Down a flight of steep stairs on Brick Lane, a typical multi-cultural London crowd milled around in Bodhi’s intimate gallery space.

They had braved the dark, drizzly October evening to check out something a little bit different: the Private View of Hafu / Half Japanese photographic exhibition.

Contemplating the large, clear photos of half Japanese, reading their candid profiles and sipping vivid green Midori cocktails people eyed each other curiously – are they a ‘hafu’? Are they not? Does it matter anyway?

I caught up with Natalie Maya Willer, the photographer, and Marcia Yumi Lise, the social researcher to ask them a few questions.

What attracted you to London?

Natalie: I decided not to embrace either side of my cultural background (German and Japanese) and try something completely new. It’s easy to live in London because there are so many cultures.

Marcia: I’m half Italian so I was attracted to Europe generally. I choose London because it’s so culturally rich.

What are your favourite Japanese spots in London?

Natalie: I haven’t been involved in Japanese London very much before. But now I am starting to engage with contemporary Japanese culture and I enjoy visiting the Daiwa House and going to Japan Foundation talks.

Marcia: The Japan Centre has absolutely everything!

What do you want people to take away from your exhibition?

Natalie: I’d like people to explore identity – to more deeply enquire into our perceptions of identity. When the half Japanese people here came to the photo shoot we found that questions came out… everyone wanted to talk about their experiences of being a ‘hafu’.

Marcia: I think when you see the group of photos here you can see the diversity... We need to stop making generalisations but instead look at each person individually. The exhibition has given us a domain to explain individual experiences of being half-Japanese.

What do you think is the future for the concept of ‘race’?

Natalie: Society creates identities out of appearances. In the future we’ll be more aware that race does not equal identity.

Marcia: There is a general consensus that ‘races’ don’t actually exist! Humans are 99.9% the same. But confusion and issues stem from the concept of ‘race’ – which is a false premise in itself...

Read more about the concepts of Hafu at the website. Photos of the exhibition are by Paola Sarappa. Photo of the seminar is by Hitomi Yoda.

Last Thursday evening I was lucky enough to attend the private viewing of Kishio Suga’s art exhibition at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House. This is his first UK solo show, and his work will be here until November 7th 2008.

The evening was an enlightening one. Sipping red wine I puzzled at the unfamiliar placements and interpretations of wood, stone, metal, paper, etc. that make up the art. Yet, I left with a deep appreciation of the hidden currents of the Japanese artistic genre of ‘Mono-ha’.

Suga has devoted over 40 years of his life to Mono-ha. Even so, he explained concepts behind the art without drama or even discernable emotion, speaking evenly into the microphone and pausing for translation. But by the end he had made clear the depth of his dedication to Mono-ha: “I would like to talk all evening about this...” he confessed shyly to the appreciative listeners.

Mono-ha is translated as the ‘School of Things’. Suga described how we must abandon the idea that things exist for us, or for a function. As humans, we think that all things exist for our purpose. In art, we think of things as material from which to create art. However, we should think about the special characteristics of natural things, without assigning our preconceived symbolic meanings.

It seems natural objects, in any form, inspire Suga. I asked him what he likes best about England he answered without hesitation: “Bijin!” (Beautiful women!). When pressed he expanded – “In Japan we have many mountains. Here you do not. I like that.” Nature impresses him – especially if it’s by a conspicuous absence.

I wondered about the surprising titles of his work. The branch and cement block sculpture is known as ‘Separating-Space’. Other pieces at the exhibition were called ‘Multiple-Reason-Cultivation’ and ‘System of Gathered Points’, for example. Suga explained that we should deprive things of their accepted names: “How do we perceive things without names?” he questioned. “The important thing is the reality of existence, the condition of things,” he went on; “it’s stimulating when you see yourself and natural things as equal.”

In setting up his exhibition at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House Suga had to think about putting the ‘natural’ things that comprise his art into an ‘artificial’ space. However, he said, the way you interpret the contextual placement of the art all depends on your point of view. Reality is ambiguous.

Catch Kishio Suga at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House. Make of it what you will... that's certainly the artist's wish.

enlightening 啓発的な
sipping - すすること
puzzled - 困惑する
unfamiliar - 不慣れ　⇒　見慣れない、馴染みの無い
placements - 配置
interpretations - 解釈
appreciation - 感謝、賞賛
hidden - 隠される
currents - 流れ　⇒　思潮、風潮
drama - 戯曲
discernable - 認識できる
emotion - 感情
dedication - 献呈　⇒　献身
abandon- 断念
preconceived - 予想される　⇒　偏見的な
symbolic - 象徴的
hesitation - ちゅうちょ
pressed - 再度頼まれる
expanded – literally 拡大される but meaning 付け加える
conspicuous - 顕著
absence - 不在
sculpture -彫刻
deprive -奪い取りなさい　⇒　取り上げる
perceive - 感知しなさい
reality - 現実
existence - 存在
ambiguous -曖昧