As international travel remains challenging in many parts of the world, art and cultural exchange must transcend borders in new ways. The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan is exploring just that in the second iteration of the innovative art project Culture Gate to Japan.The presentation will be physically showcased in two exhibitions at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and a further exhibition at the capital’s International Cruise Terminal, and also online on the Culture Gate to Japan website. The ten participating artists have all been asked to interpret different aspects of traditional Japanese culture in new and digital formats.Digital reimaginings of the hanging scrollAs the name suggests, the exhibition ‘Neo-Kakejiku’ at Haneda Airport is a digital interpretation of the traditional hanging scroll still found within many homes in Japan. Scrolls depicting the changing seasons (cherry blossoms in spring and leaves in the autumn) have been an integral part of Japanese domestic interiors since the Heian period (794-1185). In this digital reimagining, washi paper has been substituted for an oblong monitor showcasing evolving artwork by five digital artists.The endearing Maneki-neko cat in a work by animation trio AC-bu welcomes visitors to Japan. Set against a rising sun, it sits on a zabuton cushion under a cherry tree – a quintessentially Japanese scene. Iruka-kun, Maneki-neko with cherry blossoms, by AC-buUK-based game developer Nyamyam’s internationally acclaimed game Tengami takes place inside a magical pop-up book world, and is adapted here to feature on a digital hanging scroll. The scenes from the game mimic the textures of traditional Japanese washi paper and take on a beautiful depth and hand-drawn quality, despite being fully digital.Creative label Nor uses the traditional painting technique suibokuga as inspiration for its piece, named dyebirth_seeing as. Moving blobs of ink appear as flowers, rocks or clouds before blending together into black organic shapes in a poetic and slow-paced video. dyebirth_seeing as, by creative label Nor Still from the videoWhat is in the sea is also in me, by Nao YoshigaiFilmmaker, dancer and choreographer Nao Yoshigai created a video with the motif of Kaitai Shinsho, published in 1774, the first illustrated text of Western anatomy translated in Japan. The work’s title, What is in the sea is also in me, references the artist’s feeling that life and death meet in the sea.
