Foto: Shigeo Arikawa From Montessori Lyceum Oost to Tokyo: How I feel is not your problem, period
From 15 July to 5 November 2023, the group exhibition How I feel is not your problem, period. is on show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. There, artist and filmmaker Shigeo Arikawa presents his video series (Re-)interpretation and displays in his installation the works of students from the Montessori Lyceum Oostpoort. The artwork is the result of a workshop that took place at, and in close cooperation with, Framer Framed.
Participating Artists
Shigeo Arikawa
Makiko Yamamoto
Atsushi Watanabe
Riki Takeda
Kayako Nakashima.
“How I feel is not your problem, period.” serves to cast an eye on the difficulties of life that children in their teens may feel, and proposes to continue thinking about various unanswerable questions through engaging with contemporary art.
Central to the exhibition is the concept of empathy, the ability to empathise with others and to imagine the feelings and experiences of others. It is associated with being kind, attentive and open to the other. Skills that are needed to be able to see another person’s point of view and have an understanding of each other, and necessary for fine coexistence. This is taught early in school, and later expected in working life. However, gaining or receiving empathy is not always easy. We are not always waiting for empathetic responses. Particularly for teenagers, this can be a quest in relationships with family and friends and in developing one’s own identity. And if empathy is associated and perhaps even equated with kindness, is it ok to reject empathy from time to time?
Shigeo Arikawa’s work (Re)interpretation (2023) consists of a series of video works depicting fictional occupations. Working closely with Framer Framed, MLO students watched one of his video works in parts to stimulate critical reflection on the concept of labour/work. They then engaged creatively in making their own posters.
The posters are presented together with the video works in Arikawa’s installation, which looks like a job fair or trade show, where visitors are invited to suggest the job descriptions and hiring requirements of the people in the videos. By showing the works of the students from Amsterdam to the audience in Tokyo, including Japanese youth, Arikawa wants to exchange and further explore different (culturally coloured) interpretations.
For more information, see the exhibition page on the MOT Art Museum website.
Foto: Shigeo Arikawa
Location
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery B2F
4 Chome-1-1 Miyoshi
Koto City, Tokyo
135-0022, Japan
Amsterdam Oost / Education / East Asia / Social Practice / Workshop /