Hiraki Sawa
Hiraki Sawa was born in Ishikawa, Japan. He currently lives and works in London. His work focuses on the use of video projections and installations.
Recent exhibitions include Experimenta Playground, International Biennal of Media Arts, Melbourne, Australia and 12e Biennale de l’ Image en Mouvement, Centre Pour l’Image Contemporaine, Saint Gervais, Geneve. Sawa has exhibited solo all over the world including Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan, and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. His work is represented by James Cohan Gallery in New York.
Hiraki Sawa represents Japan and the visual arts as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
Hiraki Sawa online
Hiraki Sawa – Going Places, Sitting Down
Artist blog – 2tall day 2
Ok, so take one dangerously introspective bedroom based music producer who debates walking 5 minutes to sainsburys instead of taking the bus for 2 stops and drop him in Bologne and let him loose with other artists to create a selection of live material to be performed 5 days later.
We’ve been using our machines to work up something to play for Saturday’s show, not knowing how initially but gradually just allowing for it to take shape, learning each other’s capabilities and styles and pushing new ways of working so we can connect. The final product of which the reader will hear very soon.
The people here are so kind and welcoming it is overwhelming. It seems so natural for our hosts to be so kind and to keep giving so much that I find it difficult not to overthank them!
To quote Will Barras, everything here is just a level up. And it’s true, even the crisps taste better!
There are not many places i’ve seen that have such a laid back feel for a city, but also it seems that it’s been “lived in” so much that it seems that even the buildings have some kind of inherent wisdom to them, almost like they soaked up the experiences of those that lived and worked in them.
We are playing in a old theater that I believe was once a nunnery, it’s homely and even our rehearsal room is as welcoming as the people in the morning.
Anyway enough romantisising about painted plaster, I have to get some sleep, last day of tightening up the show tomorrow, where we expect Bruno Briscik and his cello to come and add some extra skill to our already colourful manifestation.
P.S: the ice cream is just incredible. not to mention the great simplicity of the wonderful home cooked food we are treated to every day by the magic “jesus feeds the five thousand”-esque talents of Lisa.
Bless!
2tall / Om Unit – dj2tall.com
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 2
Original Cultures – Day 2
Bologna is an amazing town!
Italian ice cream makes the day, pistachio flavour rocks!
We had a press conference for the project in a music museum.
Here’s a picture I took during my speech at the press conference. I did the speech in Italian, but I told a little lie… my grandfather wasn’t really a ninja, sorry!
The museum already had a small exhibit of some of our work. There was a picture featuring my music and art from Will Barras, it made us look grande!
Here it is, my music and Will’s artwork.
Italy’s representative, Tayone.
And this is England’s 2tall. We cut it up fresh altogether!
Tatsuki x 2tall – drum freestyle from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
もういっちょ!
Tayone x Tatsuki x 2tall – soundcheck improv from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
たつき － http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
Original Cultures Bologna 09 – Trailer 2
The second trailer video for the Original Cultures pilot is now live. This time we’re shining a bit more of a light on the 3 musicians who will take part in the pilot: 2tall aka Om Unit, Tatsuski and Tayone who represent the UK, Japan and Italy respectively.
The Original Cultures pilot will culminate on June 6 with an evening event featuring live painting, music, art and more. The whole evening will be orchestrated and directed by the artists following 3 days of workshops where they will work together to create art specifically for use in the event. For full details on this and all other pilot events visit our Events section, or go straight to the Live Showcase details.
You can download the podcast directly from our RSS feed (and while you’re there why not subscribe?), or below. You can also view it on our Youtube and Vimeo pages, and it will shortly be available on our iTunes feed.
Once more the video was edited by The Slow Breakfast.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Original Cultures x Museo Musica Bologna
We are very pleased to announce that Original Cultures has teamed up with Bologna’s International Museum and Library of Music. As part of this the Museum will be an official supporting partner of our pilot event and Original Cultures will organise a month-long installation and showcase in the Museum during the month of July.
The installation will feature works created during the pilot as well as works commissioned especially for the installation from all the artists involved in the pilot.
More details and information regarding this will be made available in the coming weeks. For more information on the Museum please visit their website.
Original Cultures ‘09 – Visual Artists
Original Cultures focuses on two specific strands of modern performing arts: music and visual arts. Within these two strands Original Cultures works with both established and upcoming artists from the UK, Italy and Japan.
The 4 artists chosen to represent the visual arts strand for the first year of Original Cultures activities (2009) are:
- Will Barras (UK) – click to view bio
- DEM (IT) – click to view bio
- Erica il Cane (IT) – click to view bio
- Hiraki Sawa (JP) – bio coming soon
Together these 4 artists will take part in events in the UK, Italy and Japan throughout 2009 and 2010: Original Cultures Bologna 09 (June 2009), Original Cultures London ‘10 (March 2010) and Original Cultures Tokyo ‘10 (TBC).
During each event the artists will work together to create collaborative works inspired by the cultural exchange and interaction fostered by Original Cultures. This work will take place mainly during private workshops where the artists are given a brief to create new art, or in some cases given a free hand to come up with their own brief. The resulting works are then used as part of various activities such as public workshops, seminars, showcases and exhibitions.
You can view examples of the collaborative works created during Original Cultures Bologna 09 on the Original Cultures Art channel on Vimeo and our Flickr archive.
Original Cultures ‘09 – Musicians
Original Cultures focuses on two specific strands of modern performing arts: music and visual arts. Within these two strands Original Cultures works with both established and upcoming artists from the UK, Italy and Japan.
The 3 artists chosen to represent the music strand for the first year of Original Cultures activities (2009) are:
- 2tall / Om Unit (UK) – click to view bio and discog
- Tatsuki (JP) – click to view bio and discog
- Tayone (IT) – click to view bio and discog
Together these 3 artists will take part in events in the UK, Italy and Japan throughout 2009 and 2010: Original Cultures Bologna 09 (June 2009), Original Cultures London ‘10 (March 2010) and Original Cultures Tokyo ‘10 (TBC).
During each event the artists will work together to create collaborative works inspired by the cultural exchange and interaction fostered by Original Cultures. This work will take place mainly during private workshops where the artists are given a brief to create new art, or in some cases given a free hand to come up with their own brief. The resulting works are then used as part of various activities such as public workshops, seminars, showcases and exhibitions.
All 3 artists come from a similar background, having had a hand in the development and evolution of the turntablist scene in their respective countries, and have followed similar evolutions, moving away from the world of scratching towards music production and live shows.
You can listen to examples of the music created by the 3 during Original Cultures Bologna 09 on our Soundcloud page and our documentaries page. You can also view footage from the workshops on our Vimeo channel.
Original Cultures – Pilot
Everything has to start somewhere, and Original Cultures will make its official debut in June 2009 with a pilot event spread over 4 days and held in Bologna, Italy. The pilot will feature artists from the UK, Italy and Japan and a number of select activities from Original Cultures’ own Cultural Exchange Program (CEP).
Pilot – Artists
- Om Unit, UK, musician / audio artist
- Tatsuki, Japan, musician / audio artist
- Dem, Italy, visual artist
- Erica Il Cane, Italy, visual artist
- Tayone, Italy, musician / audio artist
- Will Barras, UK, visual artist
Pilot – Key Points
Location – Bologna, Italy.
Venues – SPAZIO SI + TEATRO SAN LEONARDO, via San Vitale 67, Bologna / ARENA ORFEONICA, via Broccaindosso 48, Bologna / LIBRERIA MODO INFO SHOP via Mascarella,24 Bologna
Organizers – Original Cultures (UK), Associazione Culturale “ORIGINAL CULTURES” (IT)
Collaborating entities – Bologna City Council (IT), Compagnia teatrale “Teatrino Clandestino” (IT), Libreria “Modo Info Shop” (IT), Accademia di Belle Arti Bologna (IT, TBC), DAMS (IT, TBC), Ass. “Arena Orfeonica” (IT), Samurai FM (UK, Japan), SRK (UK, TBC), Hear Japan (Japan, TBC) Paper Resistance (IT), Vinilificio (IT), T-Turn (IT), Spin Science (UK), Rhythm Incursions (UK), Turntable Radio (UK)
Media Partners – Radio Città del Capo (IT), Superfly Magazine (IT), www.designradar.it (IT), www.spannered.org (UK), Samurai FM (UK, Japan), Rhythm Incursions (UK), More TBA
Dates – 3-6 June 2009
Activities – Workshops, seminar, live showcase, remix project, documentation
Duration (activities) – 3 days for workshops, 1 day for seminar, 1 day for live showcase. Remix project and documentation take place before, during and after the pilot
Performing Artists – 1 UK musician, 1 UK visual artist, 1 Italian musician, 2 Italian visual artists, 1 Japanese musician
Timetable
Wednesday 03/06/09 + Thursday 04/06/09
- Music and visual arts workshops with all Original Cultures artists
- From 10am to 8pm, including break
- Location: Spazio Si, Teatro San Leonardo, Arena Orfeonica
Friday 05/06/09
- Music and visual arts workshops with all Original Cultures artists
- From 10am to 1pm
- Location: Spazio Si, Teatro San Leonardo
- Workshops with students from Accademia delle Belle arti Bologna and DAMS
- From 3pm to 6pm
- Location: Spazio Si, Teatro San Leonardo
- Seminar on arts and culture with all Original Cultures artists
- From 7pm to 9pm
- Location: Libreria Modo Info Shop
Saturday 06/06/09
- Original Cultures Live Showcase
- From 8pm to 12am
- Location: Spazio SI
Original Cultures pilot – Output / Impact
- Creation of collaborative works during the pilot
- Creation of remixes of the collaborative works following the pilot
- Cultural and artistic exchange between artists, both during and after the pilot
- Interaction between artists and the public
- Interaction between artists and art students
- Documentation in audio, visual, and text formats of the entire process
- The use and appropriation of new and existing spaces in Bologna
- Increased awareness of foreign cultures and modern performing arts
- Increased exposure for European and Japanese artists abroad
- Creation of a link between artists of different countries and fostering of relations to help initiate future collaborative works between artists
- Nurturing of relationships between artists in different countries
DEM
Like a modern alchemist, DEM creates his surreal creatures, weird characters that live in between the most imperceptibles layers of human reality. Protean and ironic, his works range from wall painting to illustration to art installations.
The symbolism that enriches DEM’s artwork invites the public to elaborate a personal access code to decipher this world, a mysterious and enigmatic world.
His art production, an ideal setting for which he found in dismissed factories, has been showed in various occasions such as a personal exhibition at the Oro Gallery in Gothenburg, collective exhibitions like Street Art, Sweet Art at PAC in Milan, Street Lab at Termini Train Station in Rome and Nomadaz at Scion Installation in Los Angeles.
DEM represents Italy and the visual arts as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
DEM online:
DEM, Ericailcane and Will Barras – Stay Away from Light (edit2)
DEM and Ekta at Nimis 2007
Will Barras
Will Barras is an illustrator and artist living and working in London. Born in Birmingham in 1973 he spent his formative years in Bristol.
His invention of composition and fluid lines provide poignant detail in liquid abstraction. The subject matter is readily familiar, but captured in a manner that seems to jar time and space with psychedelic abstraction. It is painting, which takes place. It is his way of expressing the emotional movements of this labor. It is therapy and pleasure and necessity. Though Will is more passionate about Cricket, and even the art of the poached egg than he is of Skate or Snowboarding, he is hailed as one of the visual artists who best represents these influential creative movements. This is not only an indicator of his prolific work rate and good nature, his illustrations featuring on all types of boards, clothes and mural campaigns, but more so of his unique voice, technical competency and sense of exploration.
Highly sought after both for commercial and private commissions, Will divides himself between directing Animation, designing graphics for projects that stimulate him and undertaking a truly grueling exhibition and event schedule. Last year he participated in the highly acclaimed Wooster on Spring exhibition that people waited five hours in line to see in New York City. He was invited to exhibit at the Scope Art Fair on the occasion of Art Basel, Miami at the close of 2007, having participated in shows in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Brussels, Edinburgh, Mayrhofen, Oslo, Copenhagen, Bratislava, Cologne, Budapest, Warsaw and London earlier in the year.
Will Barras represents the UK and the visual arts as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
Will Barras online:
Will Barras, DEM and Ericailcane – Stay Away from Light (edit2)
Will Barras interview from On Point TV
Ericailcane
Ericailcane is a visual artist based in Bologna who has produced art, exhibited and collaborated with artists worldwide.
Ericailcane represents Italy and the visual arts as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
Ericailcane online
DEM, Ericailcane and Will Barras – Stay Away from Light (edit2)
Ericailcane at FAME festival
Tayone
Tayone’s musical career started in 1997 when he won the first edition of the Italian ITF DJ battle chapter at a young age. In the same year, riding on the wave of his win, he becomes of Alien Army, the first Italian turntablist crew. In 1998 he wins the second edition of ITF’s Italy chapter and ends up fourth at the world finals. In 1999, Alien Army release their first album, ‘Orgasmi Meccanici’, on Royality Records. In 2001, Tayone takes the title at the Vestax Extravaganza Italy.
Quickly Tayone becomes one of the best scratchers in the country, if not Europe, allowing him to take part in various live tours with Alien Army, Zero Stress, Chief and Soci and others. In 2003 he is chosen as the official DJ for the Nike Freestyle Tour in Italy, and also judges and showcases at the ITF German and Austrian finals. Alien Army also releases their second album that year, ‘The End’, in tandem with Hip Hop Slam, Billy Jam’s legendary label based on the US West Coast. In 2004 he continues to tour across Italy and abroad, including appearances at major festivals such as Arezzo Wave and Hip Hop Kemp (CZ), and is once more chosen to judge at the ITF, this time for the world finals.
It’s during that time that he meets the famed multi-instrumentalist Bruno Briscik. Out of their meeting comes a new project, Rasjaful, which blends both of their musical backgrounds and work. In September 2005, he releases ‘Sbarbie Live in Praga’, his first solo release and a little known jewel in the scratch music world. From that point onwards he continues to focus his work on production and making music, while doing more live work with Bruno as well as Skizo from Alien Army and DJ Excess, from America.
In the last few years he has released with and taken part in the rap group I Fluxer, Rasjaful (a jazz, rock and funk combo with Bruno Briscik), Bungalow Zen (with DJ Skizo and a string of guests) and The Stones (an electro jazz project featuring MPC, turntables, bass, and live dubbing). He’s worked with the French saxophonist Mark Baron, the ensemble Pas Polis, the trombonist Fabio Morgera, the drummer Bruce Cox from Philadelphia, Franco Micalizzi and the Big Bubblin Band (as part of the Gli Originali project). In addition to this he’s also worked with the cream of the Italian Jazz scene including Carlo Atti, Nico Menci, Fabrizio Bosso, Giancarlo Bianchetti, Alessandro Meroli, Max Dall’Omo, Lorenzo Feliciati, Silvia Donati and more.
2009 will see the release of his first proper solo album, ‘Photographie’, which features Neffa, Patrik Benifei, Blu Rum 13, Anti Anti, Samuel Subsonica, Franco Micalizzi, Silvia Donati, Carlo Atti, Giancarlo Biancheti, Bruno Briscik, Skizo and Sean Martin.
Tayone represents Italy and the music art strand as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
Tayone online
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 audio documentary pt 2
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 music workshops
Original Cultures pilot – CEP activities
The Original Cultures pilot will test all the main activities from the project’s Cultural Exchange Program (CEP). These activities will be spread across 4 days and involve all of the pilot’s artists as well as the general public and students from local art universities/institutions in Bologna.
Below is a list of the activities that will take place during the pilot:
- Workshops: The workshops will take place in three different locations and are split between the two main strands of modern performing arts represented during the pilot, music and visual arts. For both strands the workshops will further be split into 3 “elements.”
- Seminar: The seminar takes place in the evening of the last day of the workshops and acts as a conclusion to the workshop process. It will take place at the Modo Info Shop bookshop and be open to the public. By setting the seminar in a new space, we can involve new participants as well as make use of a space that is already dedicated to such events and has a reputation in the city.
- Final showcase: The last day of the pilot will be dedicated entirely to the preparation and execution of the final showcase which will act as the conclusion for the event. The theater space which will hold the showcase, in itself new and unique in Bologna, will be used to create a showcase that is also new and unique. The showcase will make use of the collaborative works created during the workshops and allow for new interaction between the two art strands as well as between the public and the art.
- Documentation: The workshops, seminars and live showcase will be documented in audio, video and text formats. The content thus created will be made available on the Original Cultures website during and following the pilot in order to create a free, interactive and always available documentary of the cultural exchange that has taken place.
- Original Cultures remixed : The last activity will take place via the website following the pilot. Selected elements of the collaborative works (both audio and visual) will be made available on the site for selected artists in the UK, Italy and Japan to use in the creation of new works. In addition, short video edits of footage from the pilot will also be made available to soundtrack. Original Cultures remixed furthers the cultural exchange process and allows it to continue once the event is finished, working in parallel with the release of various documental media content. In the months following the pilot, remixes created through this activity will be made publicly available online for people to view, listen to and download.
For full details of what will be involved in each activity you can download the Original Cultures Pilot pdf document, just right click and save as on the picture below:
In addition Original Cultures is also working on conducting an event in the UK in October 2009 to follow on from the pilot and which will feature a physical showcase of the remixes produced during the Original Cultures remixed activity.
2tall / Om Unit
Jim Coles aka 2tall/Om Unit has been active since the late nineties as a DJ and producing music since his early teens. He has several releases out under the 2tall moniker, which came after a brief stint in the world of DJ battles where he represented the UK at the DMC world DJ championships.
More recently he has put out two notable albums under the 2tall moniker: “Beautiful Mindz” a collaborative project with U.S duo Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow (Stones Throw), and “The Softer Diagram”, his most recent solo LP released on L.A-based Content Records.
Current projects include various guest spots on releases by Dented Records based in the UK, including the forthcoming Foreign Beggars album. 2009 also sees the launch of his new electronic beats project “Om Unit” which will be released on the Terrorhythm label, run by UK grime/dubstep stalwart Plastician.
Jim has also been known for live showcases using various experimental techniques involving the turntables and effects amongst other gear, which brings him to the Original Cultures project.
2tall/Om Unit represents the UK and the music art strand as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
2tall/Om Unit online:
Selected discography
Releases:
Shifting Tides (CD) // Needlework 2004
Loose Ends For Divination (CD + CD) // Eclectic Breaks 2005
Beautiful Mindz (CD, Album) // Eclectic Breaks 2007
The Softer Diagram (LP) // Content 2008
Remixes:
Real Thing (12″) // Slaves (2Tall RMX) // Hum+Haw 2008
Co-production:
Diner @ Table No. 9 (12″) // 6 DJ’s + 1 // Brick9000 Records 2006
Tracks Appear On:
Signal Path (2xLP) // Garden Child // Content, Styge Recordings 2007
Twisting The Frame (File, MP3) // Another Place // Myuzyk 2008
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 audio documentary pt 2
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 music workshops
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tatsuki
Tatsuki was born in Osaka, Japan in 1973 and raised in Suffolk, UK. He settled in London in 1991. For the last ten years Tatsuki has been a member of the international, Danish-based band Blue Foundation.
Alongside his work with Blue Foundation, Tatsuki has also collaborated with Japanese artists such as DJ Krush, Boom Boom Satellites, Numb, Calm and DJ Baku as well as UK DJ collective The Mixologists. He has released music on both major and independent labels worldwide.
In recent years he has worked closely with musical instrument manufacturer Korg to develop and promote the company’s latest DJ equipment. This work has included input for the R&D of Korg’s ZERO4 mixer.
Tatsuki represents Japan and the music art strand as part of the Original Cultures roster of artists for 2009/2010.
Tatsuki online:
Selected Discography
Featuring:
Organ Language (CD, Album) // Colors // Revirth 2002
Sweep Of Days (2xLP) // Virgin Records (Denmark) 2004
Notwithstanding (CD, Album) // In The Parallax Of You… // Hobby Industries 2005
Production:
Whakhakha Breaks (12″, Ltd) // Ortofon
Alis EP (12″) // Alis Vs. Le-Fix (Ver. 01) // Alis 2003
Co-production:
Numb (CD) // Tenka, Jyaki // Revirth 2002
Appears On:
Human Essence (CD) // Times For The Two // Sublime Records 2002
Sweep Of Days (CD, Album) // Virgin Music (Denmark) 2004
寂 Jaku (CD, Album) // Columbia 2004
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 audio documentary pt 2
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 music workshops
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
