FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FREE PUSSY RIOT TOKYO EVENT PROVES TO BE A SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN JAPANESE ART AND POLITICAL HISTORY
On Sunday 4 November, SHATTERJAPAN hosted the unique and historical FREE PUSSY RIOT TOKYO event at TOKYO SALON, LAS CHICAS B1, SHIBUYA, TOKYO, JAPAN.
Artists from several areas of the Japanese arts industry gathered to offer a live event to celebrate freedom of art and expression and to protest the jailing of two members of Russian punk band PUSSY RIOT, Nadezhda (“NADYA”) Tolokonnikova and Maria (“MASHA”) Alyokhina.
Within just one month, SHATTERJAPAN’s UK and Tokyo teams pulled together this exciting event with the kind cooperation of Japanese and international artists, university students, technical engineers, Las Chicas venue, volunteer interpreters and MC, official photographers Nat Olive and Nanao Toki and official videographer Akira Shimada. The events team worked 24/7 in English and Japanese languages, conducting professional-level PR, translation, networking and coordination services. Event head (SHATTERJAPAN’s Chief Editor) Olivia Mayumi Moss was interviewed by GUY PERRYMAN of Tokyo radio station 76.1 InterFM for his weekly London Hit Radio show, and the event was also endorsed by KERRY MCCARTHY, British Labour MP for Bristol East, who spoke at SHATTERJAPAN’s FREE PUSSY RIOT LONDON event held on 9 September 2012.
SHATTERJAPAN’s Chief Editor opened the bilingual event, followed by Russian, English and Japanese readings of handwritten letters received for the event from then Pussy Riot lawyers Mark Feygin and Nikolay Polozov. Gadabout art magazine Editor ANDREY BOLD gave a speech about circumstances for artists in Russia, and MC MADAME BONJOUR JOHN J brought visitors up to speed on the Pussy Riot crisis.
Speeches were followed by the first short talk show featuring YATSUTAKA HAYASHI and RYUTA USHIRO of radical Japanese art group CHIM↓POM and ANDREY BOLD, in which Hayashi and Ushiro talked openly about their own activities which landed them in trouble with local police in the past. The second talk show featured contemporary artist HIROKO OKADA, Tokyo University of the Arts professor of art and sociology YOSHTAKA MORI, and author WATARU TSURUMI (whose controversial works include 1993’s “The Complete Manual of Suicides”), in which they talked about their passion for freedom of expression.
A contemporary dance routine preceded a talk show with stage director KAORI KOBAYASHI (“Les Misérables” and “Miss Saigon”) and singer/dancer ROMA TANAKA (“Angel” in “RENT” musical 2012 in Japan), together with the screening of SHATTERJAPAN’s video “WE LOVE RENT”made specifically for the event in support of LGBT rights which PUSSY RIOT has overtly supported.
A change in pace came with Japanese band BABURU KOSEN and their “genki” songs, colourful outfits and unbeatable smiley charm, allowing the crowds to let their hair down and prepare for a celebration of music at its best.
Undeniably, the highlight of the night was headliners GROUP A, an experimental avant-garde synth-noise band made up of duo TOMMI TOKYO (vocals/synth) and SAYAKA BOTANIC (violin). Staff coated the stage and walls in sheets of plastic as the crowds piled into the venue, curious as to what was about to ensue. As the haunting violin, pulsating electronic beats and impassioned vocals emanated from the stage, the audience was utterly transfixed for the entire set, wooping at points. Embodying the spirit and messages of the Pussy Riot members, the iconically dressed pair daubed each other in fluorescent paint, while completing an original mural on the wall canvas, finished off with the message “FREE PUSSY RIOT” in black paint – a performance to go down in Japanese music and art history books.
Final live performance of the night was by Japanese award-winning jazz-funk band ANNARHYTHM, who got people up on their feet dancing.
Several guest Japanese and international DJs also performed during the night, including DJ JAGARICO, DJ YUU, DJ PURIPURI, DJ CHEESEDOGS (DJ MEGAGIGAGENKI + DJ KING OF CHEESE) and HANG THE DJ.
The overwhelming feedback has been that the event made an impact within the Japanese arts and activist communities not only in terms of raising visibility of the Pussy Riot cause, but also in inspiring young people to get involved in political art activities and to pursue creative careers. The event was held in an open and international atmosphere, and succeeded in reinforcing the importance of art within our societies – now and for future generations to come.
Unfortunately, the event made a massive deficit, attributed to heavy expenses incurred from equipment rental, technician expenses, performer’s expenses, and other necessary travel, telecommunications and resource costs required to hold the event, combined with absence of financial sponsorship and severe lack of support for charitable causes notoriously pervasive within Japanese society. Despite appeals and in-kind donations offered to generate funds, very low sales of support goods on sale at the event did next to nothing to redress the financial imbalance. With staff forced to waive their expenses, we were able to set aside only JPY8674. As the Pussy Riot legal team has since transitioned under suspicious circumstances, the original legal team confirmed to us in writing that since there is no longer any guaranteed channel for donations, funds should not be transferred and fundraising is not advisable. We have applied this amount to partially recover the large financial deficit.
We wish to thank the following people and businesses for their in-kind donations: bilingual beauty salon Boudoir Tokyo for their generous voucher donations and complimentary nail services, Ken Umemoto for his framed photographs, and Visurama for their Pussy Riot T-shirts. Finally, we wish to thank every person who made this event happen, including visitors, performers, venue staff and supporting media.
= RESOURCES =
– Official photos (FULL SET) –
– Additional photos –
– VIDEO of headliners GROUP A performance –
– VIDEO of event preview –
– VIDEO “We Love Rent” for LGBT rights support –
– Interview by Toby Siguenza for Stonewall AJET –
– Report by Kimberly Hughes for Ten Thousand Things –
– Report and video footage by Stonewall AJET –
= THIS PRESS RELEASE IS PRESENTED TO YOU BY SHATTERJAPAN =
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