Meiro Koizumi
“We Mourn the Dead of the Future”

Exhibition

©Meiro Koizumi
Meiro Koizumi continues to open up new frontiers at the point where video and theater meet. Come see his ritual/performance video that revives future heroes/the dead, eternally recurring at a rip in time.

Meiro Koizumi is an artist who explores the relationships between the state and the individual, the spirit and the body, and explicates them in video works using theatrical techniques. His direction style treats filming as an involuntary, physical reaction that expresses the violence latent in society and its structures, and – with his recent work Rite for a Dream (Today My Empire Sings), among others – has been making waves in the worlds of theater and art.
In his collaborative workshop with Theater Commons Tokyo last year, Koizumi and 20 youths created a performance concerning themes with which he has long grappled: heroism and self-sacrifice. At the site of a former US army base, in the freezing rain, they conducted a ritual/performance to mourn for “the heroes/dead of the future.” Can people throw their lives away for the nation state, or for other ideals? Portraying the youths forced to face this proposition and the surrounding onlookers, emanating sanctity and pain, this theatrical video will confront its viewers with the same ultimate question.

Profile

Meiro Koizumi
Koizumi studied at the International Christian University, Tokyo (1996-1999), Chelsea College of Art and Design, London (1999-2002), and Rijksakademie van beeldend kunsten, Amsterdam (2005-2006). His previous solo exhibitions include “Trapped Voice Would Dream of Silence” at Arts Maebashi (2015), “Project Series 99: Meiro Koizumi” at Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), “Stories of a Beautiful Country” Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos (CAB), Spain (2012), “Defect in Vision” at Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2012), MAM Project 009 at Mori Museum, Tokyo (2009). He participated in numerous group shows such as, “Future Generation Art Prize” at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev (2012), “Invisible Memories” at Hara Museum, Tokyo (2011), Liverpool Biennial (2010), Media City Seoul (2010), and Aichi Triennale, Japan (2010).

©Meiro Koizumi

Date

February 22nd [Fri] – March 10th [Sun] (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays)
Wed – Fri / 13:00-20:00 (Last admission: 19:30)
Sat, Sun / 12:00-20:00 (Last admission: 19:30)
*On 2/27, the day of the talk event, and 3/10, the final day of the program, the video will run until 19:00, with last admission at 18:30.

Screening time

approx. 50 min.
*The video will be played on a loop throughout the exhibition period

Venue

Kitasenju BUoY 2F Gallery
49-11 Senju-Nakacho, Adachi-ku, Tokyo 120-0036

How to Participate

Show general admission pass on entry.
Buy Pass

Language

Japanese

Credit

Concept, Direction|Meiro Koizumi
Performers|Makoto Uemura, Kentaro Kashiwagi, Masahiro Kubo, Kiyoka Kobashi, Kota Shiga, Osamu Shikichi, Kana Shinohara, Yu Shibata, Masaki Takeda, Woohi Chung, Asaka Terazawa, Tomoka Hagiwara, Hiroki Hanashima, Tomoyoshi Hara, Momoko Hibino, Masahiro Matsueda, Kazuki Mabuchi, Honami Miyoshi, Takato Murata, Hitomi Watanabe
Assistant Director|Wataru Koyama
Director of Photography|Yasuhiro Moriuchi (RAKUDA STUDIO)
Camera|Shinya Aoyama
Sound|Taro Nishigaki
Camera Assistant|Aoi Nakamura, Hibiki Miyazawa
Sound Assistant|Takao Kondo
Produced and Organized by Theater Commons Tokyo Executive Committee, Mujin-to Production

Related program

Discussion with Meiro Koizumi and performers
Date: February 27th [Wed] 19:00-21:00
Venue: Kitasenju BUoY 2F Gallery
Number of places: 40
Show general admission pass on entry (first come, first served)