Zela’s Artist Residency in Japan
A big hello to our lovely Forest community! I have just returned home from a creative journey in Japan that I would love to share with you.
In early June I embarked on an adventure to attend an artist residency in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture, to spend some dedicated time on my solo practice. Shiro Oni Studio is a 6-week artist residency located in the small town of Onishi (population 4,900), designed for creatives of any medium to work free from outside distractions. Artists are provided with accommodation, a bike and individual studio space to work towards presenting a group exhibition at the conclusion of their stay.
My studio space was the second floor of a 100+ year-old building situated in the middle of town. It was an incredibly inspiring space with tatami floors and old rickety windows that rattled every time a car drove past – it often felt like the building was alive! I felt very connected to the town as I worked there. One of the locals would frequently drop in to say hi and pass on gifts of fruit, vegetables and sweets for myself and the other resident artists. Developing relationships with the town’s wonderful community over the course of the residency was a very special part of my time in Onishi.
With my suitcase full of percussion mallets and electronic effects pedals, my project was to compose a solo work that utilised repurposed materials from Onishi (such as bamboo, ceramics and kitchenware) for instrumentation that would tell a story of my experience attending the residency. As someone who has lived in Melbourne my entire life, adjusting to the differences of living abroad and in Japan’s countryside while being away from my family and friends became a significant part of my work. For the exhibition, I displayed a performance video of my compositions within a small listening room, alongside some washi paper that I created during a workshop.
In addition to working on my project, I was incredibly fortunate to attend the residency at the same time as Onishi’s annual Summer Matsuri (Japanese Festival). For this two-day festival, five shrines each representing a small district of the town are pulled by community members with rope throughout the streets. Each shrine has a team of people onboard, playing taiko music and lantern dancing. Shiro Oni artists were very lucky to participate in the festival by pulling the shrines and were even able to play taiko for a short moment (a very rare opportunity as a non-local!). For two weeks leading up to the festival, we attended nightly rehearsals to learn the taiko rhythms and witness how the whole community comes together for this big annual event. Onishi’s Summer Matsuri is a beautiful celebration where art is experienced as a community practice, with all town-members from young to old, involved side-by-side in a wonderful group experience.
At the conclusion of my residency, I travelled through Japan’s beautiful Nagano Prefecture before returning home. This mini adventure included a stop in Matsumoto City during their annual taiko festival! I have been attending taiko classes in Melbourne with Wadaiko Rindo for the past couple of years (and have gone a little taiko-crazy!), so this was a very special end to my Japan adventure!
Words and images by Zela Papageorgiou
