Wandering, Mapping

“MOT Satellite,” organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT), aims to rediscover the richness and charm of the museum’s surrounding neighborhood through city strolls that encourage visitors to explore and engage with various artworks and the local district. Rather than going straight home after viewing the exhibitions at the museum, visitors are invited to take a walk and wander around the streets of Kiyosumi-shirakawa. On this occasion we bring our focus to “Maps.”
The exhibition introduces various “Maps,” from maps depicting an imaginary city in detail, to those that convey senses such as touch, smell, and sound, as well as ones that visualize the daily lives of the people who live there. A ‘game book’ that entails collecting narrative fragments, and tapestry interwoven as participants respond to questions, both encourage viewers to reconsider the ways they perceive and interact with different places. “Maps” that serve as clues in encountering unknown regions while also being mirrors that reflect one’s own perspectives, indeed harbor the potential to change the way you look at and engage with the museum’s local district and the neighborhood where you live.

"MOT Satelite 2019"Leaflet (PDF)

Artists

Takayuki Imaizumi (Chirijin)
While appearing like a map of an existing urban district in Japan, what is in fact depicted here is the imaginary city of Nagomuru. The map that has continued to be intermittently updated over the past 20 years, rather than reflecting the vision of an ideal city from a creator’s perspective, is a manifestation of an observer’s processes of attempting to read into the everyday lives and conflicts of the 1.56 million people who live in this particular city.

Takayuki Imaizumi (b.1985) lives and works in Tokyo. He has created imaginary maps (maps of nonexistent cities) from the age of seven, and currently continues to work as a cartographer of fictional realms and imagined situations. Imaizumi attempts to read into and understand people’s everyday lives and actions through maps, and explores new ways of looking at cities.

Mary Corey March
Presented on this occasion is the participatory work, “Identity Tapestry.” Over 200 plaques describing various attributes and characteristics such as “I was born here” and “I live my dreams” are scattered across a large panel. Participants are invited to wrap strands of yarn around plaques that they feel apply to them, resulting in the creation of a large woven piece of tapestry that extends along the entire wall which becomes a group portrait of the community which participated in the piece.
＊All who wish to do so may take part in the work, however production will end when the anticipated number of participants is reached.
　
Mary Corey March (b.1977) lives and works in California. She is an artist known for producing mixed media participatory installations and performances, often using fabric and yarn, and has held exhibitions in various museums including the Orange County Center For Contemporary Art, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, and the Marjorie Barrick Museum.

*The artist will travel to Japan for on-site production of the work according to the “Promotion of Cultural and Artistic Activities for People with Disabilities” (including Promotion of Cultural Activities towards Inclusive Society) organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.

Takayuki Mitsushima
Takayuki Mitsushima is an artist who makes sense of space, objects, and matter through sensory measures other than sight including sound, smell, touch, and physical sensations, which he visually depicts in through various shapes and colors. While he is recognized for his two-dimensional works made with drafting tape and cut-out stickers, also presented on this occasion are a selection of new works with a three-dimensional aspect created through the spacing, inclination, and height difference of nails hammered onto wooden panels.

Takayuki Mitsushima (b.1954) lives and works in Kyoto. He lost his sight at the age of 10, and also currently works as an acupuncturist. In 1995 he began producing “Touch Drawings” through his unique style of appropriating drafting tape and cutting sheets. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in Japan and abroad including the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art and The San Diego Museum of Art.

Ayako Sato
Ayako Sato engages in various projects that serve to shed light on things we often pay little attention to in our everyday lives through means of dialogue. Sato uses a method she refers to as the “personal memory mapping,” in which the everyday lives and cherished attachments of individuals are plotted on a map in order to both reveal and archive the characteristics of that particular area. Through this she serves to visualize the changes over the past 60 years regarding the relationship between the residents of the Fukagawa / Kiyosumi-shirakawa district that she interviewed, and their local neighborhood.

Ayako Sato studied architecture and informatics engineering, and engages in research and concept design that centers on dialogue. While working on several projects since 2010 such as “mogu book,” “traveling bookshelf,” and “card dialogue,” she continues to explore mediating means of communication and processes of verbalization.

orangcosong + Haruka Shinji
Thematic Walk – ENGEKI QUEST invites people to each freely explore the town and its streets based on options indicated in an “Adventure Book,” in which the story branches out according to the choices of the ‘game player.’ The story starts when visitors acquire an “Adventure Book” in the exhibition room. By taking part in the game while actually walking around the Kiyosumi-shirakawa neighborhood and locating various landmarks, players come to find themselves in a cross between fiction and reality.

■Chikara Fujiwara (orangcosong) (b.1977, Kochi) is a critic/artist/curator/dramaturg. Mainly based in Yokohama, he continues to work actively overseas, in particular within Asia. Since 2017 he has served as a senior fellow of the Saison Foundation, and the East Asian Cultural Exchange Envoy of Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs.
■Minori Sumiyoshiyama (orangcosong) (b.1986, Osaka) is an artist and dancer. An associate member of dracom, she began creating her own works from 2010 while basing her practice in Kyoto. She has held the project “Hitsudankai” that attempts to make dialogues solely through writing without any sounds and voices in various locations across Asia.
■Haruka Shinji (b.1984) is an illustrator. Living in Seoul and Shanghai until the age of 18, she studied at the Royal College of Art in London. Centering on the theme of “Research x Imagination x Illustration,” she engages in visualizing various art projects as well as community development and regional revitalization activities.

In addition, MOT Satellite introduces various works that impact our perspective of maps from ethnographic materials to ancient maps, and contemporary artworks.
From the collection of MOT; Tamana Araki, Nigel Hall, Koichi Kurita, Yukinori Yanagi

MOT SPOT(Showcase exhibits on the streets)

Visitors are invited to explore the town in search of various artworks that are also presented in local shops and facilities. The opening hours and dates differ for each venue. Please confirm in advance before planning your visit.

Takayuki Mitsushima, Strolling the Streets in Kiyosumi-shirakawa
From delicious smells to steps, and the way the light enters the space…Takayuki Mitsushima transformed the various things he felt and experienced in the stores into artworks.

Takayuki Imaizumi, Items Lost by the Residents of Nagomuru
It seems that residents of the imaginary Nagomuru city have lost certain items on their visit to the Kiyosumi-shirakawa district.

Local Partners

In addition to the museum, various people and organizations in the Kiyosumi-shirakawa district are involved in developing their own unique and appealing programs.

Little Tokyo、Satoko Oe Contemporary、HARMAS GALLERY、EARTH+GALLERY、ANDO GALLERY、Babaghuri、WILD SILK MUSEUM、Fukagawa Edo Museum、GLASS-LAB、Rikashitsu(Science Room)、Dobutsu shogi cafe Ippuku、POTPURRI、gift_lab GARAGE、KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY、LYURO GALLERY、TAP Gallery、"Onagigawa Monogatari" Film Committee、Tokyo Bay Art Scenes、FUKAGAWA HITOTONARI、Kiyosumi-shirakawa(SIRABERU)　and more.