Even as Japan continues to witness the fallout of Friday's devastating earthquake, the organizers of a Japanese arts festival have announced the show will go on at Carnegie Hall. ARTKABINETT art collector social network will be attending these events to show support for the battered predicament in Japan. For four years now, the concert hall's programmers have been working with cultural institutions around the city to produce JapanNYC, a two-month celebration of Japanese music, dance, theater, and film. The first half of the festival took place last December, and the second half begins Monday night.
"All of us feel firstly that it's more appropriate than ever to be paying tribute to Japan and its culture at this time," Carnegie Hall artistic director Clive Gillison said.
"So, nobody -- either in Japan or any of the participating artists -- nobody felt that we should be canceling."
The organizers did cancel one event that they deemed inappropriate: Monday night's panel on innovating and profiting in contemporary Japan.
The festival's first music event is a concert on Monday from indie rockers Deerhoof, led by Tokyo-born singer Satomi Matsuzaki. So far, no problems have been reported with getting artists here from Japan.
Included in the exhibition was Monday evening's Deerhoof -- the Tokyo / San Francisco avant-rock foursome, known internationally for its unforgettable live performances that combine sugary pop melodies with a playful, experimental spiritócurates and headlines this special appearance alongside a bill of specially chosen artists and composers who represent the best of contemporary experimental, rock, and electronic music from Japan.
This Friday, the program features "Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art" -- a groundbreaking exhibition showing 16 artists who reject the outworn narratives of cuteness and infantilism fashionable in Western presentations of Japanese contemporary art. Melding traditional themes with radical perceptions of the present, they create uncompromising -- sometimes unsettlingóworks that challenge the social and political conditions of their times.
Sunday, please look forward to exploring the limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese taiko drum, Kodo (above right) forges new directions in this vibrant art form. Its name is derived from the Japanese word for ìheartbeatî--humanity's most fundamental source of rhythm. Feel the primal energy of Kodo!
Starting March 29, Eiko & Koma: Naked A Living Installation: This two-week-long movement/visual art installation features Eiko & Koma's exploration of nakedness, desire, and the elasticity of time, set in an immersive and charged organic environment of their handcrafted design.
In Naked, Eiko & Koma (picutred right) will be on continual view, in closer proximity to the audience than ever before. Audiences may come and go as they wishóor stay all evening.
In adjacent spaces, view a companion video installation highlighting Eiko & Koma's decades of media work.
http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/series/brochure/ser_697.html
