concrete

Performing arts
LIFE ENTANGLED
The collaborative project between Yasuhiro Morinaga and Robert Millis proposes a world in which thought and representation are not the exclusive privilege of humans, but also grants prominence to ecosystems and non-human entities. By highlighting the intricate and often invisible connections between humans and the non-human world, this work invites a broader and more inclusive perspective on life, agency, and interdependence, exploring the fundamental question of all life: what does it mean to live? At a time when climate change and natural disasters are driving the world into an unprecedented crisis, we are confronted with the limits of an attitude that views nature and ecosystems as mere exploitable resources. Life Entangled — The Secret Story of Shellac is a performative sound installation that explores the cultural relationship between objects and humans through a multidimensional narrative centered on shellac , a natural resin derived from the insect Kerria lacca , a material deeply rooted in our daily lives.

Installation
The Voice of Inconstant Savage
Commissioned for the Engawa – Japanese Contemporary Art Season programme organized by Calouste Gulbenkian Museum's Modern Art Center, The Voice of Inconstant Savage is an immersive installation that superimposes a prayer inspired by the story of a 16th-century Portuguese missionary, a chant from a Kakure-Kirishitan (hidden Christians) prayer – a religion rooted in Nagasaki Prefecture –, a chant from the Karawara spirits of the Awá indigenous people – who live in the Amazon rainforest – and a chorus of Western Gregorian chant. Morinaga questions the position of the aesthetics of inconstancy in relation to the discourse of the “savage” that modern society confronts.

Field recordings
Gong Culture of Southeast Asia「Bahnar」
The Bahnar are an ethnic group in Vietnam, living from the north to the south and northeast of the Vietnamese central highlands. Bahnar speak a language in the Mon-Khmer language group. These recordings were conducted in Dak Doa, Gia Lai Province. Bahnar people use both knobbed gongs and flat gongs; knobbed gongs mostly have a rhythmic function, the flat gongs are used for melodies. Usually a gong ensemble comprises 8 or 9 gongs in total (6 flat gongs and 2 or 3 knobbed gongs), but the number of gongs can go up to 20 (10 flat gongs, 10 knobbed gongs) or even 22 (11 flat and 11 knobbed). For this recording, the musicians brought different sorts of sharpened twig as drumsticks. the biggest knobbed gong was played by twig of jackfruits. For Bahnar people, gongs - equivalent in value to several water buffaloes - are acquired through exchanges with the people from Laos, Cambodia and nowadays with Kinh groups of Vietnam. Gong music is commonly played among the Bahnar on particular occasions such as harvesting, funeral, buffalo sacrifice, wedding ceremonies, etc.