Artist’s Message

For many people, their experiences over the past few years had been quite extraordinary. The pandemic has brought rapid changes to the world, and along with it, people's lifestyles have been altered. As an artist, I have also needed to adjust my mindset. I have continued to conduct creative endeavours during the pandemic, and even though my artistic concepts and beliefs remain unchanged, I have had to revise my creative methods according to the prevailing social situation. For example, at the beginning of the pandemic three years ago, it was difficult to carry out live performances, and audiences began to enjoy dance shows through monitor screens. When dance becomes separated from physical venues, I cannot help but consider how to facilitate communication with audiences across the virtual space while continuing to convey the sensory experience of dance through my works.

In the past three years, I have been collaborating with the West Kowloon Cultural District to experiment with various new technologies. Dance does not need to be limited to live performances but can also be presented and disseminated through different formats. This work, which allows me to focus on creating a virtual stage and expand it into the form of a live performance with VR serving a role to it, is a summation of my experimentation over the last few years. Although I am not able to participate in the Hong Kong performance in person, I am very happy to have the chance to present my ideas under such conditions. The circumstances in Hong Kong and Japan are significantly different, but I believe there are things worth communicating and sharing between us. This is also the most precious and gratifying aspect of this experience.

Hiroaki Umeda