Autumn Salmon, Video 18.54 minutes, 2015-2019

 

Since the summer of 2015, I worked on a field research-based projects with Ainu and Japanese people in Hokkaido, Japan. In 2016, I lived with Ainu woman called Ms.Katsue Kaizawa and studied the making of Ainu kimono, embroidery, and salmon-skin shoes. In this video, I focused on the idea of process and making-as-sensory-research. In Ainu culture, salmon used to serve key economic, religious, and spiritual roles. In this video, we see a text that I wrote about Ainu social phenomena centered on salmon. This research allowed me to explore a wider understanding of Ainu culture– fishing, cooking, politics, economics, ecology, craft, gossip, folklore, and differences between the current Ainu communities in other regions. It was a process, in part, of finding clues from the past that shed light on present issues.

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Supported by:

The Oxford Artistic and Practice Based Research Platform. https://www.oarplatform.com/autumn-salmon

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Funded by:

Elephant Trust

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation