portrait 02 – chikako watanabe
quest for paradise

“quest for paradise”

zoektocht naar het paradijs

starring artist portrait 02:

chikako watanabe

text notes:

rietveld academy:
gerrit rietveld art academy (bachelor) – sandberg institute (master) amsterdam
richard meitner (1949)
artist, designer for the glass industry / 1981 – 2000 in charge of the glass department at the gerrit rietveld
academy amsterdam

notes images / videos shown:

chikahome –2004/ biezenmortel / NL
exhibition de wasserij (laundry building)
location: sports hall huize assisië, biezenmortel, the netherlands
curator: jan doms
performance: yuka kawabe (vocals)
camera: ivo van stiphout editing: chikako watanabe
cooperation: jan van stiphout / harrie vissers (province of noord-brabant) / mia cecille
boudewijn naaykens / pinkel balloons / textilelab (textile museum, tilburg)
supported by huize assisië, biezenmortel
sponsored by prisma

island tracing – schokland | sakushima 2012

location: mist horn house schokland, the netherlands
exhibition mapping flevoland #1
curators: macha roesink / annick kleizen
performer: yuka kawabe (vocals)
camera: ivo van stiphout editing: chikako watanabe

sound design: hugo dijkstal
prop production: vincent de rijk / marijn janselijn
cooperation: margreet ramaker / municipality noordoostpolder
museum schokland / natuurlijk schokland
michael bonaparte / mark banga / jelmer feenstra / lex le belle / wiliam vercraeye
jannes schuurman / hiromi miyake / annelien kers / office matching mole
members of the society for the promotion of the island’s beauty, sakushima and others
sponsored by: province of flevoland / municipality almere / mondriaan fund
ministry of education, culture & science
installation photo: gert jan van rooij

language in paradise 2014

location: hilvaria studios, hilvarenbeek, the netherlands
curator: jan doms
camera: ivo van stiphout
editing and sound design: chikako watanabe
cooperation: textilelab (textile museum, tilburg) / ed schilders / safari park beekse bergen
johan van den acker textielfabriek b.v. / houthandel van dal esbeek
sponsored by hilvaria studios / bdo tilburg
installation photo: gert jan van rooij

the third house owner 2018

location: huis marseille museum for photography, amsterdam
curators: nanda van den berg – director huis Marseille / nicky van banning
actor: vincent de boer
voice-over: benjamin van gaalen
camera: ivo van stiphout / chikako watanabe
camera assistant: françois dey
underwater camera: vincent defossez / chikako watanabe
editing: chikako watanabe / ivo van stiphout
sound design: hugo dijkstal
stylist: yvonne fraay
cooperation: caroline hanken – historian and writer
marius fabre soap factory & sophie chouette
paul valckenier kips / saga ceramic research laboratory / sundaymorning@ekcw

thanks to: atelier sjoerd didden bv / bas valckx
miyuki yamaguchi – dejima restoration office nagasaki city hall
yuri takeuchi – nagasaki museum of history and culture
menno fitski – rijksmuseum amsterdam
sarah bosmans – scheepvaart museum a’dam
takashi kuga – matsura historical museum and others
sponsored by: amsterdams fonds voor de kunst / mondriaan fund

journey to meet star-gazers, shigaraki 2021

location: miyamachi archaeological site / fujiki / online
exhibition shigaraki mania 2021
curator: hiroyuki yamada
camera: hiroyuki yamada / chikako watanabe
editing – image & sound: chikako watanabe

sound sources: the recording of a song created for shigaraki act 2010 ‘shisha shiyou’
kahori kumada – vocals, biwa
journey to meet star-gazers, nose 2019 chikako watanabe
sound of conch shell recorded at the summit area of mt.nose myoken, japan
shinsei iwagishi – conch shell
journey to meet star-gazers, amsterdam 2020 chikako watanabe
the recording of the performance at het glazen huis amstelpark, amsterdam
ayumi matsuda – recorder / heiko dijker – table

thanks to: kiyohira inoue – local carpenter
norihiko konishi – geologist & director of the minakuchi children’s forest
shigaraki ceramic research institute / eri yokoyama / ayako yamada
video artlab amsterdam and others
organization by: shigaraki art festival 2021
supported by: mondriaan fund

num 2021

location: nenezky historic museum naryan-mar, russia
shemanovsky museum exhibition complex, salekhard, russia
exhibition new land on the old ground

curator: irina leifer
acting – russian voice-over: sofja chapochnikov
camera: sergei ladykin / matvei chuprov / chikako watanabe
editing – image & sound: chikako watanabe
historical advice & fact-finding: elena menshakova
information from: nenezky historic museum’s collection, dialogue of curators & local cultural historians:
evgenia kolesnikova / alexei baryshev / ludmila umnova / larisa latusheva
sound sources: tide 2009 chikako watanabe
exhibition / performance museum de lakenhal / scheltema, leiden the netherlands
yuka Kawabe – vocals, dramnyen
mamiuMU – poem written, voice, glass harp, theremin, electric sound effect
wim lunsing reading – translation japanese dutch
baby reindeer song by nenets children – vocals
lullaby by nenets women – vocals
about the stars, the road and the future dawn by nenets women (mouth harp, vocals)
folklore of the lower pechora villages 1956 by women folk choir

thanks to: people from nenets reindeer nomadic farm yalumnd
martine van kampen, video artlab amsterdam and others
cooperations: museum-reserve ‘pustozersk’, nenezky autonomous region russia
land art flevoland Almere, the netherlands
inna prilezhaeva – association of cultural managers, moscow russia
supported by: the embassy of the kingdom of the netherlands in moscow, russia
the northern forum / wilhelmina e. jansen fund / mondriaan fund