FUNDED
How to support us from overseas
vol. 7 2023-05-17 0
MOTION GALLERY is a crowdfunding platform for the Japanese domestic market. However, you can support us from overseas with a credit card.
If you’re interested in supporting our project, please register as a member of MOTION GALLERY and select a plan. Thank you!! [*See more details at the bottom of this page.]
Project : For further growth of Center (in Kanuma, Tochigi), a place of experimentation where new expressions are happen!
Center is an artist-run alternative space based on experimental film, experimental music, and sound art. We will soon celebrate the first anniversary of our opening, and for further growth of Center, we will install a rooftop fence and create an original brochure.
About Center
Center is an artist-run alternative space based on the concept of "making tomorrow a little more exciting," with a multipurpose space on the first floor and accommodations on the second floor. It is not led by the local government, but operated by an individual.
Madoka Kouno, a sound artist, born in Kanagawa, and Shinkan Tamaki, a filmmaker, born in Tochigi, who had been based in Tokyo, moved to Kanuma, Tochig, and opened Center in August 2022, using a vacant store in a shuttered shopping street. It is gradually attracting attention from Japan and overseas as a base for expressive activities focusing on experimental film, experimental music, and sound art, which are rare in Japan. It also plays a role in revitalizing its surroundings by hosting events open to the community and serving as a base for disseminating information to travelers.
The 3 rooms for accomodation on the 2nd floor were completed in January 2023, with DIY work proceeding in stages. The interior design was done in cooperation with Watanabe Architectural Design Office, which is also involved in urban development in Kanuma.
How did we start Center?
Before the birth of our child, we each presented live performances and artworks while both working as company employees in Tokyo. We were also involved in organizing our own events, staying abroad, and booking visiting artists.
However, the frequency of activities has drastically decreased after giving birth and raising child. The hurdles to visiting live music venues, which are often held at night, and museums and theaters for quiet viewing have also increased dramatically. When one of us goes out, the days are stressful and burdensome for the other. I never thought our life and consciousness would change like this!
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2019, when we were too lazy to travel domestically, let alone abroad, due to the difficulty of staying overnight with our child. Living in a cramped house with no place to go for help when our child developed a fever or we got sick, we began to feel the limitations of living in Tokyo. (To begin with, how expensive properties in Tokyo are!!)
The question gradually grew in our mind, "Is it really worth giving up the things we love in life?" The decision was made to move to Tamaki's hometown in Tochigi in 2022. As a result of combining what we want to do, what we should do, and what we love, we decided to create our base called Center.
Center aims to be a place where both adults and children can make new discoveries together, taking advantage of our own reflections and experiences since the birth of our children, when various hurdles have reduced our opportunities to experience the "unknown world" of expressive activities and travel. Above all, we would like to transmit new culture from here in Kanuma through various experiments and challenges.
Ginza Street in Kanuma
In 2021, after a difficult search for a property in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Shinkan's hometown, we suddenly turned our attention to a neighboring city and noticed Kanuma.
One train ride on the Tobu Line from Kita-Senju and the Kanuma IC, it is easily accessible from Tokyo by train or car (about 1.5 hours), and the World Heritage Site, Nikko, is about 30 minutes by train, and Utsunomiya is about 15 minutes by train.
Although not well-known as a tourist destination, we were impressed by the few tall buildings and the old townscape that still remains. We were also impressed by the power of the local community, which is rooted in the "Kanuma autumn festival" that continue to be held throughout the region. Driving a little further, mountains and rivers are close by.
And another deciding factor was the fact that there are seniors who have focused on revitalizing the town, and that the younger generation of immigrants is gradually making the town more prosperous.
Ginza street used to be a main street in Kanuma, but it is now a shuttered shopping street with only a few stores barely in business due to suburbanization and aging population. Located in Ginza 1-chome, the two-story, approximately 50-year-old building was originally used as a yarn store and then as an accounting office, with the first floor used as a garage and the second floor as an office.
What we want to achieve through crowdfunding
The funds raised through the crowdfunding will be used to realize (1) and (2).
(1)We will install a fence on the rooftop of Center!
With self-financing and DIY that we have been steadily saving up, we have been able to open Center and will soon celebrate our first anniversary. However, the building renovation has cost a considerable amount of money, and the budget has not been able to cover the installation of a new rooftop fence, which was removed due to its age.
The crowdfunding support will allow us to install a rooftop fence, which will open up the rooftop with a great view to everyone. We also plan to make the most of the building and plan to use the rooftop to hold performances, exhibitions, screenings, and various other events.
(2) We will create our original brochure to power up public relations activities!
While accomodation is the key of Center's management, Kanuma is not well known as a travel destination, and awareness of Center among the general public is still low. Therefore, we plan to use the crowdfunding support to create our original brochure that will make it easy to understand the Center's activities at a glance, and place it all over the world.
Making as many people as possible aware of Center and making it an option for them to visit will help revitalize Center and Kanuma!
Conclusion
Thank you very much for your attention to this project.
We believe that Center is not only a base for experimental film, experimental music, and sound art, but also a place of experimentation where new expressions can happen, a place where the city can become non-homogenized, a place for local revitalization, a place for balancing childcare and expressive activities, art in rural areas, and many other themes, issues, and possibilities. We are always searching and running into walls, but if we have your support, we will do our best more and more!
We are glad that you know about Center, but if you are interested in visiting Center, we would really appreciate your support as a collector. Let's have a toast on the rooftop!
Center / Madoka & Shinkan
[Dummy Information]
Last Name : 河野 First Name : 円
Last Name(2) : コウノ First Name(2) : マドカ
Postal Code : 3220052 *This is Center's postal code.
Phone No. : 09088355114 *This is Center's phone.
When your support is complete, we will confirm your real address via message.