In anticipation of Manila Biennale:OPENCITY 2018, Carlos Celdran of in partnership with WSK: The Festival of the Recently Possible, The Japan Foundation Asia Center and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts is bringing Katsuki Nogami’s “Yamada Taro” project to Manila on Oct 27, 2017 at 4PM.
Known for his unconventional walking tours, Celdran mapped a special route around Intramuros, starting from General Luna, Muralla St., leading to universities in the vicinity, such as Mapúa University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Lyceum of the Philppines University, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
The “Yamada Taro” project by Japanese artist Katsuki Nogami explores ideas of identity and the anonymity in technology. “Yamada Taro” is a placeholder Japanese name, like “Juan Dela Cruz” in the Philippines. To create “placeholder people,” Nogami attaches iPads to people’s faces. The performers, who he calls as “friends,” will take photos of strangers they encounter. Each photo will appear on the iPad screens, “transferring” one’s identity to the performers.
Nogami’s interactive installation is part of WSK Axis 2017 featured exhibition INTERSTICES: Manifolds of the In-between at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (6th floor, Hallway). Sponsored by The Loop by Power Mac Center, the show features a mix of Japanese and Filipino artists—Ryoichi Kurokawa, Houxo Que, Tsuyoshi Hisakado, Pauline and Ivan Despi, Tad Ermitaño, Ian Carlo Jaucian and Derek Tumala. Show runs until Nov 4, 2017.
Manila Biennale:OPENCITY 2018 is a partnership between all major art events in Manila during February Arts Month of next year. #MNLBNL2018 has connected and collated the scheduled programming of Intramuros Administration, The Cultural Center of the Philippines, Anthology Architecture and Design Festival, #VivaManila, and Fringe Festival Manila.
The special tour starts at the streets of Intramuros on Oct 27, 2017 at 4PM.
For more information,
WSK AXIS 2017: Festival of the Recently Possible
Manila Biennale: OPENCITY 2018
About the Japan Foundation
The Japan Foundation was established in 1972 by special legislation in the Japanese Diet and became an Independent Administrative Institution in October 2003. The mission of the Japan Foundation is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. As the18th overseas office, the Japan Foundation, Manila was founded in 1996, active in three focused areas: Arts and Culture; Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange; Japanese-Language Education Overseas. For more information please visit our website at www.jfmo.org.
The Japan Foundation Asia Center, established within the Japan Foundation in April 2014, is a specialized unit with the goal to connect people, expand networks, and develop cultural programs across Asia. As the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics lie ahead in 2020, through projects in such diverse fields as music, theater, film, sports, Japanese language education and other academic exchanges, the Asia Center, in cooperation with the Foundation’s overseas offices, pursues and supports various forms of activities between Asian communities. Some of their events include Dance Dance Asia 2017 and The Asian-Three Fold Mirror 2016.
About The WSK: Festival of the Recently Possible
WSK—a modern disemvoweled form of “wasak”, which means “shattered” or “destroyed” in Filipino—is the first and only annual international art festival dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital, and experimental art.
Launched in 2009 as Fete dela WSK and rebranded as WSK in 2013, the festival explores the diverse range of cross-disciplinary artistic activities in the context of digital culture and performance, with focus in collaborative projects between the Philippines, South East Asia, and beyond. It aims to blur, deconstruct, and reimagine the preconceived notions of how art, culture, and technology diverge, merge,and work together.
It is organized by SABAW Media Art Kitchen –a not-for-profit artist-run initiative whose primary interests lie in curatorial and research-based production towards the imminent intersections of art and technology. The festival primarily runs on a Do-It-Yourself and Do-It-Together ethic and is mostly self-funded, with partial funding support from cultural organizations.
Website: www.wsk.io
About De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts (SDA)
The School of Design and Arts (SDA) offers a wide scope of degree programs in specialized creative disciplines that meet the demands of today’s information-driven world.
The SDA Campus, a 14-storey academic complex, is one big playground for creative minds and a venue that stimulates students to think out of the box, shift perspectives, and innovate ideas.
Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA) Campus
950 Pablo Ocampo Street, Malate, Manila, Philippines
(+63) 230-5100 local 3811 to 3815
Manila Biennale:OPENCITY 2018
Manila Biennale:OPENCITY 2018 is a partnership between all major art events in Manila during February Arts Month of next year. #MNLBNL2018 has connected and collated the scheduled programming of Intramuros Administration, The Cultural Center of the Philippines, Anthology Architecture and Design Festival, #VivaManila, and Fringe Festival Manila.
