Shimabuku: I Hear Music

Set in the underground venue of BankART Station, BankART1929 will present a selection of works by Shimabuku, with a focus on video and sound. I Hear Music will be Shimabuku’s long-awaited solo exhibition in Japan, following a series of recent European exhibitions. The exhibition opening will coincide with the international art fair Tokyo Gendai at Pacifico Yokohama.

Under the title I Hear Music, the exhibition is composed of works associated with sound and music. To this day, Shimabuku has collaborated with such diverse sound-related practitioners as composers Makoto Nomura and Takehisa Kosugi, musicians Kassin, Moreno Veloso, Arto Lindsay, and the Brazilian repentistas (minstrels). Roughly ten works, including Cuban Samba, a Japan premiere, will be exhibited. 

Shimabuku​ (b.1969 Kobe) has traveled extensively around the world since the early 1990s, manifesting performances, installations, videos, and sculptures that explore new modes of communication relevant to the people living in the region and their customs and culture. Abounding in poetic sentiment and humor, Shimabuku’s metaphorical and evocative approach has earned him international acclaim. He has participated in many major international exhibitions, including the 57th Venice Biennale (2003 & 2017) and the 27th Sao Paulo Biennale (2006), and his works are in the collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Tate Modern in London, among others.

Cuban Samba
“I took the opportunity to exhibit at a former bicycle factory in Havana, Cuba. We arrived at the site and found that more than half the roof had rotted away and the steel columns rusted. In the center of this massive space, a broken pipe running through the ceiling was leaking water, and a large puddle formed on the concrete floor. I placed some empty cans that I had scavenged at the bottom of these cascading drops of water. And then I heard the sound of my heart dancing. I hear music.

The idea crossed my mind to have musicians play along with those sounds. So I flew to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to meet my musician friend, Kassin. Arto Lindsay, another great friend, also joined the performance.” —Shimabuku

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