Magcal Report “TPAM Direction Program 2015/Tan Fukuen Direction”
<Tan Fukuen Profile>
An independent cultural worker active in the field of contemporary performing arts and fine arts. Based in Bangkok, he has worked on many projects in Asia and Europe. In addition to being the sole curator of the Singapore Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, he has also been a part of the Singapore Arts Festival, Indonesia Dance Festival, In Transit Festival (Berlin), Bangkok Fringe Festival, Colombo Dance Platform ( He also works in Sri Lanka.
▶ Click here for Tan Fukuen interview!
Aisa Hoxon
"Death of the Pole Dancer"
@KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater Small Studio
A performance by Isa Hoxson, who studied art and ballet and won a pole dancing competition in Manila in 2010.
When the audience entered the venue, they sat on the floor surrounding the pole that would be erected and waited for her to appear.
As time passes, Isa slowly assembles the separated poles one by one in a quiet space, but during this time there is no music in the venue, and the scene seems sublime, almost like a ritual. It seemed like she was making a strong appeal to the audience, saying, ``This is not just pole dancing.'' After completing the assembly, Aisa continues to violently slam her body against the pole. He occasionally jumps and shows off his amazing physical abilities (a certain kind of pole dance movement), but unlike pole dancing, which has a "bewitching" image (that's what I thought), it seems like pole dancing itself has a prejudiced image. I could sense a strong message that took advantage of her image of a woman in her anger towards her, or in her approach as if she was trying to get rid of those images. Pole dancing is also recognized as an exercise and performing art, and there are specialized schools that offer it, and in places like Taiwan, it is sometimes performed locally at funerals and other places to send off the dead. Where on earth did the image I had of myself come from? It was a night that made me think about many things.
Aisa Hokson “Death of the Pole Dancer” TPAM2015/Photo: Hideto Maezawa
Murati Suryodarmo
BORROW + EXERGIE – butter dance
@BankART Studio NYK NYK Hall
Murati Suryodarmo's performance is highly acclaimed in the field of contemporary art. Butter dance, as the name suggests, is a performance that uses butter, and Murati wears a dress and high heels, which would be inappropriate for dancing on butter, and falls violently on top of a large lump of butter. He showed us his unpredictable body movements. However, the butter dance was performed only in the last part of the program, and before performing the butter dance, Murati started by explaining to us the reason why he started doing the butter dance, going back 15 years. Ta. Murati was raised by parents who were dancers, and studied under Anzu Furukawa and Marina Abramovic, acquiring a variety of ideas and physical memory. While speaking to the audience, Murati reveals fragments of those memories through his body, and the range of his movements, from Javanese traditional dance to butoh, is astonishing. At the end, after expressing various physical memories, she stood on the butter and performed the butter dance as the last part, as mentioned above, but this was because she had learned and mastered various things. Through this performance, I could feel that this was a final means of isolating all the thoughts and physical memories that resided in her body.
Murati Suryodarmo “BORROW + EXERGIE – butter dance” TPAM2015/Photo: Hideto Maezawa
*The video is not from TPAM2015.
eco supriyant
"Cry Jailolo"
@KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater Hall
Eko Supriyanto is an artist who has been working on reexamining traditional dance and contemporary dance handed down in Indonesia's Java for some time, and this time in TPAM, he will introduce "Reg," a traditional dance handed down in Jairolo from West Halmahera Island, North Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia.・He released ``Cry Jailolo,'' which was inspired by ``Sarai''. From the darkened stage, a soft ``hitahita'' sound echoed through every corner of the venue. It's a water-like sound, and it's very pleasant, and when I finally get to see the whole thing, I realize that it's the sound of small steps stepping on the ground (the stage floor). It is not possible to judge how much of their dance is traditional dance and how much is arranged movement, but although the dance is very simple, consisting of marching arm swings and steps, it is similar to the ocean. I couldn't help but be fascinated by the richness of the expressions, which remind me of many stories, such as prayers, anger at destruction, and sometimes scenes of rowing. (*If you read the text, it says that ``Cry Jailolo'' expresses the hope that the destruction of the coral in the Jailolo Sea will stop and that it will return to its original state.)Also, music is used in the performance, but at first The sound of their steps on the floor until the end is very impressive, sometimes silently, sometimes forcefully, and the sound synchronizes with the movement of the body, such as the swinging of the arms, and conveys the story of these prayers to us. It seemed like something important.
Eco Supriyanto “Cry Jailolo” TPAM2015／Photo: Hideto Maezawa
Above, I have reported on three performances under the direction of Tan Fukuen, and they are works that directly address the traditions and possibilities of Asia, and that make us think about the images (thoughts) that exist within us from a new perspective. It seemed like there were a lot of works that were interesting. What kind of works will appear at TPAM 2016 from an Asian perspective next year as well as this year? I would like to enjoy Tan Fukuen Direction again next year!
