Hojoki Shiki 2018: Where it all begins

How ETAT has been developed? A proposal to the city centre.

“Hojoki Shiki in 2018: The Universe of Ten Foot Square Huts” which has been held at KINARE is also a proposal to revitalise the centre of city of Tokamachi. We will bring “ten-foot square hut” with functions that are in need or wanted to empty shop spaces or to part of existing businesses, transform the entire area into something unique – which should contribute to realise “Hojoki Shiki Village: 100 years initiative” aiming to bring prosperity to the city centre.
In this lecture, Fram Kitagawa, General Director of ETAT will talk about why he chose “Hojoki” and decided to present the exhibition with title referring to “Hojoki Shiki” by Yoshie Hotta. He will share the history of the ETAT as well as his prospect for years to come.
It will help anyone involved to learn about the origin of the proposal by Fram Kitagawa and think about the future of the city centre as well as “Hojoki Shiki Village: 100 years initiative”.

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Details

▼Date……Thursday 6 September 2018
Door opens at 18:30 / Lecture begins at 19:00
▼Lecturer……Fram Kitagawa, General Director Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale
▼Venue……Corridor space at Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, KINARE (6 Honcho, Tokamachi-city, Niigata)
▼Maximum capacity……50
▼No booking required
▼Price……JPY500
※Please pay on site.
※Please check the exhibition, Hojoki Shiki 2018 before joining the lecture.
▼Organised by……Hojo Reading Group / Fram Kitagawa, General Director Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale
▼Enquiry……Hojo Reading Group, Miwa (Ms)
[TEL]090-5999-5119 [E-mail]hojokousou@gmail.com

“Hojoki Shiki in 2018: The Universe of Ten Foot Square Huts”
An alternative proposal to revitalise the centre of the city
The exhibition, “Hojoki Shiki in 2018: The Universe of Ten Foot Square Huts” has been presented in the ETAT2018 which is held from 29 July to 17 September as a proposal to revitalise the centre of the city.
●From Satoyama to Metropolice
Fram Kitagawa has been a pioneer in revitalising declining regions in Japan through art and successfuly staged as a director Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Setouchi Triennale, in addition to Japan Alps Art Festival and Oku-Noto Triennale which were launched in 2017. “Hojoki Shiki in 2018: The Universe of Ten Foot Square Huts” is the exhibition that Kitagawa has long waited to present as a proposal to revitalise the centre of the city by challenging their potentials.
●Bring the world to “hojo”.
“Hojo” is the smallest model of Japanese architecture. Chomei Kamono who lived through unquiet times of the Middle Age period tried to look at the world from the assembly and mobile ten foot square hut he built and inhabited. The exhibition consists of 27 projects by architects and artists with their own functions which had been selected through the international public call (juries included Hiroshi Hara, Ryuei Nishizawa and Fram Kitagawa) aims to present the collections of “ten-food square”, each of them filled with its own perspective of the world.
●”Ten-foot square” turns into “a shop”
The exhibition presenting collaborations amongst architects from both within and outside Japan, artists, craftmen, maker, design companies, farmers, and villages in the form of stores selling vegetables, general products, hoes, and bonsai, cafes serving Japanese noodles, kakigori (shaved ice), coffee and sake, and spaces offering experience of haircut, sauna, karaoke, guest house, architectural practice, publishing, small theatre and playground. They represent spaces with functions which are in need or desirable to have in a village.
●A proposal to revitalise the centre of the city: “Hojoki Shiki Village: 100 years initiative”
These spaces are not just for the exhibition and rather the starting point to develop and realise “Hojoki Shiki Village: 100 years initiative”. The existing city centres have been facing the challenge across Japan and Echigo-Tsumari is not an exception. The re-development plans and re-arranging of streets have resulted in nothing and the city centre has become “shuttered street” with vacant stores and unoccupied shops. This “100 years initiative” is an agenda to install 100 different “ten-foot square” gradually into vacant stores or unoccupied space upstairs to transform the entire street into something unique. The network of “an invisible city” will encourage visitors to walk up and down the street and thus bring life back to the city – “Hojoki Shiki 2018” exhibition is indeed a proposal of how to revitalise the centre of the city.