* This article has been edited and reconstructed based on the report submitted to the Kawamura Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Arts.
Chochomau Vernacular: Nishinari + Street + Nodate + Yatai
[Application project]
Chochomau Vernacular: Nishinari + Street + Nodate + Yatai
[Applicant]
Breaker Project Executive Committee
[Subsidy] 400万円
[Overview]
“Chochomau Vernacular” (hereinafter called “Chochoverna”) is an art practice in which Breaker Project, a community-based art project in Nishinari-ku, Osaka City; and Kimura Toshiro Jinjin, an artist who has been engaged in Nodate for over 20 years, rethink the nature of public space. The title is a combination of the words chochomau (= get panicked and do something impromptu) and ‘vernacular,’ which refers to the idea that the local cultural landscape would be formed by the accumulation of various events, large and small, including the friction that occurs when one tries something new in a particular place, and the relationships that emerge from these occurrences.
The venues for the “Chochoverna” events were decided on three distinctive “marginal spaces” found by repeatedly conducting walking events with participants. After coordinating and negotiating with the landowners, local residents, and the local government, we organized the events in the fall and spring.
[Held / Implemented / Announced]
Chochomau Vernacular: Nishinari + Street + Nodate + Yatai, April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022
Imamiya Tsunagari Plaza; Tengachaya Station East Exit Plaza; a vacant lot with a big tree; Former Imamiya Elementary School, and other locations in Nishinari-ku, Osaka City
●Walking events + orientation sessions
We walked around the town with volunteers from inside and outside the community, discovering vacant lots, parks, road shoulders, and other marginal spaces, and decided event venues after coordinating with all parties concerned. At the same time, we discussed ideas for “Fantasy Stall*” in preparation for its implementation.
*Kimura Toshiro Jinjin’s “Fantasy Stall” is a project to imagine the whole view of the landscape (all the matters that happen and exist in it) with the “premonitions of charm” brought out onto the street and to try to materialize it into reality even with only one wrapping cloth or one’s own body.
1) “Let's Walk in Nishinari Part 1” | May 23 (Sun), 2021 | Former Imamiya Elementary School, 11 participants
2) “Let's Walk in Nishinari Part 2” | June 19 (Sat), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 21 participants
3) “Let's go for a walk and discuss each plan for stalls” | June 20 (Sun), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 18 participants
4) “Let's go for a walk and decide where to hold the spring event” | July 31 (Sat), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 23 participants
5) “Let's go for a walk + Fantasy Stall Presentation!” | August 1 (Sun), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 19 participants
6) “Let's Walk with Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre” | December 18 (Sat), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre, 16 participants
(7) “Greetings and Site Inspection Walk” | January 22 (Sat), 2022, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 7 participants
(8) “Greetings, Site Inspection, and Final Consultation for Fantasy Stall” | January 23 (Sun), 2022, Former Imamiya Elementary School, Participation: 8
●Cooperation with Imamiya Technology High School
To plan a “Fantasy Stall,” where each student brings things and thoughts they find appealing to the streets, Kimuratoshirojinjin held classes for third-year students and orientation sessions for second-year students. After the classes and orientations, we worked together on many activities.
- “Project Study” Classes for third-year students, Engineering Division, Imamiya Technology High School | May 24 (Mon) and June 21 (Mon), 2021, Imamiya Technology High School, total: 38 participants (including those who participated in the Fantasy Stall consultation meeting held after school)
- Progress check on stalls & review (activities outside of class hours) | October 16 (Sat), 17 (Sun), December 17 (Fri), 2021, February 20 (Sun), 2022, Imamiya Technology High School and Former Imamiya Elementary School, total: 63 participants
- Preparation, cleanup, and greeting (activities outside of class hours) | October 30 (Sat), November 2 (Tue), 2021, February 28 (Mon), March 13 (Sun), 19 (Sat), 24 (Thu), 28 (Mon), 2022, Imamiya Technology High School, Former Imamiya Elementary School, Imamiya Tsunagari Plaza, vacant lot with large tree, and other locations, total: 86 participants
●Cooperation with Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre
The children attending the Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre were guided on a walking tour, visiting places they recommended in the neighborhood. Despite repeated reschedules due to the impact of Covid-19, preparations resumed in December, and the tour was held at the spring event (March 26).
- Walking Meeting | December 17 (Fri), 2021, January 21 (Fri), 28 (Fri), February 21 (Mon), March 24 (Thu), 30 (Wed), 2022, Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre, total: 95 participants
- Walking Tour / Rehearsal | January 29 (Sat), February 19 (Sat), March 11 (Fri), 16 (Wed), 2022, Imamiya/Tengachaya area, Nishinari-ku, total: 34 participants
●Nodate staff trial/orientation session
In addition to actually firing the kiln and experiencing all the steps of the Nodate process, the Fantasy Stall was rehearsed in preparation for the fall event.
September 23 (Thu, national holiday), 2021, Former Imamiya Elementary School, 28 participants
●Fall events
We originally planned to run the event at the Former Imamiya Elementary School ground in the fall before going out to the town in the spring, but the venue was suddenly changed due to the election date. The stalls opened at the Imamiya Tsunagari Plaza (across from Triangle Park), one of the sites suggested by a community member at a walking event.
“Chochoverna Part 1” | October 31 (Sun), 2021, Imamiya Tsunagari Plaza, 242 visitors, Nodate support staff members: 22, Fantasy Stall members: 23 (from Imamiya Technology High School), 5 (general public)
Programs: Nodate—焼立器飲茶美味窯付移動車 (A fabulous mobile cafe with a portable kiln, where visitors can enjoy tea in a cup made by themselves; by Kimura Toshiro Jinjin), Fantasy Stalls / Coffee & Book Stall (by local residents), Tane Yatai (Seed Stall, by NPO Tabunka Fukushi Center CAMICA), Quiz Nanimon (Imamiya Technology High School students), Book Introduction Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), Mitateya (Resembling Stall, by Imamiya Technology High School students), Science Experiment Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), ukulele improvisation performance (by members of Nishinari Children's Orchestra (another program run by the Breaker Project)), wood stove cart (from the workshop at Former Imamiya Elementary School (another program of the Breaker Project))
●Spring events
Venues of spring events were selected from the locations found through exploring Nishinari at multiple walking sessions. Day 1 was organized in front of Tengachaya Station, a major transportation hub in Nishinari Ward, where a large number of people come and go. Day 2 took place at a captivating vacant lot in a residential area that we miraculously encountered during one of the walking sessions with which all the participants fell in love. In these events, we conducted “Nodate” by Kimura Toshiro Jinjin, “Fantasy Stalls” by local high school students and residents, and walking tours guided by children.
“Chochoverna Part 2” | March 20 (Sun), 2022, Tengachaya Station East Exit Plaza, visitors: uncountable, Nodate support staff members: 22, Fantasy Stall members: 23 (Imamiya Technology High School), 5 (general public) Programs: Nodate—焼立器飲茶美味窯付移動車 (Mobile Kiln for Pottery and Tea Ceremony, by Kimura Toshiro Jinjin), Fantasy Stalls / Coffee & Book Stall (local residents), Book Introduction Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), Mitateya (Resembling Stall, by Imamiya Technology High School students), Science Experiment Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), improvisation performance of ukulele, cajon, and other instruments (Nishinari Children's Orchestra), walking tours guided by children (from Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre)
“Chochoverna Part 3” | March 26 (Sat), 2022, vacant lot with a big tree, 230 visitors, Nodate support staff members: 20, Fantasy Stall members: 16 (Imamiya Technology High School), 3 (general public), 4 (Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre) Programs: Nodate—焼立器飲茶美味窯付移動車 (Mobile Kiln for Pottery and Tea Ceremony, by Kimura Toshiro Jinjin), Fantasy Stalls / Coffee & Book Stall (local residents), Book Introduction Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), Mitateya (Resembling Stall, by Imamiya Technology High School students), Science Experiment Stall (Imamiya Technology High School students), improvisation performance of ukulele, cajon, and other instruments (by members of Nishinari Children's Orchestra), walking tours guided by children (from Imaike Kodomo-no-Ie Children Community Centre)
[Outcome]
At the “Chochoverna” events, we conducted “Nodate” by Kimura Toshiro Jinjin, “Fantasy Stalls” by local high school students and residents, and walking tours guided by children from the local child center. These events attracted a number of visitors not only from Nishinari Ward but also from other areas, ranging in age from their teens to their 70s, and with a wide variety of motives for participation. While the implementation of these events was the landing point of this project, each step of the preparation process of turning the public spaces, such as streets and vacant lots, into stages for expressions let us create places for diverse people to mingle and present a new landscape in the town’s everyday life.