Welcome to the June 2015 edition of Friends of Japan Featured in this edition: - Canberra Concert: Joseleo Logdat followed by Re-Inventions Concert: The Philippine Embassy in Canberra in Cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts: Joseleo Logdat Baritone accompanied by Dr. Raul Navarro Barragga Bay FOUR WINDS PRESENTS: Taikoz workshop and concert Cowra Kensuke Todo Sculpture and Drawings Sydney Japanese Folds Performance: Akio! Conversations through the Asian collections Photographs of women by women, from the Gallery’s collection Exhibition: Go East - The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection Art Speaks Japanese Comes Alive! Student Contest Brisbane We can make another future: Japanese art after 1989 Exhibition: Time of Others Perth Mariko Mori: Rebirth AJS Tomodachi Lunch Bonsai Society of WA and Bonsai Workshop Inc. Perth Kimono Club Page | 1 Canberra Concert: Joseleo Logdat followed by Re-Inventions Date & Time: 7 June, 2015 (1.30pm-) Venue: High Court of Australia (Parkes Place Parkes Canberra) Ticket: For booking, please visit here. Join Philippine baritone Joseleo Logdat, accompanied on piano by Dr Raul Navarro, in his premier performance in Australia. Logdat will exploit the amazing space of the High Court as he sings some favourite works by Beethoven and Mozart. After completing his Bachelor of Music Major in Voice, where he won the Santa Isabel College Conservatory of Music Gold Medal Award, Logdat finished his Master of Music in Hiroshima, Japan under the tutelage of Hiroharu Orikawa where he was chosen as the best recitalist for 2014. Since then Logdat has performed internationally and recently launched the ‘Musika sa Isla’ classical music festival in his province Marinduque aiming to promote classical music in the provinces. He is a one of the founders of the Jovita Fuentes Vocal competition and currently the artistic director and also a founder of the Gamaliel Viray Festival which launched February 2015. This concert is sponsored by the Philippine Embassy. The Court would like to thank Gemma McKeown for her contribution to organising this concert. Concert: The Philippine Embassy in Canberra in Cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts: Joseleo Logdat Baritone accompanied by Dr. Raul Navarro Date & Time: 11 June, 2015 (6pm – 7pm) Venue: Larry Sitsky Recital Hall, Australian National University RSVP: RSVP before 30 May 2015: [email protected]/ [email protected] JOSELEO C. LOGDAT is Professor of Voice and the Cultural Liaison Officer of the Santa Isabel College Conservatory of Music. He finished with a Master of Music degree in Voice at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan, where he was chosen as the Best Recitalist for the year 2014. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Voice from the Santa Isabel College Conservatory of Music in 2008. Prof. Logdat was the Grand Prix Winner in the 6th Yokohama International Music Competition where he also won 1st Place in the Professional Voice Category (2012). He was awarded 2nd Place, Opera Category, in the 14th Osaka (Japan) International Music Competition (2013). He was recognised with an Ani ng Dangal Award by the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2013. He has also performed in various musical productions and with orchestras like the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Elisabeth University of Music Orchestra, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. RAUL CASANTUSAN NAVARRO, PhD, is Professor of Music and Chair of the Graduate Studies Program of the University of the Philippines College of Music. Dr. Navarro is an award-winning author (2008 National Book Award for History; 2008 University of the Philippines’ Outstanding Publication in Filipino), conductor (Gold and Bronze awards in the 2008 Busan Choral Festival; Gold and Silver awards in the 2008 HongKong Youth and Children’s Choir Festival; Best Conductor in the 2013 Philippine Civil Service Government Choral Competition), and pianist. He also received the University of the Philippines Artist Award, 2009-2011. He was pianist and assistant conductor for the 1994 University of the Philippines’ Concert Chorus World Tour (Europe, North America, and Canada). He was piano soloist for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s campus tour for the Mozart Bicentennial in 1990. He was collaborating Page | 2 artist for soprano Eri Yoshida and baritone Joseleo Logdat, for an all-Filipino repertoire concert in Osaka, Japan in 2012. The Philippine Embassy in Canberra wishes to thank the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA),Ms. Gemma McKeown and the Australian National University (ANU) School of Music. Barragga Bay FOUR WINDS PRESENTS: Taikoz workshop and concert Dates & Times: 6 June 2015 (3pm-) Taikoz IN CONCERT 6 June 2015 (5pm-) BREATHE! Workshop 7 June 2015 (9am-) BREATHE! & Shakuhachi Combined Workshop 7 June 2015 (12 noon-) Introductory Taiko Workshops 5 June to 8 June 2015, Taiko Intensive - must have completed six months of taiko training to register Venue: Windsong Pavilion Four Winds Rd, Barragga Bay Tickets: Packages available for workshops and concert. Bookings available online or please call (02) 6493 3414. Immerse yourself in an awe-inspiring weekend with performers from Taikoz! This concert and workshop series combines the visceral energy of the drums with the ethereal sound of the bamboo shakuhachi (Japanese flute). As part of the Four Winds series of events held throughout the year, Taikoz @ Bermagui will be sure to educate and entertain. An awe-inspiring weekend at Four Winds, Bermagui, with performers from the highly acclaimed Taikoz drumming group. At 3pm on Saturday 6 June, Taikoz will deliver a dramatic performance of festival drumming that is the hallmark of their international reputation. Four Winds invites you to also take part in one, or a series, of stimulating workshops on offer across the weekend. Beat a drum, blow a shakuhachi or learn to breathe like a Grand Master. No prior musical training is required and everyone from ten years of age is welcome. Taikoz in a concert - experience the power and rhythmic vitality that is Taikoz, as they combine the visceral energy of the taiko (Japanese drums) with the ethereal sound of the bamboo shakuhachi (Japanese flute). Concert tickets range in price from $25 to $55. Learn from the masters - Taikoz will lead a taiko workshop for beginners at midday Sunday 7 June. Get ready to be energised, stimulated and challenged as you learn the basics and work up a short piece of music. Also not to be missed are two workshops with shakuhachi Grand Master Riley Lee - “BREATHE!” 5pm Saturday 6 June, and “BREATHE! & Shakuhachi Combined” 9am Sunday 7 June. Riley’s workshops are legendary! Learn how to breathe like a Grand Master, and improve strength and control of muscles that are pivotal to good health, vitality and wellbeing. Single workshops cost from $25 to $45. This project is proudly presented in partnership with TaikOz and supported by Southern Phones. For more information, visit here. Page | 3 Cowra Kensuke Todo Sculpture and Drawings Dates: 22 June – 26 July 2015 (Tue-Sat: 10am-4pm, Sun: 2pm-4pm, Mon: By appointment) Venue: Cowra Region Art Gallery (77 Darling Street, Cowra 2794) Admission: Free This exhibition examines the paradoxical works of Canberra- based sculptor Kensuke Todo. Born in Kyoto, and educated in Japan and Australia, Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural Kensuke Todo, Takashimaya (Takashimaya Department perspective to sculptures and drawings that gesture towards Store, Kyoto), 2007, mild steel, 43.6 x 71 x 16.3 cm. imaginary architecture, with rigorously considered in-between Private collection. spaces that function ambivalently as voids and energy fields. Curated by Peter Haynes, Consultant Curator, Art Writer and Art Historian. For more information, visit here. Sydney Japanese Folds Dates & Time: Now showing until 21 June 2015 (10am – 5pm) Venue: Powerhouse Museum (500 Harris St, Ultimo) Tickets: Please check ticket information here. Unravel the Japanese practice of ‘folding’ and ‘unfolding’ in this display spanning traditional decorative arts to contemporary fashion, and featuring more than 30 objects from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ collection. See beautiful avant-garde contemporary Japanese fashion including Issey Miyake’s pre-heated pleats garments, Reiko Sudo’s ‘Origami Pleats’ textile length, and Hiroaki Ohya’s ‘The Wizard of Jeanz’, a collection of books that transform into clothing. The display also provides an insight into traditional Japanese aesthetics, through objects such as a folded kimono wrapped in ‘tato-shi’ (wrapping paper for a kimono); traditional Japanese fans; a wood block prints book which can be unfolded up to four metres; and a contemporary porcelain sculpture that reflects the beauty of origami. For more information, visit here. Performance: Akio! Dates & Times: 4 July -12 July 2015 (11am, 2.30pm and 7pm) *Please check website calendar for daily session. Latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance. Venue: Hayes theatre Co (19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point NSW) Ticket: Please visit here. Join Akio on an epic adventure! A shy young boy who is bullied at school, he spends his waking hours immersed in his video games – the ONLY thing that can draw his attention away is Harumi, the girl of his dreams. One day, his adventure begins, a strange chain of events find Akio and Harumi sucked into his video game world, but Harumi is then kidnapped by a powerful, villainous creature! Akio has to save her… but where will Page | 4 he get his strength? Where will he find his bravery? How will he stand up and face fear head on? in his quest to rescue Harumi, Akio will meet wise friends and terrifying monsters, all the while learning what makes a hero, what defines a villain; and perhaps how the two are not so different after all. Through power of will and strength of heart, Akio learns the most powerful weapon of all… Akio! is a physical theatre piece, which combines the crafts of acting, dance, choreography, movement, sound and audio-visual design, to tell a universal coming-of-age tale.