Koganecho Bazaar 2015: Art with the Town is now on!

The 8th annual Koganecho Bazaar is an art festival held once a year as part of an attempt to revive the area between Koganecho Station and Hinodecho Station on the Keihin Kyuko Line, which was once lined with illegal restaurants, through the power of art. During this period, artists who live and work in the area on a regular basis, as well as many other artists from Japan and abroad, gather every year.

This year, participating artists from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, South Korea, Germany, and various parts of Japan worked under the theme of "Art with the City," turning the results of their hard work since August into works of art.

I would like to introduce some of them to you right away.

The works of Verena Issel that can be seen at Hachibankan are first interesting for their overall pop first impression and the contrast with Laura Mulvey's feminist film theory written on the door. In a space so small that you would hit the walls on either side if you stretched your arms out, visitors can appreciate murals and sculptures that are collages of everyday items placed here and there. If you go to the very back, you can open a small door exactly where the artist herself is sitting in the photo above and enter two other spaces, and according to the guidebook, the innermost room contains hidden meanings that can help you understand her work. I recommend you see this for yourself.

■ New space added to the town

Next, at Taiheiso Studio, you can see a new residence space created by Nakamura Kenchiku, a first-class architectural firm, as part of a project in which architects and creators selected from a public competition renovate existing spaces and add three new functions to the town: "residence space," "library," and "information." The interesting thing about this space, titled "ROOM BATHTUB," is that the entire room is a bathtub, as you can see at a glance. Taking full advantage of the spatial freedom unique to Koganecho Bazaar, where art is not a white cube but the town center, a playful production has been added. We are looking forward to the next exhibition to see what kind of works will be exhibited in this space in the future.

▷ For details on the competition results of the town project "Add to the Town," click here .

■ A famous person from Hama who has appeared in a film...

A timeless symbol of Yokohama is the white-faced woman known as "Mary-san," whose appearance in the past can be seen in Hideo Mori 's photo collection. Today, that image has been replicated and multiplied in a variety of media across genres, including the film "Mike Hama Series," Pizzicato Five's "Mari of the Port," and the manga "Bambino!" This time, at the Marion Garage, Takuro Kotaka 's "Beyond Yokohama Mary" is on display as a video piece that imagines what Mary-san will look like 1,000 years from now.

To give a brief explanation, the author, inspired by director Takahiro Nakamura's film "Yokohama Mary," begins collecting various testimonials about Mary from people living in Yokohama. Through an unexpected turn of events, the author himself becomes Mary and makes a guest appearance at a live performance by Yokohama-based hardcore band Battlescard. There, he passionately sings "Yokohama City is Burning" with the band members, and a fantastic turn of events unfolds. As the title suggests, this work presents us with a previously unknown image of Mary. Please come to the venue to find out the ending.

■ Do some exercise while you're enjoying the show!

In addition, Kim Woo-jin, who created a new form of exercise by combining Japanese radio calisthenics and Korean national calisthenics, will be presenting a performance directed by Ichihara Mikiya of Nokosare Theater/Theater Center F for a limited time at the video work "Wonderful. New. Welcome to the world of calisthenics." The next performance is scheduled for 10.11 (Sun) at 14:00, 16:00, and 17:00, so if you feel like getting a little exercise, please stop by the 2nd floor of Hachibankan.

There are many more works that we could not write about here at Koganecho Bazaar 2015. You may think that you can't see everything in one day, but thankfully, if you purchase a passport , you can see as many as you like. What's more, if you complete the stamp rally at each exhibition room and shop, you can get some great official goods.

We hope you will enjoy walking around the town in the refreshing autumn air and experiencing the Koganecho area of Yokohama.