PROGRAMRESEARCH FELLOWS
Institute of Contemporary Arts Kyoto
RESEARCH FELLOWS
Arieh Rosen
Nationality ：
Israeli / British
Activity base/place ：
Tokyo / Kyoto, Japan
Enrolled ：
2022 Spring
Research theme ：
A deep and wide exploration of the unique and yet under-researched Japanese craft of broom making. The historic roots of the tool and its development in relation to Japanese society and culture and the connection and interpretations in contemporary art.Outline ：
Kyoto, being a key meeting point between ancient tradition, religious hubs, diverse cultural communities and a vibrant contemporary art scene will be the focal point of my research. Through the extremely mundane tool and object - a broom - its many forms, uses, myths and users I wish to explore different elements in Japanese society. I wish to focus on discovering and developing contemporary art interpretations to the object as well as to the notion.
Daniel Abbe
Nationality ：
USA
Activity base/place ：
Kyoto
Enrolled ：
2022 Spring
Research theme ：
My in-progress doctoral dissertation advances a corporeal theory of the photographer, through the photographs and essays of Nakahira Takuma (1938-2015).Outline ：
I am exploring how the body itself plays a role in the practice of photography. From what positionality, in other words, do photographers engage with the world? Nakahira Takuma was extremely conscious of Japan’s imperial history, so for him being a photographer was something to be continually questioned. As a scholar working in the field of photography history, I see my research as a corrective to prevailing approaches to the medium that privilege ontology, or that otherwise take the more or less philosophical question, “what is photography?” as their starting point. Instead, I want to begin from the embodied position of the photographer.
Leia Barela Roach
Nationality ：
American
Activity base/place ：
Kyoto, Japan
Enrolled ：
2021 Fall
Research theme ：
During my time in Global Seminar (at Kyoto University of the Arts), I researched the arts and culture in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and my home-town – Los Alamos, New Mexico (USA). I will continue this research to explore different methods of reactions to trauma, or how to discuss difficult subjects to children through the use of art.Outline ：
To begin my research with ICA, I will talk with kamishibai storytellers to see how and what kinds of stories they give to their audiences. Using online and in person resources in storytelling, I hope to develop my own kamishibai story or method of storytelling in English, but also Japanese if possible.
Munn
Nationality ：
非公開
Activity base/place ：
京都
Enrolled ：
2023年度
Research theme ：
オネイロ考古学とは、夢の世界のはかない痕跡を通して、古今東西の人類の過去を研究する学問である。そのプロセスには、宇宙のサイクルとの関連において、自分の夢を注意深く記録し分析することが含まれる。この研究は、密教の教えである宿曜道と星曼荼羅の図像の現代的解釈に基づいている。Outline ：
チベット医学（ソーワ・リグパ）と日本の宿曜占星術をベースに、歴史的名医や占星術師からインスピレーションを得て、相互依存に関する伝統的な自己研究の方法論を用いながら夢から言語や楽譜を創造している。明晰夢を媒介に、夢の内面と外面、そして天体の影響の隠された側面を研究し、心地よい夢を呼び起こす方法を探求している。貴船神社の水で絵を描き、京都の強力な密教とつながり、占うためのフォーチュンカードのシリーズを制作している。
Nationality ：
***
Activity base/place ：
Kyoto
Enrolled ：
2023 fall
Research theme ：
Oneiroarcheology is the study of the ancient and recent human past thru the ephemeral remains of the dreamworld. The process involves a careful documentation and analysis of one's dreams in relation to cosmic cycles. The research is grounded in a contemporary interpretation of the Esoteric Buddhist teachings from the Xiuyao jing 宿曜道 and the iconography of Star Mandalas 星曼荼羅.Outline ：
Taking inspiration from historical physicians and astrologers, rumu's current practice resides in Tibetan Medicine (Sowa Rigpa) and Japanese Sukuyōdō Astrology, using traditional methodology for self study on interdependence to create language and musical scores out of dream matter. With lucid dreaming as a medium, rumu explores the otherwise hidden aspects of internal-external elemental influences and their celestial connection as a way to inspire pleasant dreams. Painting with the water of Kifune Shrine 貴船神社, rumu is creating a series of Fortune Cards to be used for divining and connecting with the powerful esotericism of Kyoto.Peiyuan ZENG
Nationality ：
China
Activity base/place ：
Kyoto, Tokyo
Enrolled ：
2023 fall
Research theme ：
My research draws attention to emerging queer artists from various Asian countries, whose art works vividly represent the status quo of queer community in Asian context - simultaneously addressing to theories from three Western philosophers: Mikhail Bakhtin's “grotesque body”, Michel Foucault's “discipline and punish” and Judith Butler's “gender performativity” - to analyze the queer embodiment from Asian perspectives.Outline ：
The word “queer” originally denotes “strange / odd / peculiar / eccentric” but its meaning has been gradually neutralized and extended as an umbrella term for LGBT+ community who are not heterosexual or cisgender; and in the process of theorizing “queer”, its notion has been amplified as the core spirit of open resistance to question and challenge the “normativeness” (of heteronormativity); On the basis of the core spirit of open resistance, the research will start from several Asian artists’ bizarre and outlandish photographic images to investigate and query the social norms in a sense of oppression - how these Asian artists employ the human body as subjects and/or objects, applying unorthodox aesthetics alienated from the norm, to portrait and represent a variety of neglected Asian queer community by art photography, as their daily open resistance.
Pierre-William Fregonese
Nationality ：
France
Activity base/place ：
Kobe, Kyoto and Tokyo
Enrolled ：
2023 fall
Research theme ：
My research seeks to investigate the significance of Makoto Shinkai's artwork as a prominent exemplar that analyses cultural anxieties linked to the portrayal of "japaneseness" amid societal changes in contemporary Japanese society. To clarify, the director's aesthetics uncover, expose, and shape the present-day Japanese identity within national and global settings.Outline ：
Makoto Shinkai's works intertwine images, narratives, animation, and imaginative elements to delve into the development of social norms, current concerns and geographical inequalities, and their influence on the dialogue around identity in Japan. These challenges jeopardise social harmony and induce reactionary outbursts, which in turn escalate and amplify malicious rhetoric, evidently fostered by social media. His works provide a platform to compare an imaginative model with reality, showcasing innovative methods to address and surmount challenges experienced by subgroups and subcommunities, particularly Japanese women. By examining such productions, it is feasible to reassess and revive the idea of "japaneseness" in a society where traditional communities are in decline. Ultimately, it is crucial to emphasize how the re-signification of Japanese identity in these films directly affects the re-signification of foreign identities.
Sanghae Kwon
Nationality ：
South Korea
Activity base/place ：
Tokyo
Enrolled ：
2023 fall
Research theme ：
My research focuses on the history of Madanggeuk (Madang play) through research on Madanggeuk in Higashi Kujo (East Kujo) in Kyoto.Outline ：
The Madanggeuk (Madang play) is a performance form that inherited the traditional Korean mask dance drama known as Talchum. It was primarily developed in the context of the popular culture movement in South Korea during the 1960s to 1980s. In Japan, Madanggeuk has been performed in various forms within the Japanese-Korean community since the 1980s, addressing community, multicultural coexistence, and local issues. However, the artistic and historical value of Madanggeuk in Japan has not been extensively explored. My study aims to explore the contemporary significance of Madanggeuk, which has depicted the lives of the people in both Japan and South Korea, by researching the spirit and expressive forms of Madanggeuk in Kyoto.