An afternoon event of stories and Japanese tea. Two Japan-born creative practitioners – Aberdeen-based curator Naoko Mabon and Tokyo-based writer Sayuri Kida, who is currently residing in Edinburgh – will host and share stories that draw on their experience and reflect the essence and focus of the exhibition ‘Treasure’ by Stacey Hunter at The Suttie Arts Space of Grampian Hospitals Art Trust. Specifically, they will speak about the hospitable, generous, sharing, and caring gesture and form in Japanese culture. The stories will be followed by sharing Japanese tea and sweets with the audience.

All the elements within this event will be a reflection of the idea of ‘Ichi-go Ichi-e’. This is a concept developed through Japanese tea ceremony practice, describing the idea that ”the moment we share with particular people at a particular place is unique, and never comes back again”.

EVENT TITLE:
‘Nice to See You Again?’ – Stories and Tea with Naoko Mabon and Sayuri Kida

HOSTS:
– Naoko Mabon (Freelance Curator)
– Sayuri Kida (Writer)

DATE:
Thursday 29 August 2019
2.00 – 3.30pm

VENUE:
The Suttie Arts Space, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

ABOUT HOSTS:

Naoko Mabon
Freelance curator. Born in Fukuoka, 1982. Currently based in Aberdeen. Gained a BA in 2005 and a MA in 2007 from Art Science Department of Tama Art University in Tokyo. Before initiating own curatorial practice WAGON in 2014, she worked in both public and private sectors in contemporary art across Japan and the UK over a decade. As an immigrant whose body always finds itself ‘in-between translation/mistranslation’, Naoko is interested in the volatility and fluidity of one’s identity, and how we could possibly make relationships with what we see as ‘others’ beyond common ground. Recent work includes: ‘Ilana Halperin: The Rock Cycle (Yamaguchi)’, a cross-disciplinary project between Yamaguchi and Scotland (2019-2021); ‘Aberdeen // Yubari’, a cultural exchange connecting two cities built around energy (2018-); ‘Kyojitsu-Hiniku: Between the Skin and the Flesh of Japan’, a group exhibition for the nationwide commemoration ‘110 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil’ at Pavilhão Japonês, a Japanese architectural heritage within the Ibirapuera Park of São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Leaves Without Routes, a group exhibition at Nanmoncho323, a Japanese style house built during the Japanese colonial period in Taipei Botanical Garden of Taiwan (2016); among others.

Sayuri Kida
Writer. Born in Kyoto, 1988. Graduated in 2012 from the Department of Aesthetics and Art History of Faculty in Fine Arts of Tokyo University of the Arts. After working for an art gallery, Sayuri began research on the archive of contemporary art in Asia, and gained a MA in Cultural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015. From 2016, upon retuning to Japan, she joined the curatorial team of ‘SUNSHOWER’ (2017), a large-scale exhibition exploring the practices of contemporary art in Southeast Asia since the 1980s, which was organised by The National Art Center, Tokyo and Mori Art Museum. Sayuri has been also involved in the curation of ‘Cartier, Crystallization of Time’ (2019) and ‘Leiko Ikemura: Our Planet – Earth & Stars’ (2019) at The National Art Center, Tokyo. In parallel with curatorial work, as a writer, she has published three mystery novels, and has written several short stories. Having tea ceremony practice as a hobby, Sayuri contributed a short story to the exhibition catalogue when the artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, with whom Sayuri worked in ‘SUNSHOWER’, made a tea-house-themed solo exhibition at National Gallery Singapore (2018). Currently residing in Edinburgh for a year until mid September to accompany Tatsunori Nagura, a sculptor and her husband, who has been having a studio residency at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.