The Forgotten Sacrifice
2024
Immersive installation
Konishitei, Ojika, Japan
Ofuroba, Ojika, Japan
Ojika Artist In Island 2024
Generously supported by:
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The Forgotten Sacrifice is an immersive installation using the form of an obake yashiki (Japanese haunted house attraction) in Konishitei, an akiya (abandoned house), on the island of Ojika in Japan. During my time at the Ojika Artist In Island residency program I explored Ojika’s ghost storytelling tradition and became interested in the legend of Shiomi, the story of a mysterious stranger who sacrificed himself for the island. The legend and festival honoring Shiomi’s sacrifice have been largely forgotten. This legend became the inspiration for The Forgotten Sacrifice, a site-specific obake yashiki experience which invited visitors to reimagine Ojika’s history through the lens of horror. This experience revealed how fear can create connection, memory, and reflection. The obake yashiki offered a way for people to reimagine and retrace their cultural history through an immersive experience. Inspired by the tying of omikuji (paper fortune slips) at Japanese shrines, visitors tied strips of fabric into the installation during the obake yashiki as a gesture of remembrance. Following the obake yashiki, a daytime exhibition revealed the installations and costumes of The Forgotten Sacrifice in the light of day. A video of the haunted house attraction with the POV of a horror video game was exhibited at Prospects and the Osaka World Expo.
Performers: Klara van Duijkeren, Victoria Simkovic, Chiaki Yamamoto, Marieke Peeters
Taiko drums: Chiaki Yamamoto
Camera: Vincent Schipper
Support: Studio The Future, Hoteiza Ni Maru Ichi Kyu, Ofuroba, Mariko Yamamoto, Chiaki Yamamoto
This project was made together with Studio The Future, Hoteiza Ni Maru Ichi Kyu, and local participants from the island of Ojika. With their great support, enthusiasm, and friendship this work was made possible.
