-Artist in Homestay-

-Starting-

 

This project started with the friendship of the two artists, Norma and Yumikio.

A Mexican artist, Norma, landed in Tokyo in 2015 with a big interest in Japanese culture. She got a free accommodation job at a guest house and met Yumikio there. Yumikio was the first Japanese artist she had met. From Yumikio’s point of view, Norma does not have a typical Mexican temperament but has kind of Japanese mentality who use inner thoughts and outward appearance separately.

On the other hand, Norma feels like Yumikio is a little different from other Japanese people and have a similar sense of distance with her. As the friendship between two of them became stronger, they began to think that they needed to know more about the culture and art in both countries, Japan and Mexico.

However, in general, there is little information about the other country in both Mexico and Japan, and it also tends to be biased. Therefore, we set up this project, which incorporates raw experiences as an essential element in order to strengthen the presence of artists in each other's countries and understand the cultures better.

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-Purpose-

 

Through the exchange of artists from Japan and Mexico, we aim to discover the charm of each country and to generate a new sense of values by means of our relationships. In recent years, many Mexican tourists visit Japan, and many of them are attracted by Japanese manga and animation. However, in terms of art, both countries lack information, and there is little opportunity to actually appreciate the work.

 

By carrying out this project this time, we will propose a new “artist-in-home stay” style that goes a step further than “artist-in-residence”, promote cultural development in both countrie, form and strengthen the network between artists and other society.