Art Space Report |
IBE Osamu | |||||||
Yurinkan, Kiryu City,Gumma Prefecture |
Though originally employed at an architectural firm, IBE Osamu's other interests eventually led him to leave the salaried life. In January, Ibe began helping out at the Omega Point 2/Sound Gallery, a newly opened space that specializes in experimental music, noise, and sound art, in Isesaki City, Gumma Prefecture.
In the past, he has had the opportunity to organize live performances at the mountain cottage (Akagi Dreamhouse) he built, and after sending some performance information for this facility to the newly opened Yurinkan, he also became involved in opening events at the Yurinkan. Scheduled to be refurbished and reorganized in April, Ibe reports here on the fresh start the Yurinkan art space will be making.
At present, the final preparations, primarily repairs of exterior and restrooms, are underway and are scheduled to be completed by the end of March in time for the reopening of the space on April 1. In the past, there have been a wide variety of events that have brought this attractive space to life, including "SoundCulture Japan '93," which was also introduced in these pages. In this article, I would like to present the history of the Yurinkan and some of the events that are scheduled to be held there in the future. |
.Kiryu City is located in the eastern part of Gumma Prefecture on the northern edge of the Kanto Plain bordering on Tochigi Prefecture. Since the Edo Period, the city has been known by the phrase "West Nishijin/East Kiryu," and as this suggests, the town originally prospered as a center for the textile industry (Nishijin, a section of Kyoto, is famous for its brocade). As a result, particularly on the eastern edge of the city in the Honmachi area that lies in front of the Tenmangu shrine, many textile factories with sawtooth roofs and storehouses that were owned by wealthy merchants can still be seen today. Of these, some are being used as dyeing ateliers or galleries, but the life that once filled many of them has been permanently extinguished. |
Yano Store, which began when its founder YANO Kyuemon moved to Kiryu from the Omi area in the mid-Edo Period, has been in business for 270 years. With the fourth generation of the family, miso (fermented soy bean paste), soy sauce, and sake production began, and among these old buildings on the site, the structures that have been renovated for the Yurinkan date back to the Meiji and Taisho Periods. The original use of and concept behind each of the many spaces in the complex is as follows:
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The administration and management of the Yurinkan has been entrusted directly to an administrative committee with decision-making authority by the municipal board of education. When the facility first started to be used, a clear management policy had not yet been established. This meant that many repairs were carried out without a clear understanding of the official applications and special characteristics of the site. But thanks to the skills of NARA Shoichi, who was appointed vice-chairman of the committee a year ago, there is much anticipation about the new "interactive" planning and management system. As the proprietor of a used book shop specializing in modern art and history books, Nara invested much time and energy in the 1960s assembling a collection of materials related to the most avant-garde art groups. Among many other artists, he maintains a personal relationship with NAKANISHI Natsuyuki of the High Red Center. As for his hopes for the facility, he says, "This facility should be dealt with independently of the large municipal cultural hall that is now under construction. I want to continue doing projects that, although they may be small in scale, deal with important issues, and couldn't be done anywhere else. |
Here are a few of the events that were held at the facility in 1996:
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Following the completion of renovation work, the opening event scheduled for the first week of April 1997 will be an exhibition concerned with music and sound. In brief, the exhibition will consist of art that is related to sounds of the past as a form of documentation, sounds of the present, and the forthcoming sounds of the near future. The exhibition will include: 1) An exhibition of local collector KAWARAI Genji's 78 records and record players (during the exhibition period). This will include rarities specially selected by Kawarai from his tens of thousands of records, and his collection of gramophones to play sounds of the past. 2) An exhibition of record jackets and packages that could be thought of as works of art (during the exhibition period) Record jackets designed by well-known artists, works produced in a series that have some consistency as artworks, records as art objects, and works that treat sound itself as an artistic creation will be exhibited. In particular, this will feature a collection of the latest works by Kyoto-resident NAKAJIMA Akifumi, who has been widely acclaimed abroad for his package design for the recorded work of Aube (the name he uses as a noise performer). 3) A workshop and performance by TAKANO Masaaki on playing with sound (on April 6) In his work, Takano allows us to encounter wondrous sounds with his self-created sound devices and objects. For this project, he will create a curtain of sound devices to fit the renovated brick storehouse, and give a performance with it. The artist will also hold a sound play workshop for parents and children. In order to highlight the organic relationship between the unique spaces of the Yurinkan and sound, efforts are being made to present a sound installation by one of Japan's premier improvisational musicians and sound artists, KOSUGI Takehisa. Of the other major events planned at the Yurinkan, vice-chairman Nara has put special energy into organizing a drama festival for the fall of 1997 to focus on the attractive nature of the Yurinkan as a performance space. As is often the case, the city has only set aside a small budget for cultural activities, and the limited pieces of pie that are available must then be distributed among a number of organizations. Thus, even for city-sponsored events, it is necessary to go through the difficult process of looking for additional sponsors and enlisting volunteers. So rather than creating large events that resemble fireworks streaking across the sky, we are simply hoping to keep the valuable heritage of the Yurinkan alive by continuing to present quality projects. |