Diversity in Residence vol.5: HafH and the artists sharing Nagasaki’s views on religion and war
KabuK Style Inc. (Co-CEOs KJ and Ryo), has created a service called HafH (short for Home away from Home), a n all you can stay worldwide accommodation service. Not just about accommodation though, HafH is also a community – one that accepts diversity for what it is and hopes to nurture a society where diversity is admired and respected.
One of the projects HafH has been running from time to time that supports this image is its “Diversity in Residence” project. Diversity in Residence provides the opportunity for people (especially in the regional areas) to come into contact with “diversity” that they might not have as much access to as large cities, through working together with a diverse group skilled individuals. These skilled people come and stay at HafH for a period of time, and other guests and even those in the local community can encounter, interact with and learn from these individuals – a new kind of living style creating a chance to broaden minds and discover the importance of diversity.
Our Diversity in Residence projects so far
・vol.1 The Birth of Diversity from Identity by Zenki Tsujimoto and Koki Tsujimoto (Twin artists)
・vol.2 「Chef in Residence」 “Let’s Share your Oishii(delicious)!!” by Naoko Hayashi（Traveling chef）
・vol.3「Why MMA Fighter Shinya Aoki gave up his house」by Shinya Aoki (The MMA Champ without a house)
・vol.4「8Methods for Creative Growth」by Laila Cassim and aiueo lab （Multinational designers with learning difficulties) (Japanese language only)
International Film「APOCATASTASIS」
Shimpei Takeda is a film director based in Dusseldorf, Germany, who used the world as his stage to create art, was in Nagasaki for filming of upcoming project “APOCATASTASIS”. Nagasaki is often used for filming, and HafH has played host to Mr Takeda and the film crew.
HafH worked together with the film crew in the following way:
●Provided accommodation support while the team was in Nagasaki through our Artist in Residence program
● Mr Takeda’s film crew created a special short film using HafH Nagasaki Garden as the setting.
（HafH Nagasaki Garden：https://www.airbnb.jp/rooms/36641385）※Airbnb
●HafH Provided a space for a press conference to take place
●Will hold a talk event and launch event on completion of the film (expected in 2020 or after) etc.
Shimpei Takeda (竹田信平)
Born in Osaka in 1978. Shimpei is based in both Tijuana, Mexico and Dusseldorf, Germany. Working in various genres, Shimpei’s art is displayed through film, installations, public art and community projects.
In autumn 2018, his solo exhibition “Antimonument” was held in the Museo de la Cancilleria, run by Mexico City’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His works have also been displayed in the Querétaro Museum of Modern Art (MAQRO), the Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT), the Santiago Art Museum, CENART (Mexico City), Immigration Museum of the State of São Paolo (Brazil), the Kunstpalast (Germany), the Nagasaki Art Museum, the Kyoto Art Center and more. From 2008, he directed the punk musical “Ghost Magnet Roach Motel” from his base in Tijuana. At the same time he was running THE AJA ART PROJECT (since 2001) in San Diego, America – a project that provides a platform for underrepresented youth and communities to utilize the power of creative self expression. Shimpei still acts as an advisor for the project today.
FILM：APOCATASTASIS
Color, 80mins (estimated length.)
Director: Shinpei Takeda
Production Company: Specola (Mexico), Atopus Studio (Germany), Shimpei Takeda’s Office (Japan)
Production Period: April to November 2019 ・Expected Completion: May 2020
Sponsors：North Rhine-Westphalia Film Fund, Nagasaki Film Commission, Baja California Film Commission
Planned filming locations：1)Dusseldorf and Cologne, Germany 2) Tijuana (Baja California) 3)Nagasaki City, Nozaki Island in Ojika, Japan
The film’s message
A story centered around modern characters troubled by pollution, loneliness and conflict journey to a remote island in search for the source of memory, radiation and a release from the history.
Synopsis
Joaquim is a young boy from a town on the northern border of Mexico struggling to cope after losing his older brother in a drug war. Lost in the emptiness that follows death, he hear’s a voice telling him to look for answers in a cave in the middle of the desert. He loses consciousness against the backdrop of 10,000 year old cave paintings and ends up on an uninhabited island in a dream world.
Meanwhile, Ada is an x-ray technician in her late 20’s working at a dentist in eastern Germany. Ada stumbles upon an unexploded bomb from WWII and a grave of unknown soldiers. There she also hears a voice that almost seems to possess her, and encounters an elderly person who was a prisoner of war at the time the atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki. Ada goes to Nagasaki and is told about the head of a statue of Mary that was damaged in the bomb blast that he had take from Nagasaki to an island. Deciding to investigate further, Ada stumbles across an island. On that island (Nozaki Island) a man and a woman begin their search for the source of the voice and the head of the statue of Mary. Ada, in search of faith, comes across a church. Following the voice of faith, Ada runs into Joaquim. The two join together to search for the source of the voice. Upon discovering the head of the statue of Mary, a village of the Hidden Christians of Nagasaki (a village that should no longer exist) appears. There, events take place, a procession occurs with villagers and finally they come across Oeishi (Japan’s version of Stonehenge).
At that moment, everything vanishes and Ada is left there on her own.
【For enquiries related to this article】
KabuK Style Inc. PR Coordinators: Ms Yamamura / Mr Tamaru
