Collection Japan
Larger-than-life calligraphy, giant bamboo weaving, and robots both real and toy... experience the vibrant diversity of the arts across Japan.
Koji Kakinuma: Shodo Performing Artist
Otsukimi & Trancework
Otsukimi
Otsukimi
²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵÃâ·Ñ°æapp's 2008 JAPAN! culture + hyperculture was marked by a festive Otsukimi (Japanese moon-viewing) evening featuring a special Millennium Stage performance of “Trancework” and “Eternal Now” by shodo performing artist Koji Kakinuma, accompanied by the taiko group AUN. The event took place outside under the full moon on the Kennedy Center's South Plaza. Koji Kakinuma is an artist. He began studying traditional Japanese monochrome brushwork at the age of five. Kakinuma’s rise through the Japanese art world has been meteoric, winning one prestigious competition after another, having his life and paintings featured in several televised documentaries, and being invited to demonstrate and show his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Kakinuma has constantly sought to break free from the strictures of his classical training and to express himself in innovative, experimental ways. His most recent work, The Warrior Ideal was selected as the title artwork for the 2007 season of Japan’s most popular long-running television show, The Taiga Drama Series.
Trancework
Trancework
Kakinuma also presented one of his trademark innovations, Trancework, in which he paints countless repetitions of a simple, powerful phrase, producing a giant calligraphic work. Japanese fue player Kaoru Watanabe and contemporary percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani accompanied the performance.
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Producer
Kenny Neal
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Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;
Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..
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