Talk Archives

Artist Talk | The Tale

3 OCT 2014 7PM

Megumi Matsubara’s current solo exhibition at Voice Gallery “WALK STRAIGHT”
is now extended through the end of October.

Friday 3 October h. 19:00
Artist talk at Voice Gallery

MEGUMI MATSUBARA “THE TALE”

Megumi Matsubara works individually as an artist and collectively as an architect through Assistant, an international & interdisciplinary design practice that she co-founded with Hiroi Ariyama in 2002. Based on an architectural approach and inspired by urban environments, she composes spatial narratives combining the use of diverse media such as installation, sound, photography and texts. Through constantly rearranging the existing environments, her works challenge the balance between presence/absence.

Megumi Matsubara lives and works in Japan and Morocco.
In the beginning of 2012 Megumi Matsubara came to Morocco for the first time. Since then, the artist has shown eclectic artistic practices within the country.
Her first work in Morocco; Void/Between, was a site-specific installation for the main opera hall of Theatre Royale, for Marrakech Biennale 4. In Summer 2012, Rêveurs Rêve Rêves, inspired by her encounter with the blind children in Marrakech, was shown as the myriad architectural interventions at La Maison de La Photographie de Marrakech that included light installations, postcards, and an imagery work entitled A proposal for a textbook to learn Braille, English, and other languages, developed from the conversations and workshops with the children.
Continuing her subject of blindness and dreams, she presented Une Chambre Rouge; a work dedicated to Fès Medina, during the 6th edition of Rencontres Internationales de la Photo de Fès in December 2012. In Spring 2014, her solo exhibition The Blind Dream took place at Douiria Mouassine; a 400-year old historic architecture in Marrakech, on the occasion of Marrakech Biennale 5.

Currently, Megumi Matsubara is based between Fès and Tokyo. Her most recent work includes an ongoing series of books from her own publishing house Published by Anamnesis, established in Fès in 2014. Shaped around her words and images at its point of departure, the project engages eloquent individuals; writers, editors, translators, designers, printers, from East and West, South and North. Following the first book “The Tale of the Japanese and the Mosquito” presented in Spring 2014, “The Tale of the Japanese and the Garden” will be presented this Autumn.
During the evening at Voice Gallery, Megumi Matsubara will talk about this current book project, and will introduce the trajectory that led her to conceive the project. The talk will encompass the artist’s personal narratives behind her previously developed works; the invisible quality that is consistently embedded in her work.

Reading & Talk at YCAM Korogaru Pavilion

6 JUL 2014 6PM

Celebrating the return of YCAM’s Korogaru Pavilion: media park for children designed by Assistant (Megumi Matsubara & Hiroi Ariyama) with YCAM educational team in 2013, Megumi Matsubara reads her book “The Tale of the Japanese and the Mosquito” within the pavilion. The reading is followed by an artist talk moderated by Tsubasa Nishi (Assistant curator, YCAM).

The Tale of the Japanese and the Garden at Festival des musiques sacrées

17 JUN 2014 6PM

Rencontre avec MEGUMI MATSUBARA et YUKO HASEGAWA
à la 20ème édition du Festival des musiques sacrées de Fès

.
The Tale of the Japanese and the Garden
/ Performance by Megumi Matsubara & Lecture by Yuko Hasegawa at Jnan Sbil Garden

Japanese artist Megumi Matsubara will give a reading of her upcoming book The Tale of the Japanese and the Garden: second volume to be published from a series of 8 stories written by the artist. The first volume The Tale of the Japanese and the Mosquito was published in March 2014. Following the performance, leading Japanese curator and art critic Yuko Hasegawa (chief curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo) will talk about Art and Public Space especially in the field of sound art that bridges local music traditions with contemporary practices, introducing examples from the 11th Sharjah Biennale in UAE in 2013 where she served as a curator. The event will include a conversation exchange with all.

LIBRAIRIE DES COLONNES, RENCONTRE AVEC L’ARTISTE MEGUMI MATSUBARA

14 JUN 2014 6PM

Exhibition – Book signing – Reading with music by Megumi Matsubara (language: Japanese/English) at Librairie des Colonnes bookstore

Exposition – Signature – Lecture poétique sonorisée par Megumi Matsubara (langue: japonais/anglais) à Librairie des Colonnes

Megumi Matsubara reads her work The Tale of the Japanese and the Mosquito. The reading will be followed by a presentation of her other titles including A proposal for a textbook to learn Braille, English, and other languages. She will introduce the details and structures behind those titles, exhibiting her related works in the store of Librairie des Colonnes.

Hosted by: Simon-Pierre Hamelin (director, Librairie des Colonnes)

Sound/Art – Tuning in to Africa

14 - 20 May 2013

Morocco-based Megumi Matsubara and Angolan-born Nástio Mosquito, two artists who constantly defy stereotypes, will delve into the essence of what culture is, and what it means to meet someone else. The fleeting, illusory sounds and lights that they have conjured will turn the first floor of the YCC into a space where encounters both simple and complex will unfold.

TICAD V, the fifth international conference will be held between 1st-3rd of June 2013 in Yokohama, Japan. It is expected to draw a big general interest on Africa. In May 2013, Yokohama Arts Foundation organizes a related pre-event, “Sound/Art – Tuning in to Africa” aiming to approach mutual understanding through the power of contemporary art and music, with exhibition, talk events and live performances.

Period: 14 (tue) – 20 (mon) May, 2013
Location: Yokohama Creative city Center (YCC) 1F Hall
Organized by: Yokohama Arts Foundation
Supported by: Culture and Tourism bureau of Yokohama city / Embassy of Angola / Embassy of Kenya /Embassy of the Republic of Mali / The Africa Society of Japan
For entire program & further information: http://saa.yafjp.org/

> about the work Megumi Matsubara & Nástio Mosquito

Yokohama International Conference on Contemporary African Arts

19 May 2013

The House of African Art is hosting a conference bringing together professionals connected with Contemporary African Arts both from Japan and abroad.

Keynote speech 13:00-13:30
Yukiya Kawaguchi (Rikkyo University)
“What is the current situation of contemporary African art?”

Dance film screening 13:30-14:00
Extracts of the dance piece “Fagaala” by Germaine Acogny/Kota Yamazaki
Comments by Kota Yamazaki, Choreographer

Part 1. Artistic Practice in Japan and Africa: The Ties Bind 14:00-16:00
Moderator : Missla Libsekal, Another Africa
– Megumi Matsubara, Artist
– Noboru Tsubaki, Artist
– Nástio Mosquito, Artist
– Aboubakar Fofana, Artist
– Serge Mouangue, Artist

Break 16:00-16:15

Part 2. The Curation of Contemporary African Art in Japan 16:15-18:00
Moderator : Toshio Shimizu , Gakushuin University
– Dominique Malaquais, Centre d’Etudes des Mondes Africains, CNRS
– Ousseynou Wade, Dak’Art Biennale
– Simon Njami, Revue Noire
– Prune Helfter-Noah, House of African Art
Followed by a discussion with the panelists.

Reception 18:30-20:00

For further information:

http://www.houseofafricanart.jp/en/japan/event/detail_196.html

March Meeting 2013

14 - 17 Mar 2013

Blindness & Dreams
What do you see when you close your eyes?
–
Megumi Matsubara will introduce a series of projects developed in Morocco in 2012 that are grounded in the themes of blindness and dreams. Matsubara will discuss the importance of internal and external sight – what we can see beyond the limits of our vision. She will explore the dichotomy between blindness and sight posed within the context of Arabic culture, particularly through spatiality – houses detached from the external world yet open to the sky from within, and notions that describe external and internal visions simultaneously.
The presentation will be also based on Matsubara’s previous conversations with art critic and translator Farid Zahi and art historian Colette Apelian along these same themes.

March Meeting is an annual gathering of artists, art professionals and institutions concerned with the production and dissemination of art in the region and internationally. Taking place from March 14 -17, during the opening week of Sharjah Biennial 11, MM 2013 is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended to reserve your seat and for future updates on the programme.

Further information:
http://www.sharjahart.org/march-meeting/march-meeting-2013/programme

Presentation: Darb 1718 Cairo

5 Sep 2012 8pm

Megumi Matsubara will be giving an artist presentation at Darb 1718, an Egyptian non-profit organization dedicated to contemporary art practices.