A Remarkable Journey in Japan
The Silk Road Project’s first international museum residency broke new creative ground, taking the artists on a remarkable journey through time and place as they traveled to Japan last October. Using its 2004 Peabody Essex Museum residency as a model, the Project created a program of children’s workshops, gallery programs, interactive sessions, and concerts that brought the Silk Road Ensemble to two museums and two historic religious sites. Georgia Hunter accompanied the musicians and documented the experience. A design strategist and travel writer, she was so inspired by the Ensemble performances that she has recently taken up the bawu. Her journal entries are excerpted here. Nara National Museum
The initial stop was the Nara National Museum, known for its important collection of central Asian artwork depicting exchanges that took place along the historic Silk Road. In five memorable days, eleven musicians and visual artist Kevork Mourad performed in galleries, interacted with museum visitors, and connected music to art. The Ensemble’s residency was the first of its kind in Nara, prompting the museum’s director to call this “the most exciting thing to happen in the museum’s 100-year history!” GH: “The first sound of the Ensemble I heard was Siamak Aghaei’s solo santur performance in a beautiful teahouse garden outside the museum. What a treat it was to hear him play, to be introduced to the sounds of the beautiful santur in such a setting.” Todai-ji Concert
The home of Japan’s largest Buddha statue – the 50-foot-tall Daibutsu – provided a spiritual setting for the Ensemble’s next performance, set at the Todai-ji temple in Nara. One of the temple’s monks introduced the performance as an offering to the Buddha and, therefore, asked the audience not to applaud between pieces. GH: “When the massive wooden doors to the temple were closed, signifying the commencement of the offering, whispers turned to silence as the musicians padded shoeless onto a tatami mat-covered stage, respectfully bowing to the Buddha. When the last note was played, and the musicians stood and bowed to the Buddha for the second time, the audience erupted in applause. For a moment I worried this might offend the monks – but seeing the overjoyed looks on their faces as they clapped madly along with the rest of us, I’m pretty sure it didn’t.” Kumamoto
The Ensemble then journeyed to the hometown of shakuhachi player Ko Umezaki, on the island of Kyushu, to play at the Edo-period temple Honjyouji. The sold-out crowd sat elbow to elbow on mats surrounding the temple’s ornate altar, captivated by Silk Road Ensemble sounds. GH: “Tonight I sat next to Hu Jianbing on the bus ride from the Kumamoto airport to Mount Aso, where we are spending the night at a traditional Japanese inn, or ryokan. I asked Hu what he thought it took to become a true musician. He said: ‘Being able to play a piece is only half of being a true musician. The other half is your personal touch. It’s what you add that no one else can. A true musician plays not from the notes, but from the heart.’”Kyushu National Museum
The Ensemble was honored with an invitation to perform at the grand opening of Japan’s fourth national museum, the architecturally breathtaking Kyushu National Museum. Unlike its three sister museums, all focused primarily on fine arts, the Kyushu National Museum houses an impressive collection that illuminates artistic influences and interactions among the many cultures along the Silk Road. This was a perfect venue for the Project, offering the musicians both context and inspiration for their performances. Members of the Ensemble felt so at home that they performed wandering improvisations throughout the galleries – with amazed and delighted visitors in tow. GH: “Sitting on the cool stone floor in the shadows of the spectacular museum the night before its opening, I attend my first sound check. The only light comes from the stage. The sounds of Night at the Caravanserai resonate through the darkness of the near-empty museum. It is surreal. I am so lucky to be here.” The International Museum Residency Program is sponsored by Mikimoto. |
|
)
)
)
)
)
Silk Road sells out . . . Harvard's Sanders Theatre, that is. Check out the 
The Silk Road goes Hollywood! Read the 
Planes, trains, busses, and Buddhas: Silk Road journeys through 
New directions, new partners, new possibilities: 
Shakuhachi