Starting with original stage art evenings by contemporary Japanese creators, the "nowJapan" festival will invite you to the Great Weekend events at the Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum and its courtyard on September 14-15. Six exhibitions and installations, crafts, calligraphy, manga workshops, cooking classes and tastings, interesting presentations by Lithuanians and guests, which will inspire you to get to know Japan, which is getting closer and closer.
A temple and a charismatic monk are carried on their shoulders
As befits a truly Japanese holiday, the Grand Weekend will not be complete without the traditional Shinto shrine Mikoshi procession through the Old Town. Located in the courtyard of the Theater, Music and Cinema Museum, it will be available for viewing on both days of the event. Also to meet Nobuya Miyata, known as the "mikoshi boy", who since childhood helped his grandfather, a temple carpenter and restorer, organize community celebrations, organize mikoshi carrying rituals. After his grandfather's death, Nobuya inherited his position and set out to spread the Mikoshi culture to the world. Mikoshi temples are characterized by jewelry details, splendor, and animal motifs. Weighing up to a ton, Mikoshi shrines are carried by dozens of enthusiasts as it is a great honor. Nobuya Miyata will tell about the holiday culture in Japan, where this tradition is alive.
"The Japanese are born Shinto, and the anapilin leave Buddhist. These are the two dominant religions in Japan.” says the charismatic Zen Buddhist monk Sohaku Matsushita, who will be reading meditative sutras at the festival against a background of brass bells. After creating an impressive career in the private sector, it didn't take long to come to the conclusion that happiness lies elsewhere. The worldly, easy-going and well-travelled monk says that Zen is not just a philosophy. It is a physical exercise and experience to reach your true self. It is believed that Zen can act as medicine in spiritual crisis because it contains the source of life energy. At least those for whom Buddhism is far away will be able to draw energy from this guest.
Family photos and 60 laser mice
In the exhibition halls of the museum, visitors will be greeted by marching robotic mice armed with lasers and hammers. This is an installation of the so-called swarm art: the mice are shown moving and hitting each other with a hammer, but their programmed chaos creates an effect of harmony. Collecting the main prizes at Japanese media art festivals, organizing exhibitions from Canada to Europe, So Kanno stands at the intersection of robotics and installation art, provoking him to be called a programming critic of society. And on the Great weekend, for those who are interested in his "mice" and contemporary art, he will read the report "Are all Japanese dreaming of robots?".
Kimiaki Yaegashi, a comic illustrator from Tokyo, will show with his works and tell what the humor of today's Japanese is. Looking at the works of this author, who is also recognized outside of Japan, they are full of absurdity and surrealism. The artist, who has many followers in the social space, comments on contemporary phenomena by drawing samurai, bikini girls, pandas, pizzas, and Japanese folklore characters.
Those who are interested in what a Japanese family really looks like will be intrigued by the exhibition "Becoming a Family" by the famous photographer Rie Yamada. The artist, who captures the most unexpected moments and curiosities of life, will take up residence - her works will be shown and photography workshops will be held - in an improvised apartment-gallery very close to the Great Weekend Yard - Klaipėda Street. 7. Here you will also find comical family photos based on vintage photographs, where each of their members is… the photographer herself!
All about etiquette and the changing world
Kazumasa Teshigawara, or Qubibi, who creates audio-visual performances and advertisements of limitless fantasy and was awarded the Cannes Lion for them, will present the digital installation "Hello World" in Vilnius this weekend. Chaos and space, life and death will be told by the changing images created right here. They are unique and unrepeatable, like the colorful world of Qubibi, where there are no boundaries.
The Museum of Theatre, Music and Film will also present the exhibition "Train Etiquette" by the unique artist Hideya Kawakita, professor emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts. Once upon a time, these posters he created in the 8s educated the Japanese people on how to act first in public transport, became popular all over the world. Among his most prominent works is the design of the Tokyo subway map created in 1972, advertisements, posters, which are still considered classics of the genre.
Tastes, sounds, a brush the size of your head
The sound of traditional Taiko drums will not allow you to pass by the "nowJapan" events on the weekend. They will be beaten by Ryotaro Sakamoto, the organizer of the Japanese cultural festival "Matsuri Piknik" and the founder of the Japanese language school. The purpose of peace drums was once and still is the most diverse - people used them to announce news, war, and now they are used as musical instruments during holidays, concerts and theater performances. Drummer Ryotaro will host high-energy concerts and calligraphy workshops. Koshio Masafumi, the master of this art, will show what calligraphy can be. He will hold a workshop here, presenting the so-called dimensional calligraphy, when a brush the size of a human head is used instead of the usual one, and the calligraphy work is measured in square meters.
The inexhaustible topic of Japanese cooking will be explored by experienced chef Taku Imaizumi. During the big weekend, he will give a report about this, hold a food workshop and tell you how to cook Japanese and products bought from Lithuania. He experienced this himself like no one else - he was the chef of the Japanese ambassador who had already finished his term in Vilnius. On the big weekend, food will not only be talked about - a large selection of Japanese desserts, unusual for Lithuanians, will also be tasted.
Well-known artists - photographer Tadas Černiauskas and director Saulius Baradinskas - will share less culinary, more personal impressions about trips to Japan, creative inspiration received there, differences between Lithuanian and Japanese identities.
The eleventh "nowJapan" festival will begin the acquaintance with the art of the Land of the Rising Sun from September 10, Vilnius St. Catherine's Church, where every evening will invite you to exclusive concerts, performances, projects. Programs of the weekend of September 14-15 in and around the Theater, Music and Cinema Museum events and the hustle and bustle will continue from 11 a.m. to 19 p.m.
All information - www.nowjapan.lt
