Vivinavi : Futakotamagawa : (Japan) Futakotamagawa

Seeing, Doing, and Asking Questions from My Here and Now

In 1952, soon after the defeat in World War II, a grand project began at the National Institute for Scientific Film Studies in Germany. It was called "Encyclopedia ・ Cinematographica" （ hereafter EC Film ）. It is an "encyclopedia in film" that aims to accumulate records of knowledge from around the world. Over the next 40 years, many researchers and cameramen were dispatched to various parts of the world to film the lives and rituals of the people living there, as well as the life activities of animals and plants. The total number of films is more than 3,000 titles.

This exhibition, the second installment of the "Video Fieldwork Exhibition" held at Seikatsu Kobo in the spring of 2019, displays and screens about 50 EC films related to "string making" (spinning, weaving, knitting, knotting, twisting, weaving) （ which will be changed during the exhibition period ） and will be made available to the public. This exhibition traces the origins of human craftsmanship, using familiar plants and animal hair as materials to create everything from clothing to housing.

The EC films record the time of beautiful handicrafts spun by people in faraway lands long ago. In this exhibition, we will open that time capsule to the 21st century and hold workshops where visitors can "see" the films, gather materials from daily life such as grass and old fabrics, "try it out," and practice their own "thinking from their hands. We hope you will come to the exhibition, which is filled with the joy of fieldwork and ideas of "seeing and doing".

[Organized by] Setagaya Cultural Foundation, Life Studio

[Produced by] EC Project Shimonaka, Kisara Nakaue ［ Polepole Higashinakano ］, Tomoko

[Cooperation] Shimonaka Shimonaka Memorial Foundation, Yoshiharu Sekino, Sumida Ward

[Supported by] Setagaya Ward, Setagaya Ward Board of Education