Tomoko Kofuneko · I don’t need nationality · 2008 · photo: Keita Kojima

To–Be
Tokyo+Berlin Communication Art 2010

The multidisciplinary exhibition To–Be highlights works by 28 artists from Japan and Germany, who research spheres of common ground in the «Being and Becoming» in both cultures. 

To–Be is a joint venture based on an open-minded concept by the artists Tatsumi Orimoto and Thomas von Arx. The exhibition is a collective working process between the artists without any instructions from a curator, to create space for developments and conversations reaching beyond the scope of an exhibition. Starting point of this project was a gathering of 19 younger and more experienced artists in the summer of 2009 in Tokyo, who portrayed renowned and emerging positions.
 
The project gains a remarkable dynamic through the conjunction of very differently inspired societies and their individual perceptions of art. Art as a communication-engine is in this sense connecting and moving independent strategies of exchange and relations. This activating process is an essential aspect of the exhibition: creating an artist-driven «open stage», that allows and develops inspiring collaborations between cultures, the arts, the artists and the audience. For this project the artists from Japan and Germany will get together in Berlin for two weeks in August. 

The exhibition’s opening will be celebrated with a program of various performances. Several artworks will still be developed throughout the first week of the exhibition. Each morning at 10 o’clock (8–15 August) Midori Mitamura will welcome visitors to the Art & Breakfast, which will be the base of the work she creates. On the 15th, Art & Breakfast will meet the Discursive Picnic by UNWETTER (‹were everybody is guest & host at the same time. Bringing, giving, taking, sharing: living- and think-spaces›). Tamaki Kawaguchi will produce her piece Painting a bee by a bee for 5 days inside of a glass cube.
All 28 artists will be present at the opening event. Guided tours for groups are possible by appointment. 

The project is a cooperation between Kunstfaktor e.V., Art Mama Company Tokyo and Freies Museum Berlin and takes place under the patronage of the Embassy of Japan in Berlin. To–Be has been supported by Pola Art Foundation, Japan Foundation and Nomura Foundation. 

For this exhibition a large catalogue will be published by bruno dorn verlag (ISBN 978-3-942311-01-4, www.debook.de).

To–Be
Tokyo+Berlin Communication Art 2010

Exhibition from 7 to 29 August 2010
Monday–Saturday 12–7 pm · Thursday until 10 pm · Sunday 3–6 pm 

28 artists from Tokyo und Berlin 
A project by Kunstfaktor Berlin and 
Art Mama Tokyo at Freies Museum Berlin

Freies Museum Berlin
Potsdamer Straße 91 · 10785 Berlin · Germany 
U1 – Kurfürstenstr. / U2 – Bülowstr. 

Tel. +49 (0)30 34 72 18 14
www.freies-museum.com
office@freies-museum.com

INFO / Organization

KUNSTFAKTOR Produzentengalerie e.V. 
Vorsitz: Frank Benno Junghanns
Stendaler Str. 6 (HH)
D-10559 Berlin

mail@kunstfaktor.de
Tel. +49 (0)30 30 87 20 10 

Info pages: 
www.kunstfaktor.de/to-be

Downloads Press material and PDFs: 
www.kunstfaktor.de/to-be/2010/downloads 

Artists from Tokyo: Tomohiro Hatori · Tamaki Kawaguchi·Susumu Kinoshita · Tomoko Kofuneko · Masami Kondo Midori Mitamura · Noritoshi Motoda · Izumi Oishi · Tatsumi Orimoto · Chieo Senzaki · Tadayuki Shimada · Mio Shirai · Hiroshi Suzuki · Nobuki Yamamoto

Artists from Berlin: Thomas von Arx · Anna Barth · Thomas Dzieran · Kai-Olaf Hesse · Frank Benno Junghanns · Stefan Kreide · Stefan Rueff · Antonio Santin · Ulrike Solbrig · Caro Suerkemper · Peter Unsicker · Juan Varela · Dana Widawski · Regula Zink
PROGRAM

Sat 7 August · 5–12 pm
Opening
– reception with Aki Sugaya, Cultural Attachée, Japanese Embassy
– presentation of the artists 
– catalogue presentation
– art party with music, barbecue, fingerfood and cocktailbar
– performances by Anna Barth, Tomohiro Hatori, Tomoko Kofuneko, 
   Tatsumi Orimoto and Nobuki Yamamoto.

8 – 15 August · daily 11 am – 1 pm: 
Art & Breakfast
Breakfast by Midori Mitamura for visitors and artists
www.midorimitamura.com/projectartbreakfast.htm

8 – 12 August · daily 12 – 6 pm: 
Painting a bee by a bee 
5-days live performance by Tamaki Kawaguchi

Sun, 15 August · 11 am – 5 pm 
11 am – 2 pm: Art & Breakfast meets
2 – 5 pm: Discursive Picnic by UNWETTER (www.un-wetter.net) 
presentation: Painting a bee by a bee for 5 days

Sun, 29 August · 5 – 10 pm:
Closing event
performances by Anna Barth and Tomohiro Hatori 
and presentation of documentation »To–Be«

Tatsumi Orimoto · Mama + Son in artlife · 2010 · photo: Noritoshi Motoda

Dana Widawski · Business Break on Sumida River · 2010 · Paravent · 375 x 166 cm · Schablonendruck/Acryl auf Papier

Antonio Santin · Katrin Lola · 2009 · 100 x 90 cm · Öl auf Leinwand