Restriction on entering Japan, put in place as a precaution against the spread of infection, became a major obstacle in co-creation with overseas. One of such projects that received a major impact from this restriction was The Speed of Light. This was a theatrical project developed by Marco CANALE, a theatre writer from Argentina, in which scenarios were created through his interactions with elderly people living in Tokyo, with the enactment performed by those elderly people themselves. The programme was originally scheduled to be performed in May 2020, but the decision to postpone the festival was made in March of that year. After that, rehearsals continued until just before the performance in May 2021 by connecting Tokyo remotely with far-off Argentina, which has a time difference of 12 hours. At the beginning, participants were not only feeling uneasy about having rehearsals in an unfamiliar manner of doing it remotely, but since interactions now took place via the Internet, some performers felt even more worried about whether they would be able to communicate with a director who speaks a different language and comes from a different culture. However, opportunities were made to give the performers a chance to converse one-on-one with CANALE to clear away their concerns, and the staff also created videos to explain the movement of the actors using miniature figures to make it easier for the performers to understand what they were being asked to do. These and other efforts were made repeatedly, undergoing trial and error to build the creative environment that was needed to make things work.The third state of emergency was declared just before the performance in April 2021. There was a point when it seemed that CANALE would not be allowed to come, but he made it into Japan safely and even though it was only once, they also managed to perform in front of an audience.The Constant Gardeners was an outdoor installation created by the artist group Jason Bruges Studio from the United Kingdom. This project, in which industrial robots draw patterns on the ground using data on athletes’ movements in a way that brings to mind a Japanese dry landscape garden, also faced numerous difficulties due to COVID-19. Initially, the group had been planning to assemble the robots in Japan. However, in consideration of the various risks from COVID-19, they decided to assemble and test the robots in the UK and then transport them to Japan. The number of staff coming from abroad to Japan was also kept to the minimum number required due to the impact of border restrictions.Even so, the arrival of the robots was delayed due to COVID-19, which necessitated repeatedly reworking the schedules and re-coordinating with the various related offices. However, they managed to make it in time for the festival, and fulfilled the vision that they had from the beginning of the project to “use a global perspective in reconstructing the history of Japanese culture and art as seen in a Zen garden” without having to make any compromise. The work was introduced not only in Japan but also by many overseas media especially in the UK, and attracted much attention outside of Japan, including winning a design-related award in London.A performance created with elderly persons living in Tokyo“How have the elderly in Tokyo been living their lives? How do they see this area called Tokyo?” A performance was given by CANALE and the elderly people, who created this work together by painstakingly continuing their dialogue with each other, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.Installation of the industrial robotsThe arrival of the robots was delayed, with installation being completed just before the public. State of the opening dayDespite having gone through stringent isolation requirements to enter Japan, he worked hard on the project without showing any signs of fatigue. 「ザ・コンスタント・ガーデナーズ」は、英国のアーティスト集団ジェイソン・ブルージュ・スタジオによる屋外インスタレーション。産業用のロボットがアスリートの動きのデータを活用し、日本の枯山水のような模様を地表に描き出すというこのプロジェクトもまた、コロナによってさまざまな困難に直面しました。 当初ロボットは日本で組み立てる予定でしたが、コロナによるさまざまなリスクを考慮した結果、組み立てもテストも英国で行ってから日本に輸送。さらに、出入国制限の影響で日本への入国は最小限の人数とすることになりました。 それでも新型コロナの影響でロボットの輸送が遅れるなどし、何度もスケジュールの引き直しや関係各所との調整が続きましたが、無事、開催日に間に合わせることができ、「日本の禅庭園に見られる日本文化・美術の歴史を、世界的な視野で再構築する」という当初掲げたビジョンを妥協することなく実現できました。作品は、日本のみならずイギリスを中心に海外のメディアでも紹介され、ロンドンではデザイン関連の賞を受賞するなど、海外でも大きな反響がありました。東京在住の高齢者たちと創られた演劇「東京に住む高齢者はどのように生きてきたのか？ 東京という土地をどのように見つめているのか？」コロナ禍でも丁寧に続けられたカナーレと高齢者たちの交流から作り上げられた演劇がくりひろげられました。産業用ロボットの搬入ロボットの輸送が遅れ、搬入は公開直前に。開幕日の様子厳しい隔離条件のもとでの入国となりましたが、疲れも見せず、懸命に準備を進めてくれました。130
元のページ ../index.html#134