A 10th Anniversary Festival Aiming for the Next Evolution of an Evolving Art Center

Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) opened in November 2003 as a complex cultural facility housing exhibition spaces, a theater, a mini-theater, and the municipal central library. With its unique production system centered around "YCAM InterLab," YCAM has become a hub for creation and dissemination, connecting the region with the world as a platform for generating new artistic expressions that explore media technology and the body, expanding the realms of art, media, and bodily expression.

Concurrently, it has built a history as a place for exchange, fostering excellent talent and international networks through initiatives that cultivate imagination and critical thinking, serving as a practical base for media education.

The 10th-anniversary festival will explore the potential of media technology, which has been central to YCAM's activities since its opening, and express through various art forms an endeavor to connect past and future, the natural world and urban culture, through imagination and creativity.

The festival is divided into two periods: the first phase runs from Saturday, July 6th to Sunday, September 1st, and the second phase from Friday, November 1st to Sunday, December 1st.

A Rich Program of Performances, Stage Works, Exhibitions, and Workshops

Highlights of the first half include Heiner Goebbels' performance "Stifters Dinge," presented from Saturday, July 13th to Monday, July 15th in YCAM Studio A, and "Korogaru Pavilion," an outdoor media park that evolves through children's interaction with various media, running throughout the entire festival period from Friday, July 26th.

Furthermore, Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Forest Symphony" project, which has expressed his deep interest in forests and trees since the Great East Japan Earthquake, is further developed as "Ryuichi Sakamoto + YCAM InterLab." This initiative acquires bioelectrical potentials from trees and converts the data into music according to specific rules. It will be exhibited as an installation from Friday, July 26th, and a toolkit for acquiring electrical potential from trees will be released as open source, aiming to collect data from forests worldwide.

Also on Friday, July 26th, YCAM Studio A will host the YCAM 10th Anniversary Festival "THE OPENING LIVE CONCERT" featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Tiller Dupree, and ILLUHA. Additionally, DOMMUNE, the live-streaming studio led by Naohiro Ukawa, partners with YCAM to establish "YCAMDOMMUNE" bases throughout the city. On Saturday, July 27th, Naohiro Ukawa will present "YCAMDOMMUNELIVE" at YCAM Studio A. The program includes "Explosive Classical Music" by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Reiko Ueno, and Tomita's live performance "Zen, Life Forms, and Cosmic Rays."



The "Yamaguchi Mini Maker Faire," held on Saturday, August 10th, and Sunday, August 11th, marks its first appearance in Western Japan after being held in 60 countries worldwide. It serves as a platform for individuals and companies involved in making, or "DIY," to present their work and connect.

From Saturday, August 24th to Monday, August 26th, "hey you, ask the animals. / Considerations on Territory, Presence, and Movement," a participatory outdoor project by Contact Gonzo and YCAM, will take place. Participants will venture into the mountainous areas of Yamaguchi City to explore how animals and humans create pathways and habitats within nature. They will visit tour courses developed by Contact Gonzo during their actual stay in the forests of Yamaguchi City, experiencing firsthand the senses they acquired in animal territories.

The Future of Art and Environment in Yamaguchi: YCAM 10th Anniversary Festival
Dates | Phase 1: Saturday, July 6, 2013 – Sunday, September 1, 2013
Phase 2: Friday, November 1, 2013 – Sunday, December 1, 2013
*Closed Tuesdays. If a holiday falls on a Tuesday, the center will be closed the following day (YCAM will be open on Tuesday, October 22nd only).
Venue | Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM], Yamaguchi City Central Park, and various locations within the city (Yamaguchi City downtown shopping streets, around Ichinokawa River, Nodajinja Shrine)
Artistic Director | Ryuichi Sakamoto
General Producer | Kazukazu Abe (Deputy Director, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media)

YCAM 10th Anniversary Festival Official Website
http://10th.ycam.jp/