Festival report : "Performance Art in NRW2000"


This festival has been held by a performance artist, Boris Nieslony as a total director, he has visited Japan to participate in NIPAF in the past. The festival of this time (2000) was sorted by two parts in May and September. (Besides me, YAMAOKA Sakiko participated in May from Japan.) NRW is an abbreviated designation of State of Nordrhein-Westfalen, which is a center level of German economy and culture. The performance was done by two days in four cities in the state - Dusseldorf, Koln, Munster and Essen, cooperated with organization people of each cities. The invited artists from foreign countries were Chen Chieh-Jen from Taiwan, Serge Pay from France, Stuart Brisley from Britain and Andrea Saemann & Lena Eriksson from Switzerland, besides me. In addition, German artists who are from veterans to young persons were mingled to be line up by four people in each city. It was compact formation.

I got the general impression of the festival that had quality of the contents though it was not spectacular because of the character of Boris. Many of the audience were mature age, they didn't excited unknown things, but wait stern and cool. As if they said "By the way, you show any kind of thing to us?" It would not be only me that felt sharp eyes of the appreciative audience. I felt somehow the situation of performance art in Germany was, from the atmosphere of such performance place. It might be the feeling of strain as how performance art did survival inside of a flow of modernism of Western Europe, and something as the "trace".
I did a performance to be different from four times, and young Andrea from Switzerland did all the same performance. What I felt interestingly, her performances improved little by little. She talked with me who was lodging together night after night, put a lot of discussion on Stewart (who is the splendid artist whom experience is rich in, and he is teacher.) She hardly changed one program of herself with being worrying, matured it day by day. It is one of interesting experience to spend together with fellow artists during festival. During those days, many questions being to rotate in me ---- What is maturity of a work in performance? How different is it with a surge of quality by training of traditional drama and experience? It is the necessary thing for performance art? Probably, the answer will depend on how each artists' take for performance art. Because performance art itself has opened the gate for anyone including audience greatly. We recognize differences among us, which are caused by different background, and give questions each other through the gate. We discuss new awareness of issue lively. It is the powerful charm of a festival like this.
This time it is such a meaning, the combination of German and foreign artist's performances made charming contrast each other. One, German artist's performances which I often felt their hidden emotions in too much monologue with ironical. The other, the invited artists performances ---- charming voice and anarchism of Serge, nihilism for the life full of wit of Stewart, and whisper and action who are stoic of Chieh-Jen ---- came thorough the gate, and gave a change a general impression of the festival that a little gritty and tough. Furthermore, I noticed dynamic environment in German society that grows and makes sure of a work with an artist as an individual, in other words, I thought there is invisible tradition of culture that bring up one artist reliably. Performance art and tradition. These are combinations with sense of incongruity. Originally, performance art of Western Europe has deviated radically. I thought again "a trace" I described it first is another energy source of the Western Europe modernism which moved while keeping such a self-contradiction.

One more thing was strongly impressed on my memory. It is a big diagram (a figure of correlation) of performance art history completed on a wall of Boris's studio in Koln. I would like to show great respect for his contribution for performance art devoted many years. This may be one of result of his research activities. It is an impression as the Universe of performance art world in the 20th century. I suppose it is a compass for him to investigate how he position the present and himself in the aggregate which enormous records of activities and artist's names are related accurately. I impressed by a sincere attitude of one European artist who lives in the 21st century as extension of modernism in the 20th century, from such a thing.
Although I can't share the same background with them, I can share an awareness of issue that we should continue, we occur afresh, there is not to me in them, and there is not to them in me.
I would like to investigate them through performance art and communicate. The time will not change naturally because of the turn of the century. A switchover of the history is different from a flow of times, the driving forces lie hidden in some "act" (=the creativity) that stands on this present and place we have shared. It is so, I expect performance art festivals and each of artists and audiences who gather there are becoming leaders of the driving force in a small way. Because most new creativity may come out of such as collaborative work.