慶應義塾大学アート・センター　Keio University Art Center

We will be holding our annual event, Talking Together about Tatsumi Hijikata, on January 21, 2025. Sculptor Shozo Yoshie has been invited as the guest speaker for this year to discuss Hijikata’s stage design.
Yoshie worked alongside Hijikata at Asbestos Studio on the stage design for the series of Hakutobo performances which took place there between 1974 and 1976. While most people speak of Hijikata’s work through the lens of dance, he often exercised his creative genius during this period by also making suggestions about stage design. The unusual and distinctive lighting techniques that Hijikata helped develop at this time imbued his productions with life. Ultimately, the dancers’ physicality, music, art, lighting, and costumes all came together to create enrapturing performances.
In the preceding 1960s, Natsuyuki Nakanishi, Tadanori Yokoo, Akira Shimizu, and others collaborated with Tatsumi Hijikata in both art and design. It was through this “endless dialogue” (a la Nakanishi) between the butoh dancer and these other artists that they were able to perform acts of creation that transcended the regular director-artist relationship.
But what of Shozo Yoshie in the 1970s?

At this time, we will explore exactly what type of world Hijikata was trying to conceive through his stage design and what expansive creativity took place within the limited confines of Asbestos Studio. Join us as we see for ourselves how Tatsumi Hijikata and Shozo Yoshie’s joint efforts came alive on the stage by examining preserved set pieces from these productions and screenings of recorded performances.
2024 saw many butoh performances and an increase in opportunities for interactions about this artform around the world. Will this trend continue in 2025? We would like to take this day to visit the past of butoh as we think about its present and future together.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Morishita)

*Please note that the format and content of the event may be subject to last minute changes. We recommend checking the Keio University Art Center’s website before the event for the most recent information.

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