHI Hajime (Writer / Music selector)
Traditional and modern festivals have been threatened by Covid-19. This dialogue investigates the essence of "festivals," at the heart of which is the coming together of people, with reference to community and cultural identity.
Orchestra 〈Thailand, Vietnam and Japan〉
Wanchai Yan-Ubol (RBSO General Manager)
Nguyen Manh Duy Linh (Composer & Head of Performing Arts Department of HBSO)
ISOBE Syuhei (Clarinetist / Specially Appointed Professor of Toho College of Music)
Moderator: KAKITSUKA Takuma (KOBE Cultural Foundation Manager)
How will the culture of symphonic orchestras, which was imported from the West, take root and develop in Asia? Discussants talk about the current state and prospects in Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan, including the possibility of a new culture emerging from Asia.
Architecture 〈Indonesia and Vietnam/Japan〉
Andra Matin (Architect)
NISHIZAWA Shunri (Architect)
Moderator: IGARASHI Taro (Architecture critic / Architectural historian)
A dialogue between a prominent architect in Indonesia and a Japanese architect living in Vietnam. The architects share their thoughts on contemporary architectural design featuring the climate and culture of different parts of Asia and exchange their opinions on the future of architecture.
Profiles
Performance
Lattanakone Insisiengmay (Director / Actor)
Born in 1981 in Laos. After graduating from high school, he was trained in clowning at Lao National Circus. In 2001, he went on to study object theatre in France, and joined the newly established Lao object theater, Kabong Lao. He has performed as a Kabong Lao member in France, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Japan. At the same time, he has collaborated with artists from France and Japan, as well as participated in workshops and further training in theater. Based on these experiences, Lattanakone decided to create the first private theater troupe of his own in 2008. The theater troupe, named Khao Niew, has been performing and producing shows in object theatre, shadow puppet, and stage theatre in Laos and abroad.
SHIRAGA Momoko (Choreographer / Director / Dancer)
Shiraga Momoko is the head of the "dance-performance-esque" group Momonga Complex, conceiving, choreographing, and directing all its productions. From 2017 to 2018, she was a Saison Fellow Junior Fellow. In 2018, she conceived, directed, and performed Lang-kao—Our Forest, a Japanese-Thai co-production at Cultural Centre of Fujimi City, KIRARI FUJIMI. In 2019, she became the artistic director of KIRARI FUJIMI. At Festival/Tokyo 2020, she staged We assemble together, a musical-style dance performance performed under pandemic conditions. She is an adjunct instructor at Shikoku Gakuin University and J. F. Oberlin University.
SENTOKU Miho (Coordinator for cultural events)
While majoring in theater at the Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and
Sciences I, Sentoku Miho studied at Thammasat University's Faculty of Liberal Arts for ten months with the goal of researching the South Thai dance form of nora chatri. From 2000 to 2001, she was a resident researcher at the Thailand Cultural Centre, where she undertook a survey of contemporary theater in Thailand as a fellow of the Japan Foundation Next-Generation Leader Fellowship Program. As a coordinator for cultural exchange initiatives between Japan and Thailand, she has worked on such projects as the Thai version of Red Demon, written and directed by Noda Hideki. Her Japanese translations of Thai plays include Pradit Prasartthong's Destination and Nikorn Sae Tang's Desperations of God and Placeless.
Contemporary Dance
Marion D'Cruz (Dancer / Choreographer / Producer / Educator)
Marion D'Cruz, a founding member of Five Arts Centre (est. 1984), graduated with an MA in Dance (1979) from Universiti Sains Malaysia. She has studied traditional, modern, and contemporary dance in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, London, and New York. In 1983 she formed Marion D'Cruz and Dancers, who have performed extensively both locally and internationally. One of the pioneers of contemporary dance in Malaysia, her work has gone through many phases – the search for a Malaysian identity in contemporary dance, the socio-political commentary, working with 'non-performers', the democratization of the artistic space. Marion has received numerous awards including the 2019 Hai-O Arts & Culture Grants Lifetime Achievement Award.
MORIYAMA Kaiji (Dancer / Choreographer / Director)
Beginning his dance career at the age of twenty-one, Moriyama Kaiji performed the solo dance KATANA in the United States in 2005, which the New York Times called "a dance of amazing concentration by an amazing dancer." In 2007, he was invited to perform at the Venice Biennale. The UNIVERSE of MANDALA (2013) won him three prizes, including the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists by Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. He served as cultural envoy for the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2013. He directed his first opera in 2019 with a production of Don Giovanni. He directed, choreographed, and designed the set and costumes for RYUUGUU – The Turtle Princess, staged by the National Ballet of Japan at the New National Theatre, Tokyo in 2020. He was the director and chief choreographer for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. That same year, he performed as a solo dancer in the international co-production Only the Sound Remains, an opera by Kaija Saariaho. As his recent activities show, he continues to attract widespread attention as both a dancer and director.
NORIKOSHI Takao (Novelist / Dance critic)
Born in 1963 in Tokyo, Norikoshi Takao is a writer and dance critic. He is also the president of JAPAN DANCE PLUG Co. ltd. In 2006, he undertook a research trip to the United States upon the invitation of the Japan Society in New York. In 2007, he served as the Japanese director for Japone Danza in Italy. He serves as a jury and advisor for foundations and dance festivals at home and abroad, and is a member of the jury for the El Sur Foundation Newcomer Award. His many publications include Contemporary Dance Total Guide HYPER (Sakuhinsha), So You Won't Watch Dance?! Contemporary Dance Extreme Record (NTT Publishing), Dance Bible (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), and Alice, the Story of Kawabata Fumiko (Kodansha). He writes columns for Bravo, act guide, Ballet Channel, and more.
Sustainable Design
Annisa Wibi (Co-Founder and COO, MYCL (Mycotech Lab))
Annisa Wibi leads the operations of an exciting and ground-breaking materials startup company, MYCL. MYCL is an emerging biotechnology company that provides sustainable materials with mycelium (fungus) technology. She and MYCL team develop a low-impact leather called Mylea, an alternative material to substitute animal leather and synthetic leather for various applications. They have also developed Biobo, bio-materials for buildings, using the Mylea waste to create structures and interiors that look modern whilst being functional and strong in compression. As COO, Annisa balances business viability with impact to the community and the environment. Prior to Mycotech, Annisa started her career as a mushroom farmer, and she also co-produced an edible mushroom growing kit named Growbox.
MIZUNO Daijiro (Design researcher)
Born in 1979 in Tokyo, Mizuno Daijiro is a project professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology and distinguished visiting professor at Keio University Graduate School. He moved to the UK after graduating high school, completing a master's degree at the Royal College of Art in 2003, followed by a doctorate in 2008. He holds a PhD in fashion design. After his return to Japan, he embarked upon a prolific career writing, teaching and researching, and launching a wide array of design projects with a focus on fashion design. He took up his current positions following periods as an appointed senior lecturer at Kyoto University Design School and an associate professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University. His recent activities include present an academic paper at the International Association of Societies of Design Research 2021 as well as publishing Circular Design (co-written with Tsuda Kazutoshi, Gakugei Shuppansha) and serving as head of the Next Fashion Study Group: Fashion Future Study Group for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
YAMAZAKI Ryo (Community designer)
Born in 1973 in Aichi, Yamazaki Ryo is the head of studio-L and teaches at Kwansei Gakuin University's School of Architecture. He is also a certified social worker. He holds graduate degrees from Osaka Prefecture University and the University of Tokyo, and a PhD in engineering. After working at an architecture and landscaping firm, he founded studio-L in 2005. His community design practice involves local residents solving problems in their community. His many projects to date include community development workshops, comprehensive planning involving residents, and participatory park management. His publications include Headstreams of Community Design (Ohta Publishing), Shrinking Japan (PHP Shinsho), Community Food Diary (PIE International), and Designing Communities That Care (Igaku-Shoin).
Crafts
Chutayaves Sinthuphan (Director, Creative Economy Agency Khon Kaen)
Chutayaves Sinthuphan is an architect and educator based in Thailand. As an architect, He is a founder of several award-winning design practices and social-based organizations such as Site-Specific: Architecture & Research, Design for Disasters, FabCafe Bangkok, and Natural Architecture Trust for Urban and Rural Ecologies (N.A.T.U.R.E.). He has also taught at various universities such as Yale University and Columbia University. Currently, he is the Director of Creative Economy Agency overseeing the northeastern region of Thailand. His Design Thinking approaches led to the development of many projects including Isan Creative Festival, Mudmee Silk Hack, and notably the Lunch & Learn project which focuses on using design and creativity to make improvements to the public school lunch program. Lunch & Learn is now being adopted nationwide improving the lives of millions of students in Thailand.
FURUYA Mayumi (Curator, The Japan Folk Crafts Museum)
Born in 1974, Furuya Mayumi graduated from International Christian University. As a curator at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum since 2015, she manages publicity, education and outreach, and international relations. Her exhibitions include "Indigo Shibori—the works of Motohiko Katano" (April–June 2019), "The Beauty of Ainu Handiwork" (September–November 2020), the annual open-call "New Works Competition and Exhibition," and "Silent Beauty" (Ateneum Art Museum, June–October 2019). Her interest lies in how society can form a base for things to emerge, the way in which people live their lives, and the assimilation of foreign cultures, especially in relation to crafts.
USHIROSHOJI Masahiro (Art historian / Director, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art)
Born in 1954 in Kitakyushu, Ushiroshoji Masahiro worked as a curator at Fukuoka Art Museum, introducing modern and contemporary Asian art through such exhibitions as "Asian Art Show" held multiple times and "Birth of Modern Art in Southeast Asia" (1997). As chief curator, he was involved in founding the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and holding Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 1999. From 2002, he was a professor at Kyushu University, teaching and researching about modern and contemporary Asian art history, and also curated "50 years of modern Vietnamese paintings: 1925–75" (2005), among other exhibitions. The director of Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art since 2021, he also runs Bibliotheca Lizard, a private Asian art research institute.
Contemporary Art
Ho Rui An (Artist / Writer)
Ho Rui An is an artist and writer working in the intersections of contemporary art, cinema, performance and theory. Working primarily across the mediums of lecture, essay and film, he probes into the ways by which images are produced, circulate and disappear within contexts of globalism and governance. He has been invited to participate in numerous international exhibitions, including Bangkok Art Biennale, Asian Art Biennial, Gwangju Biennale, Jakarta Biennale, Sharjah Biennial, and Kochi-Muziris Biennale. In 2019, he was awarded the International Film Critics' (FIPRESCI) Prize at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany.
Eisa Jocson (Artist / Choreographer / Dancer)
Eisa Jocson is a contemporary choreographer and dancer from the Philippines, trained as a visual artist, with a background in ballet. She exposes body politics in the service and entertainment industry as seen through the unique socioeconomic lens of the Philippines. She has been commissioned by and has toured extensively in major contemporary festivals. In her HAPPYLAND series (2017-), Part 1: Princess, a duet with Filipino performance artist Russ Ligtas, and Part 2: Your Highness, a collaboration with five dancers from Ballet Philippines, are followed by Part 3: Manila Zoo, a work adapted and developed under pandemic conditions. Featuring five performers collaborating online, Manila Zoo premiered in 2021. She won the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award 2019 and recently received the SeMa-HANA Award at the Seoul Mediacity Biennale for TFSB2020.
KATO Tsubasa (Artist)
Born in 1984 in Saitama Prefecture, Kato Tsubasa is based in Tokyo. His multimedia projects involving performance, structures, and video are characterized by their engagement with communal practice. His major series Pull and Raise, in which ropes are used to move a large structure in a public space, relies on spontaneous participation. Since completing a project in Fukushima after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake, his work has taken on a more satirical side that plays with social boundaries. His projects and installations challenge the viewer to reconceive the sense of distance among us. His recent exhibitions include "Tsubasa Kato: Turf and Perimeter" (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2021) and "They Do Not Understand Each Other" (Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong, 2020).
HASHIMOTO Azusa (Curator, The National Museum of Art, Osaka)
Born in 1978 in Shiga, Hashimoto Azusa has been a curator of contemporary art at The National Museum of Art, Osaka, since 2008. Her interest lies in creativity caused by the friction between global art history and local art. Her recent exhibitions include "Air Hole: Another Conceptualism from Asia" (2011), "Time of Others" (2015), "THE PLAY since 1967: beyond unknown currents" (2016), and "Travelers: Stepping into the Unknown" (2018). She received the Ringa Art Encouragement Award for "Viva Video!: The Art and Life of Shigeko Kubota" (2021).
Traditional Performing Arts: 1
Tran Quy Quoc (Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre Puppeteer)
Born in 1978 in My Hao town, Hung Yen province, Vietnam. In 1999, Tran Quy Quoc graduated from Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Chinema where he studied the skill of Vietnamese puppetry. He started his career as a puppeteer at the Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, where he worked from 1999 to 2021. He currently works at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi. He won a gold medal at the Vietnam Professional Puppet Stages Festival in 2003 and has won 1st, 3rd and 4th prizes at the International Puppet Stage Festival. In 2015, he was given the title of Merited Artist by Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism.
Kamrul Hussin (Wayang Kulit Puppeteer / Musician)
Born in 1978 in Pasir Mas district of Kelantan state in northeastern Malaysia. Kamrul Hussin studied with many Adiguru's, or maestros, of various disciplines including Malay traditional and contemporary music, theater, and dance. He has been titled Distinguished Creative Scholar and is a senior lecturer and director of Malay traditional studies at the Faculty of Music, University of Teknology MARA (UiTM) in Shah Alam, Selangor. Kamrul is also the founder and artistic director of Geng Wak Long, a musical performance group based in Kampung Banggol Gelang Mas, Kelantan, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur. He has been working as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, researcher, Tok Dalang Muda (storyteller), conductor as well as an expert in Kelantanese Malay drumming.
YOSHIDA Minoshiro (Bunraku Puppeteer)
Born in 1975 in Kyoto. Yoshida Minoshiro started training under Yoshida Minosuke III in 1988 and assumed his stage name in 1991, giving his first performance at the National Bunraku Theatre. In addition to regular performances at the National Bunraku Theatre and National Theatre, he has taken part in many tours overseas. Yoshida's accolades include the Bunraku-Kyokai Prize in 2009 and 2010, the 31st National Theatre Bunraku Encouragement Award in 2012, Sakuya Konohana Prize in 2017, 36th National Theatre Bunraku Encouragement Award also in 2017, and 2020 Osaka Cultural Festival Award (Category 1).
TABATA Noriko (CEO, Adventure Japan Co., Ltd)
Born in 1971 in Saitama Prefecture. Tabata Noriko is the editor in chief and publisher of Adventure Japan, the free multilingual magazine founded in December 2008 that introduces Japanese culture and regions. Its fourth issue was a special one about Bunraku, which led to Tabata becoming a coordinator for Bunraku performances in Malaysia in 2013. Since 2014, she has organized "Backpacker Bunraku," a series of workshops and performances in Asia with Yoshida Minoshiro. It has toured to fourteen cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Myanmar, Singapore, and Taiwan. Until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented international travel, she organized and accompanied the "Backpacker Bunraku" tour annually.
Traditional Performing Arts: 2
Chien Sophan (Sbek Thom Ty Chean's Troupe Director)
Born in 1978 in Sala Kanseng Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Taking over the troupe from his grandfather, Master Ty Chean, Chien Sophan leads Ty Chean's Troupe, whose Sbek Thom performances in the countryside, pagodas, schools, and various festivals have helped audiences, especially of the younger generation, to learn about the art of Khmer shadow theatre. In 2011, the troupe received a certificate of recognition from the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia for participating in a cultural event celebrating the anniversaries of the UNESCO World Heritage and the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In 2019, they also received a certificate of appreciation for participating in the art competition organized by the Cambodian National Art Festival. In 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2017, the troupe invited to Japan to give performances and workshops.
* Sbek Thom: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater
DOISHITA Satoshi (Puppeteer / Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater Secretary General)
YAMAGUCHI Hisahito (Junior puppeteer)
Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater continues the joruri puppetry tradition of the Higashi Futakuchi area of Hakusan City. Its roots lie in the puppetry brought back some 350 years ago by young people who left the village for Kyoto and Osaka, and learned the style of puppetry then popular at the time in the cities. It has since been practiced as a form of entertainment for farmers during the off-season and as a way to mark the Lunar New Year, cherished and passed down by villagers until the present. The Bunya-bushi style of joruri in Higashi Futakuchi was started by the Osaka puppetry narrator Okamoto Bunya in the second half of the seventeenth century and was in vogue for a time. The Bunya-bushi old style of joruri is today performed only in four locations: Hakusan, Sado (Niigata), Miyazaki, and Kagoshima. Still based in the neighborhood of Higashi Futakuchi, which now comprises a mere eight households and twelve residents, Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater performs over four days every February. The chair of the preservation society, which has fewer than twelve members, is Michishita Jinichi.
* Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater: National Important Intangible Folk Culture Property
TSUKADA Chiemi (Chair, Foundation Modern Puppet Center / Puppet theater producer)
Tsukada Chiemi joined Foundation Modern Puppet Center in 1988 and quickly became involved in its projects of Asia. Alongside these efforts, she has produced performances and worked to keep traditional puppet theater around Japan alive. Since 1993, she has held a series of performances showcasing Asian puppetry. From 2007, she has intermittently organized an exchange workshop for Asian puppet theater with various different groups. At Foundation Modern Puppet Center, Tsukada has continued to hold joint workshops since 2019 featuring Laotian and Japanese puppet theater companies in partnership with deaf people. Her interest lies in building connections between Japan and the rest of Asia, and between the traditional and the contemporary, while also searching for their undercurrents. The Higashi Futakuchi Puppet Theater also participated in the 2012 iteration of the Asian puppetry series, performing its traditional joruri style of puppetry in Tokyo.
Festival and Community
Rithy Lomorpich (Film Director / Festival Producer)
Lomorpich Rithy (aka. YoKi), a former producer/director at BBC Media Action, is the co-founder and CEO of PlerngKob ("Sacred Fire"), a dynamic young group of individuals passionate about storytelling through arts, music, and film. YoKi is also the co-founder and festival producer of BonnPhum (Village Festival), a folklore festival showcasing contemporary Cambodian culture that transcends time and disciplines. She also curated "BonnPhum in Tokyo" in Festival/Tokyo 2018. In 2019, she released her first debut film YOUNG LOVE, which was chosen for the official selection of 74th Locarno Film Festival. As a director/writer, YoKi won the best screenplay award and the Jury special award for Young Love at the 6th National Film Festival. YoKi believes in the power of gathering and storytelling.
NEGI Ryuichi (microAction Representative / SOUL BEAT ASIA Organizer / STONE'S co,ltd Director)
As the manager of TURTLE ISLAND, a music band based in Toyota City, Aichi, Negi Ryuichi has organized performances overseas. He runs a music label and also releases CDs with shadow puppet artist and musician Kawamura Kohey's group TAIKUH JIKANG. He has recently worked as a promoter for tours in Japan by such African artists as Tinariwen, Tamikrest, and Konono Nº1, and Asian artists like Hanggai and Marjinal. Negi's other activities at home and abroad include an Amami and Ainu music concert by Amamiaynu, directing a video for Oshiro Misako, and handling booking for Orisaka Yuta's Taiwanese tour.
OISHI Hajime (Writer / Music selector)
The head of editorial production office B.O.N., which specializes in travel and festivals, Oishi Hajime spent around a year traveling the world before becoming a freelance writer in 2008. In addition to covering local regions and climate and culture around Japan and other parts of Asia, he is a prolific music writer. As a writer or editor, Oishi's publications include The Postwar History of Bon Dances (Chikuma Shobo), Going to Meet Deep Tokyoites (Shobunsha), Japanese Festivalism (Artes Publishing), The Era of Great Ondo Folk Music (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), Travels in Search of Korean Rock (Du Books), and Glocal Beats (Ongaku Shuppansha). He writes a monthly column, "Memories of the City, Landscapes of Sound," for Tokyojin (Toshi Shuppan).
Orchestra
Wanchai Yan-Ubol (RBSO General Manager)
Born in 1961 in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. Wanchai Yan-Ubol received his MBA degree from Hua Chew Chalermprakiat University. In 1998 he started working as the administrative manager of the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (RBSO), responsible for the orchestra payroll, artists fee, artists accommodations, accounting and finances. He became the General Manager in 2004 and a member of the board of directors in 2015, overseeing the orchestra's funding; sponsorship; program scheduling; contracts with musicians, conductors, soloists, teachers, venues, and suppliers; media relations; outreach projects; and cooperation with other organizations. In 2014 he took part in Support for ASEAN Orchestra program organized by the Japan Foundation.
Nguyen Manh Duy Linh (Composer & Head of Performing Arts Department of HBSO)
Born in 1980 in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Nguyen Manh Duy Linh started piano training at Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory in 1988 and earned a Ph.D. in Music Composition at Magnitogrosk State Conservatory, Russia. His major works include: Concerto Grosso No. 1 for violin, piano, percussion & orchestra; Concerto for Violin & Orchestra; Suite Symphony Reminiscence and Symphony Legend of the Spring. He currently works as a music composer and arranger as well as the head of Performing Arts Department at Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO). He's a member of the organization of Autumn Melodies, an international arts festival that features classical music, classical and contemporary dance, and opera performances. In the Asia Orchestra Week 2021, Maestro Akiyama Kazuyoshi and the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra performed his work A Gentle Wind for symphony orchestra at Tokyo Opera City Hall. He was awarded The Best Composer in Vietnam Cinema Association's Golden Kite Awards 2013 with the score to the movie The Race.
ISOBE Syuhei (Clarinetist / Specially Appointed Professor of Toho College of Music)
Isobe Syuhei completed graduate studies at Tokyo University of the Arts. Initially a principal player for Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, he joined NHK Symphony Orchestra in 1983. Between 1988 and 1989, he studied in Berlin under Alois Brandhofer, a principal player for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to his work as a first clarinetist, he is a soloist who has played with many orchestras, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra for its 2003 performance of Nielsen's Concerto for Clarinet (conducted by Herbert Blomstedt) as well as the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland. Isobe was awarded the Arima Prize in 2008. In 2018 and 2019, he was sent by the Japan Foundation and Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras to play at Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO). He currently plays as a first clarinetist at concerts for various orchestras in Japan, and is a director of the Japan Clarinet Association
KAKITSUKA Takuma (KOBE Cultural Foundation Manager)
Kakitsuka Takuma graduated from the music course at Fukuoka Daiichi High School and then studied music at Soai University. After working for the Fukuoka branch of the Social Insurance Agency, he joined Osaka Century Symphony Orchestra in 2008 as an administrator. He took up his current position in April 2021. In January 2013, Kakitsuka took part in a program for orchestra hall professionals in the UK organized by the British Council. From July to September 2019, he stayed with the Myanmar National Symphony Orchestra and Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra as a Japan Foundation Asia Fellow.
Architecture
Andra Matin (Architect)
Andra Matin is one of the founders of Arsitek Muda Indonesia (Young Architects of Indonesia, AMI), an organization which has greatly influenced the progress of architecture in Indonesia. He is the principal of andramatin, a studio established in 1998 and based in Jakarta. Studio andramatin is known for clean, modern creations that attempt to use space in a way that reflects and is sensitive to its environment. His publications include Haikk! (Hey!) (2008) and Prihal: arsitektur andramatin (Re: Architecture andramatin) (2020), an architectural book on the studio's public buildings in conjunction to their solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Indonesia. He has won numerous awards including the Indonesian Institute of Architects (Ikatan Arsitektur Indonesia, IAI) Award in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2011. He also received the Special Mention at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2018 and was shortlisted for 2019 Aga Khan Award.
NISHIZAWA Shunri (Architect)
Born in 1980 in Tokyo. NISHIZAWA Shunri earned his master's degree in architecture from the University of Tokyo in 2005. He worked from 2005 to 2009 for Tadao Ando Architect & Associates (Osaka). He was a partner in Vo Trong Nghia Architects (Ho Chi Minh, 2009-2011) and in Sanuki+Nishizawa Architects (2011-2015) before founding Nishizawa Architects in 2015. His works include Binh Thanh House (with Vo Trong Nghia Architects, Ho Chi Minh, 2013), Thong House (HoChiMinh, 2014), Katzden Factory (Binh Duong, 2016), House in Chau Doc (Chau Doc, 2017), Restaurant of Shade (Ho Chi Minh, 2018), and Workshop in Pepper Field (Long Khanh, 2021). He has lectured at a number of schools and cultural institutions including the National University of Singapore in 2017, Aalto University, and Museum of Finnish Architecture in 2018. He is a lecturer at the Nagoya Zokei University of Art and Design from 2021 to 2022.
IGARASHI Taro (Architecture critic / Architectural historian)
Born in 1967, Igarashi Taro earned a master's degree from the University of Tokyo in 1992. He holds a PhD in engineering. He was artistic director of Aichi Triennale 2013 and commissioner for the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2008. He has supervised such exhibitions as "Impossible Architecture," "The Window: A Journey of Art and Architecture through Windows," and "Reading Ornamentation: Rediscovering the Architecture of Nihonbashi." Igarashi received the 64th Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists in 2013 and the Architectural Institute of Japan Education Award (Contribution to Education) in 2018. His many writings include Encyclopedia of Famous World Architecture History (X-Knowledge) and Tokyo in Architecture (Misuzu Shobo). He teaches at the graduate school of Tohoku University.
